Oh how glad I am to be back on my blog. I won’t go into any detail — too long, too boring, and I don’t want to relive it all in the telling — but the past 6 weeks have been incredibly stressful and busy beyond belief.
As I return to the blog, I’m revamping my posting schedule and my content. From here on out, I will talk about writing and my writing life each Tuesday; my plan is to share information that might be helpful and interesting. On Thursdays, I will post a review of a book.
So let’s get to my first review!
From the first line of the prologue — “Amy’s coffin had been closed for over an hour, but Douglas Timothy still couldn’t get the image of his daughter’s dead body out of his mind.” — to the last word of the epilogue, Captives, by Megan Whitson Lee, is a captivating tale of the very-relevant issue of sex trafficking.
But Lee’s novel isn’t the grim, depressing novel you might expect; rather, it is inspiring and uplifting.
The story is told from the perspective of three individuals — the sister of a missing girl, a former sex trafficking victim who helps hunt for the missing girl, and a young man struggling with a secret sex addiction.
Each of Lee’s three narrators is realistic and complex, flawed but not without redeeming qualities. Each could be a coworker or the person who sits next to you on the bus as you commute to work or the person you chat with from time to time at the gym. They are “real”.
Their individual stories are woven together to create a plot that holds more than a few surprises without being contrived or unbelievable. As the reader follows the three narrators’ struggles to find what they are looking for — a lost girl, escape from the demon of pornography addiction, some measure of peace — they get a close-up look at the devastation wrought from the self-trafficking that plagues our culture.
At the same time, however, Lee shows that through the efforts of tireless and heroic individuals and groups, sex trafficking can be fought and individuals caught up in it in one way or another can be saved, not only physically but spiritually.
Captives is a book that will grab your attention and keep it long after you’ve read the last word. It is a book that can change lives for the better.
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After I shared with authors and editors that I was interested in reading books and posting honest, unbiased reviews on my blog, Facebook, etc., I was provided a free copy of this book to review. I have, in turn, provided my honest opinion of this novel.