The Bracelet
By Roberta Gately
Published by Gallery Books
Paperback: 336 pages
November 6, 2012; $15.00 US/ $17.00 CAN; 9781451669121

Description
Newly heartbroken and searching for purpose in her life, Abby Monroe is determined to make her mark as a UN worker in one of the world’s most unstable cities: Peshawar, Pakistan. But after witnessing the brutal murder of a woman thrown from a building, she is haunted by the memory of an intricate and sparkling bracelet that adorned the victim’s wrist.

At a local women’s shelter, Abby meets former sex slaves who have miraculously escaped their captors. As she gains the girls’ trust and documents their horrifying accounts of unspeakable pain and betrayal, she joins forces with a dashing New York Times reporter who believes he can incriminate the shadowy leader of the vicious human trafficking ring. Inspired by the women’s remarkable bravery — and the mysterious reappearance of the bracelet — the duo traces evidence that spreads from remote villages of South Asia to the most powerful corners of the West, risking their lives to offer a voice to the countless innocents in bondage.

Author Bio:Roberta Gately, author of The Bracelet, has served as a nurse and humanitarian aid worker in war zones ranging from Afghanistan to Africa, about which she wrote a series of articles for the BBC World News Online. She is also the author of the novel Lipstick in Afghanistan.
For more information please visit http://robertagately.com.

My thoughts: A story that opens up aspects of one of the oft-forgotten crime of human trafficking, The Bracelet is a thought provoking read. Kudos to the author for writing about such a tough topic and the widespread, global reach of human trafficking. Poverty, corruption in every level of government and humanitarian agencies, greed, as well as plain desperation all contribute to this in so many ways.

The sad tales of the women and children who end up being the victims bring the reader a harsh dose of reality – nobody talks about these topics very often. The character development of the women and children portrayed in this book as victims is heart-rending and sadly, the true story of someone somewhere.  The main characters, Nick and Abby, however are not among my favorite characters, and their romance within this story seems to be a distraction from the main story for them as well as the reader. I did like Nick just a little bit but I somehow could not see someone like Abby being where she was at a time when was recovering from a heartbreak.

The book offered a look into the lives of the characters – a reporter, UN workers, victims, and others – and this will be a revelation for many readers. The peek into a refugee camp as well as the women’s shelter was also interesting for me. It is a well-paced book but the last thirty pages seemed to rush through the plot for me.

Overall, a good read and I would definitely read more from Roberta Gately (starting with her first book ‘Lipstick in Afghanistan’ which I am yet to read).

Rating: B+

Disclaimer: This book was provided to me by FSB Associates for review and I am glad I got this opportunity. The opinions in this review are my own and not influenced by anything else.

Wednesday Memes: I did not do any memes or much blogging over the past couple of weeks and I am sure I will get back to blogging more regularly soon..
Three Word Wednesday – careful, hug, mistake

ABC Wednesday: I was doing the theme of women writers this time around and interestingly, I am unable to come up with any names that interested me with the letter I – both first names and last names…So, instead, I am going to present a teaser from another book I read recently and which was set in a similar setting as ‘The Bracelet’ but a thoroughly different type of book which I also enjoyed – ‘ An Infidel in Paradise’ – the review will come next week and meanwhile here is the teaser:

and oops!! here is the teaser:

‘When the doors open, a sudden blast of heat sears my flesh. Lightheaded,
I slide across the seat and try to hop down but catch my foot at the
last minute. Seconds before my face would have hit the pavement, a firm
hand encircles my upper arm and swings me up in a surprisingly graceful
maneuver’

And a question for you: if you have any favorite women authors whose name (first or last) starts with I, please do let me know:)

Wondrous Words Wednesday, I marked up words in my ebook and it expired:( but I do have one word for this week that I had copied elsewhere though not sure which book I read it in:

opprobrium- noun
1.the disgrace or the reproach incurred by conduct considered outrageously shameful; infamy.
2.a cause or object of such disgrace or reproach.