I usually shy away from books that deal with true life evil like the sex trade. Something about the characters described in the synopsis drew me to this one and I’m glad I read it.
I hope you enjoy my review of and give this book a read.
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My Review
I was hesitant to read this story when I read what the topic was about.
Exploiting young people for sex is prevalent in our society today. The research for this story must have been dark indeed and gave cause to many nightmares.
Evil men. Men of influence and power. Men that think being wealthy gives them license to buy whatever they want. That’s what prowls these pages, preying on the weak, the lost, the vulnerable. And the monsters willing to provide it for them.
Shining a light, a ray of hope, in this dark tragedy, are three young girls.
Olivia, adopted by an American family, learns she has a sister, Achara, forced to work in a brothel in Thailand. To save her, she enters the seedy world of sex and depravity and disappears.
Achara. Sold to a brothel and forced to spend her days servicing the men that come to her door, no one to turn to for help except a sister she never met, Olivia, living in America and offering to rescue her.
Rachel, Olivia’s sister in America. Desperate to find Olivia, who vanished without a trace. Or so she thinks until she gets on her sisters computer and stumbles upon emails from Olivia’s long lost sister, Achara.
I wondered I far I could go to save someone I loved. Rachel is just starting college. She’s led a happy, carefree life with friends and family. She knows nothing of the dark and deadly world of the sex trade. Yet she braves it to find Olivia and save Achara.
Her lack of experience and wiles are apparent to her clients and Rachel won’t be able to stay on the sidelines for much longer. How the author showed this to her clients and to me made her very genuine. Her bravery endeared her to me and I feared for the worst.
The scenes of sexual depravity are not written in big detail. They are shocking and the author spares you a lot of that by being somewhat brief. There’s enough to make you cringe, to sadden you, to outrage you.
The monsters are real and walk among us, going to work, paying their bills, going home to their families, and hiding behind the world wide web to satisfy every vile, deviant desire you can imagine. They look like us on the outside, but on the inside is an evil so deep you couldn’t bear to look upon their true form.
Don’t let the topic scare you off. These girls are inspiring, the chapters are short and make for fast reading, and all is not dark in these pages.
Bravo to the author for writing about such a vile and tragic topic in our society today and giving me a bright light to follow with his strong, brave characters.
4 Stars
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Synopsis
Gustavo Florentin was born in Queens, New York and received a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the Polytechnic University of New York. He spent a decade in the defense industry working on the F-14 fighter jet and classified electronics projects. After the fall of the Soviet Union, many thought America wouldn’t need weapons anymore, so while others waited for the peace dividend, he moved on to the financial sector in New York where he is currently a network engineer. His passions include violin, travel to exotic places and exploring worldwide conspiracies. He lives in New Jersey where he is working on his third novel. His thriller, In the Talons of the Condor, won the following awards:
WUACADEMIA–Prix d’Or Best Novel
The Verb First Chapter Contest–First Prize
Mount Arrowsmith Best Novel 4th place
The Writing Show–Second Prize best first chapter of a novel.
Second Prize–16th Annual International Latino Book Awards
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Giveaway
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Intriguing cover and a great review, Laura. This type of book is hit or miss with me, but you make it sound like good prevails and the girls are worth getting to know. Happy reading.
sherry @ fundinmental
I was worried I wouldn’t get into it. The topic is outside my normal reading but it was so well written and the characters were genuine. Definitely worth reading:)