Cruz's classic testimony is still compelling reading more than forty years after its first publication.

A childhood overshadowed by spiritualism in his Puerto Rican home preceded a harsh and violent adolescence as the leader of one of New York's toughest street gangs.

Chilling scenes of knife fights, torture and murder dominated the life of a young man proud and feared on the outside, but inwardly running scared.

His fears and loneliness were brought to the surface through an encounter with the unlikely character of preacher David Wilkerson, who led Cruz to open his life to Christ - an incredible conversion that amazed all who knew him.