Carly Smith was a
victim of human trafficking for six years.
Eight years after her escape, she counsels victims of substance abuse but
decides she must return to Memphis, her hometown, because she has heard that Austin
King, the man who tricked her and sold her into sexual slavery, may still be
conning young girls. Carly is determined
to stop him. Her search puts her into
danger, but she hesitates to trust those who might help her, especially her
brother-in-law and her ex-boyfriend, both police officers. Her previous experiences with corrupt
policemen, who at best turned a blind eye to human trafficking, have left her
trusting no one.
There is a great deal
of suspense in the novel. Carly is in
almost constant danger and soon other people, including her young niece, are
threatened as well. What adds to the
suspense is the fact that there are several people who could be Austin King (a
pseudonym) or who could be involved with him. Carly has reason to be cautious in trusting
people. Later in the novel, the reader
is given the perspective of Blade, Carly’s captor; including his point of view
adds further tension because the reader knows he is intent on revenge.
There are a number of
villains in the book. The identity of
one comes as a surprise because there is insufficient information given about
him to even hint he is involved. The
identity of two others is made too obvious with too many obvious clues. A reader should be given subtle clues so
he/she is not cheated by withheld information and is able to guess identities
but not with total certainty.
Before reading this
book, I had not heard of the writer so was unaware that she writes from a
strongly Christian perspective. In both
the dedication and acknowledgements, she makes direct reference to Jesus giving
her “the words”. At the beginning the
theme of forgiveness is introduced; on the second page, Carly is told she must
forgive those responsible for her kidnapping: “’None of us deserve forgiveness
. . . and it’s for . . . you. If you don’t
forgive . . . it will eat you alive’” (8).
The theme, however, is dropped before the end so anyone looking for
thorough thematic development will not find it here.
Romance is not a
favourite genre for me, so the love stories (not just one but two) held little
interest for me. In keeping with the
Christian perspective, the relationships are chaste, so sex scenes are not
included.
As a suspense novel,
this book works, but in general it feels shallow. It deals with human trafficking without
really examining it in depth. For
example, why would people, especially if they have good reputations and are
financially successful, become involved with a human trafficking
syndicate? Carly’s life as a sex slave
is discussed only in terms of how she was physically punished if Blade found
her uncooperative.
This is not a terrible
book, but I would have preferred more in-depth examination of human trafficking
and less of the preachy tone. Obviously,
I’m not, as one character says, “’open to God’s prodding’” (301) because having
a former addict, appropriately named Trinity, state, “’God is my best friend .
. . He had a good plan for my life, and
I messed it up, but he’s gonna take my mistakes and make something good from
them’” (30) made me want to scream.
Note: I received an ARC from the publisher via
LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers programme.
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