Rise: From Blood to Purpose
Book One of the Rise Series
By Diante Ortiz
Born into the chaos of Chicago's unforgiving streets, Darius Johnson believed his fate was sealed by blood-blood shed, blood inherited, and blood on his own hands. Labeled a menace, shaped by trauma, and hardened by pain, Darius spent years wearing strength like armor and silence like a chain. Until one night, everything changed.
Locked behind prison walls, Darius wasn't expecting freedom.
He wasn't expecting forgiveness.
He wasn't expecting God.
But God showed up anyway.
Not with lightning. Not with wrath.
With a whisper that said, "You're still mine."
Told with raw honesty and soul-deep emotion, Rise: From Blood to Purpose is the unforgettable first installment of the Rise Series-a journey of redemption, healing, and divine transformation. Through gang life, fatherhood, betrayal, and salvation, Darius's story speaks to every reader who's ever felt too far gone, too broken, or too ashamed to believe they could be used by God.
This isn't just a testimony.
It's a movement for the forgotten.
A declaration that purpose still breathes in buried places.
Because even blood-soaked paths can lead to destiny.