What goes through the mind of such a man as he edges towards his ultimate goal, or the flip side; self destruction? How much could any single encounter change any one life? How much in a life could be predestined. Jim Taylor writes of a fine balance between success and failure. When women, alcohol, gambling and confrontation encroach upon an almost obsessive desire for something better, the threat to that balance reaches breaking point. In 1996 Jim Taylor was living alone on the south coast of England.