Review: Devil in Disguise by Heather Huffman
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 16, 2012
Devil in DisguiseBy Heather HuffmanISBN: 978-1-935961-56-7Library of Congress Control Number: 2012941068Parents beware! Do you know with whom your children are chatting on the web? In her novel Devil in Disguise, Heather Huffman brings to light an ugly horror that is happening in the USA and around the world: Human trafficking. Children are snatched from their homes and families and sold as slaves.Heather's book may be fiction but the threat is very real. This book is a must read for parents who want to keep their children safe. It shines a spotlight into the dark corners of the underground to show what can happen to innocent children.Unfortunately most police departments don't have the equipment, the manpower or the training to deal with this evil.The kidnappers surf the web for a child that catches their eye or they will actually take orders for a specific child to be abducted, according to Heather's book. Children between the ages of ten and sixteen are prime targets.Excerpt from the book: Rachel set her jaw stubbornly. She didn't like what she was hearing. Everything raged against the injustice of it all. With a small shake of her head, she turned and walked into Conrad's room. She stood with her hands of his bed railing, looking down at him as he slept. Veronica slipped up to the other side of the bed, waiting for Rachel to process. (it all.)"Why don't you work on Web content anymore? Last time we spoke you were responsible for updating the FBI's website. This is definitely a vocation change for you.""I kind of stumbled into it. Once I found out what was happening, how these young women were hurting, I couldn't go back. Of course, marrying a spy kind of steered the new career path, but that's another story altogether." Veronica smiled softly and Rachel if it was a happy memory drifting through her eyes...This conversation took place not long after Rachel's younger sister had been abducted and recovered. Conrad, the main male character, had been sprayed with an inhaled poison because he was the one to rescue Julia.After Julia is rescued and out of the hospital, she had to go into hiding. Her mother and big sister did, too, because the threat was as great for family members as well. The human traffickers used the threat of death for the kidnap victim and family members to keep victims from running away if they had the chance.This is a superbly written book. The reader can actually be drawn into the plot as if it were real. It is all too real for the children who are kidnapped each year.In her author's note at the end of the book, Heather tells why she wrote the story. "I've put off writing this until the very last second because I so badly want to be sure the words are right. Human trafficking matter at every level, but there's something especially urgent about our need to protect our children."Many things about this book are fiction...another difference between my novel and reality: In a romantic suspense novel, the people fighting trafficking have unlimited funds to aid their fight. The real warriors on the front lines are often there at their own expense, living on meager rations while they use their resources to recover girls who've been trafficked."Every parent should read this book. Every parent needs to be aware of what their children are doing. This book explains it all. Keep your children close.