One of the most rewarding things I do is work with poor and underprivileged children in foreign nations. I’m permitted to go where others are not because, as a doctor, I have a reason—an excuse—to be there.
Most of them struggle in poverty and live day to day. Think about that for a moment. They get up each morning and there is nothing to eat, because there’s no way to store food even if they could gather enough. Each day is new—a time to find water and carry it to their homes, a time to locate enough to eat for that day.
As if that is not enough, there is a powerful enemy on the horizon that in many ways is worse than ISIS, the Muslim Brotherhood, or Al Shabaab. It’s the perpetrators of a type of evil that falls into a category of its own and is growing steadily. This menace isn’t isolated to distant areas where I often travel. It’s reaching into our own country, our communities. Even our families. This monster is the trafficking of innocent human beings. Mostly girls.
Human trafficking is very real. It has always been real, but with the surge in social media and public awareness it has gained our attention, which has made it more difficult to hide. That being said, it flourishes still. In the United States 325,000 children are victims of trafficking every year. Many are exploited within our borders, but international trafficking has grown exponentially, placing young female minors at risk of abduction. Over one million women and girls are victims of trafficking yearly worldwide.
The benefit of transporting these young women overseas (many underage girls) is to prevent them from surfacing on social media or any other format that may identify them. In my newest novel, Thicker Than Blood, this human condition is dealt with from the viewpoint of the victim, perpetrator, as well as the “customer.” Technology has caused this epidemic to flourish. Consider the following from the prologue.
As the nearby mosque echoed the afternoon call to prayer, he stood, walked to the balcony doors and admired the hundreds of minarets between him and the Nile. The echoes of imams calling for prayer beckoned him, but he finally closed the doors. He’d pray later.
Returning to his laptop, he perused the possibilities through several pages until he’d finalized his selection—five-two, blond hair, blue eyes, cheerleader, American.
A smile coursed his lips, and his pulse quickened at the thought of it. There’d be no recourse. His action would be final. The funds withdrawn from his account.
He hit “Enter.”
Thicker Than Blood is an international thriller currently on sale from Amazon for $0.99
Check the “Books” tab at the top of the page for more information and details on the book.