Get the first chapter free, plus exclusive behind-the-scenes content and early access to new chapters
No spam. Just raw stories and the occasional howl from Thunder.
This is not a story of redemption.
This is a resurrection.
From 2009 until this past summer, my dog Thunder never left my side.
This is my memoir—how a mangy little rescue mutt saved my life, and why his story deserves to be told. My name is Devin Kelly. Some people call me Mudcat.
This book is my promise to Thunder. And by being here, you're helping make his legacy possible. Thank you.
The manuscript is already complete and on its third draft.
For nearly 16 years, Thunder was my constant. Together we crossed 32 countries, chasing romance and purpose from desolate cowboy ranches in the American West to the jungles of Latin America to the historic streets of Europe. On motorcycles and mountain passes, through rodeo arenas, lovers' kitchens, and long, lonesome highways.
He was with me in the tributaries of the Amazon and in the shadows of sacred peaks in Peru—smuggled across borders with a pack of local strays, sleeping in bus stops and border towns with more audacity than paperwork. He bore witness to incandescent love and bone-deep heartache, to wild wingsuit BASE jumps in forbidden air and banal Tuesday afternoons wherever we called home.
More than an adventure partner, he was the one steady presence in a life that kept unraveling under grief, depression, and my quixotic quest for meaning.
I knew Thunder and I had a story worth telling—one shaped by risk, wanderlust, and our enduring bond. I was finishing Part One of the manuscript, just beginning to shape our wild travels into weighty prose, when Thunder suddenly died.
The scope of the book shifted in that instant. No longer just a chronicle of swashbuckling misadventure, it became a tribute, a way to honor the dog who had carried me through the formative years of my life.
Writing this book became its own therapy—each page a step through grief, a means to understand loss and to preserve his legacy. Completing it now is more than a project. It's a promise kept.
This is a literary memoir about the sacred art of going too far—and what happens when the edge becomes a way of life. Part gonzo odyssey, part philosophy in freefall, it moves between quiet devotion and reckless motion, between small domestic rituals and vast, vertiginous spaces where people test themselves against gravity and fate.
It follows a life lived on the margins: bull riding and BASE jumping, cage fights and long desert drives, altered states and hard-earned clarity—always grounded by the steady presence of a dog who refused to let go.
Told from the cliffs of Yosemite, the deserts of Moab, the jungles of Nicaragua, the barrios of Colombia, the sacred peaks of Peru, and the alpine cathedrals of Europe, it is a raw yet tender reckoning with meaning, mortality, and masculinity in the modern world. It's about charging headfirst into the fall, into life itself—rage, hope, bones, and all—and clawing purpose from the air mid-plummet.
A Promise to Thunder doesn't offer easy answers.
But it does offer a dog.
A promise.
And one wild, beautiful plunge into the sky.
To fly. To fall. To be free.
I've always felt the pull of flight—something between being compelled by possibility and haunted by inevitability. Like some quiet certainty that, one day, I would find a way to take to the sky.
Not all heroes wear capes. Mine wore wingsuits.
I wanted to trade the safety net for the unknown, carve my own line through the sky, and chase that impossible dream of flight from the world's most beautiful precipices.
I wanted to BASE jump.
What I discovered in the BASE jumping community was a tribe of philosophers disguised as daredevils, sorely underrepresented in literature. We're misunderstood as Red Bull-injected adrenaline junkies. In truth, we're patient students of aerodynamics, disciples of the descent, pilgrims of the plunge—scribbling our humble couplets across the sky one flight at a time.
I'm Devin Mudcat Kelly—man shaped by wild places, hard lessons, and the stubborn loyalty of a dog named Thunder.
I was raised to toe the line: a wrestler at West Point on the promising path of order and tradition. But somewhere along the way, I realized my questions—and my restlessness—were pulling me in another direction. So I abandoned the path of certainty and ventured into the unknown. Thunder was waiting. What followed was wilder than any plan I'd made—bull riding, BASE jumping, cage fighting, and navigating the throes of grief and heartache through 32 countries with a dog who never asked where we were going—only trusted that we'd get there together.
