The waves wash silently over cold flesh as time passes unnoticed; a life extinguished by violence lies unloved with distant screams falling unheard onto silent sand.
The deadly discovery triggers an emotional storm whose negative energy is further polluted by the uncovering of a bullying and sociopathic criminal class living off the fear of the innocent and down-trodden.
Sex trafficking is an inhumane activity that sub-consciously leaves the unaffected in denial. It’s an issue where too much knowledge leads to an overload of guilt but Susanna Beard manages to tell this modern day dark secret with heart wrenching empathy.
Claustrophobic trucks transporting human cattle to an emotional abattoir is a familiar image but in the seedy clubs of the Baltics the lights are dimmed to reveal smokey silhouettes playing out a charade of forced decadence that ultimately just corrodes the human spirit as escape becomes impossible.
Anna and her journalist partner Will enter this murky world in an attempt to give this lonely death some meaning but their lives soon become endangered as the twisted DNA of this dark underworld begins to potentially threaten their morality and blur the boundaries between right and wrong.
This is McMafia without the brutal glamour, populated by desperate victims whose cruel circumstances culminate in a chase to save an innocent child caught up in this web of deceit and fear.
The author takes a topical and emotionally destructive issue and gives it balance by positively conveying the often conflicted virtues of those on the side of good seeking justice over those driven by the forces of evil.
Intertwined with this story of immorality are the unexpected footnotes of death and re-birth seen through the jaded and then rejuvenated eyes of Anna.
The Truth Waits – Susanna Beard (by Legend Press. Price £8.99). Buy the book at Amazon.
-
Rich Review rating:
