[serialposts]Ever since I was a little girl, I would stay up late reading. Fiction was always my favorite. As I read the words on the page, I slowly left the world I was living in and become a part of the story I was reading. The characters became real to me – my new friends, or sometimes enemies.
As the years have gone by, I have learned to appreciate nonfiction too, but it’s only the novels that keep me up late at night. It’s like having a long conversation with an old friend. I just can’t seem to put it down, no matter how tired I get.
When I first heard of the new Freedom Series by Kathi Macias, I was intrigued. Here was a series of novels that combined my love of fiction with my passion for helping victims of human trafficking. You can imagine my excitement when Kathi graciously sent me a copy of the first book in the series: Deliver Me From Evil.
Overall, it was a great first novel in a three-part series. There’s a great cast of characters, pretty decent character development, and the end leaves you wanting to read more. But maybe most impressive was how the characters in the book make you want to get off your duff and do something about the problem of human trafficking.
Take a look at the trailer:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fy_37Tf54dc&w=590]
The book tells the stories of human trafficking rings in two different locations – one in San Diego and the other in Thailand. Both stories will bring tears to your eyes. I wanted to hold them in my arms and dry their tears. The more I read, the more I wanted to scream at the bad guys – or go tell the cops exactly what I knew.
And then there’s the story of the local all-American family. The high school senior who finds himself facing the issue of human trafficking head-on. As I read their stories, fear permeated my body … would they be safe if they chose to get involved in abolishing modern day slavery?
Without giving anything away, I will share that I thought the book ended too quickly. The resolution was much too simplistic for my tastes. The issue of human trafficking is anything but simple – it’s a complex issue full of fear and risk. Although I appreciated the desire to wrap things up before the second book, I was left feeling deflated.
All in all, it was a good read. Particularly for those who know little about human trafficking and want an easy entry into the topic. The characters are people that we can easily identify with and the stories refuse to let us go. I will definitely be reading the next two books in the series as soon as they come out!
Download the first two chapters of Deliver Me From Evil.
I reviewed this book, too. Although, it disappointed me. Her best book, in my opinion, was People of the Book. The characters did stay with me, but I didn’t really enjoy the reading.