Today, I live in Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland—the heart of the BASE world—where the cliffs I still chase now shape my daily horizon. I'm the founder of DOGPAK, an outdoor K9 gear company inspired by years of adventure with Thunder, and VetDex, a project born from my love for animals and the people who care for them.
But titles and places only tell part of the story. What matters most is the promise I made to a dog who saved my life—and the words I now offer in return.
This memoir is for anyone who's ever felt untethered, anyone who's searched for meaning at the edge, and anyone who's loved a dog enough to understand why keeping a promise matters more than anything.
"A visceral, unflinching look at mental health, masculinity, and the sacred art of not dying. Kelly writes with the precision of a parachute rigger and the soul of a poet."
"A raw, poetic gut-punch—equal parts grief, adrenaline, and grace. If you've ever loved a dog, or lost your way, this book will find you."
"A hallucinogenic haymaker of a memoir…"
"This book will break your heart, patch you up, and teach you how to leap again. A rare blend of adventure and soul."
"This isn't just about BASE jumping—it's about finding your tribe, learning to trust the process, and discovering that sometimes salvation comes with four legs and a wagging tail."
"A Promise to Thunder is a love letter to risk, resilience, and the dogs who save us. It's as much about falling as it is about learning to land."
"Thunder is the dog we all wish we had—and the friend we all need."
Thunder never questioned why I jumped. He just made sure I had a reason to land safely.
"A visceral, unflinching look at mental health, masculinity, and the sacred art of not dying. Kelly writes with the precision of a parachute rigger and the soul of a poet."
"This isn't just about BASE jumping—it's about finding your tribe, learning to trust the process, and discovering that sometimes salvation comes with four legs and a wagging tail."
The depression had hollowed me out. I wasn't sad. I was done. Spent. Emptied of will. People think suicidal people hate themselves, or that they've got nothing going for them. It's true for some, but that wasn't my condition. I had everything going for me. I was athletic, charismatic, talented, and my mom even tells me I'm handsome and can read good.
I'd lived the kind of life other people fantasize about: a Division I wrestler at West Point, a vagabond cowboy riding mustangs west with the wind, a rodeo bull rider, a cage fighter in Latin America, a wandering outlaw poet with a dog named Thunder and a tattered passport full of bad decisions.
I bartended in a brothel run by connected guys pushing powder pure as the driven snow in Bogotá, climbed peaks in the Huayhuash of Peru, and drank ayahuasca with shamans in the Amazon. I'd been drunk on euphoria with a beauty queen on my arm, shouting our ambitions from rooftops like the cliché of younger years, waving dopamine and wild sex at the night as if nothing that could make us feel so high could ever again make us feel so low.
Yet here it was: the rebuttal to euphoria. I had a good run. I was tired. I wanted to die. That's how I knew it was real.
So that night, I gave myself permission. Not a cry for help. A clear, cold decision. "Okay," I told myself. "If you can't take one more fucking day, then you don't have to." I even bought what I needed to make it happen. And I still have the letters.
But when I sat down that night to take inventory of my life, something strange happened. I realized that I had crossed off every bucket-list dream I'd ever had—except one.
Wingsuit BASE jumping.
Be among the first to experience this raw, unfiltered journey. Get behind-the-scenes content, early chapters, and connect with fellow adventurers who understand that sometimes the most dangerous thing you can do is also the thing that saves your life.
Take the leap with me. The landing zone is always better when shared.
To bring Thunder's story into the world, I need your help.
Your support will fund professional editing, design, printing, and distribution—ensuring this memoir finds its way into the hands (and hearts) of those who need it most. Every pledge helps keep this promise alive.
Whether you back the project, share it, or simply spread the word, you're part of Thunder's legacy now. Thank you for believing in this story—and for helping me bring it to life.
Get the first chapter free, plus exclusive behind-the-scenes content and early access to new chapters
No spam. Just raw stories and the occasional howl from Thunder.
Kickstarter campaign launching soon. Be the first to know.