Author, filmmaker, and former SEAL Remi Adeleke is one of the featured authors at The San Diego Union-Tribune Festival of Books on Aug. 19, where he'll discuss his most recent book, 'Chameleon,' part of his new action/thriller series
The 1996 summer hit movie “The Rock” about a rogue group of military members threatening an attack on San Francisco, had a bigger impact on the life of Remi Adeleke than he realized at the time.
Born into wealth and privilege in Nigeria, Adeleke and his mother and brother left and moved to the Bronx after the death of his father. In New York they were suddenly navigating a life of poverty. The young Adeleke was getting into trouble, committing petty crimes, and found himself with few options for a better life. That movie was his introduction to the Navy SEALs, and he had promised himself that if he was going to turn his life around, he was going to do it as a SEAL.
“That, for me, was the only path. I didn’t want to go to college or stay in the Bronx because I knew I’d either end up dead or in prison. The military was the only other option,” he says. “My expectations were that the military would get me out of my environment; it would get out of New York City and a second chance at life. The reality lined up closely with those expectations.”He joined the Navy in 2002, became a SEAL on his second attempt, and served until 2016.
Today, his recently released fiction book, “Chameleon,” is the first in an action/thriller series about an elite CIA special operations branch. He is one of the featured authors atAdeleke, 41, is a full-time author and filmmaker living in Chula Vista with his wife and their four children. He took some time to talk about his transition from the military to storytelling, his book, and what he sees as a universal experience of shifting and adapting to life, like a chameleon.
As far as my relationship to him, just as Kali’s from Nigeria, I’m from Nigeria; just as Kali grew up in New York City, I did as well. And, just like Kali rose through the ranks in government and operated at a high level, I’ve been able to do that. My specialization in the SEAL teams was HUMMIT, which stands for human intelligence, so I had the opportunity to go to various intelligence schools and learn trade craft and also learn how to run sources, etc.
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