Street artist Jade remembers little of her childhood except the time she spent under the ruthless control of an abusive cult leader--a man she escaped from fifteen years earlier. Now, making her way in the world by living on the streets, she's free from the terror she knew as a child. But ex-cop Luke Kelly is looking for her. Determined to reunite a friend with the daughter who was taken from him, Luke has no idea of the deadly peril he is exposing Jade to--an evil she'd thought she'd banished to the far corners of her mind.
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"Spellbinding narrative...Sala lives up to her reputation with this well-crafted thriller."
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
this is a very dark and compelling book.it centre's around paedaphilia,child prostitution and basically learning to live again. it tells a story of a women who runs off with her child looking for a better life and what she finds is sex and drugs.her daughter is used to satisfy the needs of others whilst her mother dies of drugs.all through this her father has been looking for her and after many years eventually finds her.Now a women in her own right she finds it difficult to adapt to a normal life and struggles with her feelings for a friend of her father.they all set about trying to bring to justice those who inflicted this cruelty upon her and others who suffered at the hands of these men.Ms Sala deals with this subject beautifully,it has been carefully written with the victim in the for-front of your mind and while the story line is one which would frankly scare the living daylights out of all parents, it manages to bring love and hope to a very touching story.It takes a very diligant author to touch this topic and make somthing dark into a rather wonderful love story.
This is a book which made me cry not only for what she and others have suffered but because there is very real love in this story.Be prepared for a frightening journey in this dark story but do read it.Well done to Sharon Sala.
This is a book which made me cry not only for what she and others have suffered but because there is very real love in this story.Be prepared for a frightening journey in this dark story but do read it.Well done to Sharon Sala.
5 of 12 people found the following review helpful
By LeoKA
Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I generally choose books that have a good review. Unfortunately this book does not deserve it. Whilst the story line has an emotive subject, I found the lead characters extremely annoying. Even though the female had suffered a terrible experience during her formative years, I felt no sympathy for her as an adult. I found her to be very selfish - me, me me. The book is from her perspective as an adult with a lot of flash backs to keep the reader interested (as nothing else could). I found the 'words' of the female character to be childish and those around her encouraged her behaviour. Her 'saviour' would not be my ideal male as he seemed to pander to her and whilst they say real men cry, I wished he'd give it a rest. I also found it hard to believe that with the childhood the female character had that she'd recovered so quickly. I felt as if she simply switched from one caregiver to another and had not dealt with her experiences as a child and the tragedy that her first 'caregiver' experiences, as the author had not given much time in the book to this. The depth of feeling a topic such as this should cause, whilst saddening, was rushed. I have read one other book by this author and was annoyed by the waste of money and should have used my common sense and not bought this one. Unfortunately I did and having read this book, I shall certainly not buy another, regardless of the rating given. If the the author had used the book to show the growth of the female character from this terrible tragedy and the impact her new found strength and determination has on those around her, it may have been money well spent - but some how I doubt it.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3.8 out of 5 stars
41 reviews
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Out of the Dark
13 Sep 2004
By AK
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Disillusioned by life, Margaret Cochrane finds an illusion of joy with the People of Love. Drawn in by their snake charming leader, Solomon, she steals her baby and leaves her husband, Sam, behind, never dreaming that instead of Heaven, she was consigning herself and her little girl, Jade, to Hell.
Twenty five years later, Jade and her friend, Raphael, have escaped the People and been on the run for longer than they can remember. The art that sustains them will be their salvation. One of Margaret's acquaintances sees a portrait Jade did of her mother, and that is enough for Sam's detective friend, Luke, to find Jade. The years have left scars on Jade's soul. After her mother died, she became a commodity, sold to the pedophile who would pay the most. Only when maturity made her unappealing to that brand of pervert could she and Rafe escape. Yet, unknown to Jade, Rafe is dying because of what was done to him. Being found by Luke and Sam is an answer to his own prayers; now he knows he can leave Earth with Jade cared for, he just doesn't know how soon. Those who hurt them the most have seen the pictures as well, and want to silence the two runaways. When they kill Rafe, Luke becomes determined they won't do the same to the woman he's come to love.
***** Light and dark contrast in this complex novel. Jade and Rafe will wrench your heart with the beauty of their souls. Somehow, both retain an innocence despite the hardness of their lives. A round of applause must go to Ms Sala for avoiding the overused angst that might be used in characterizing Jade and Luke's relationship. Overall, this novel is suspenseful, sweet, and hopeful all at once. *****
Twenty five years later, Jade and her friend, Raphael, have escaped the People and been on the run for longer than they can remember. The art that sustains them will be their salvation. One of Margaret's acquaintances sees a portrait Jade did of her mother, and that is enough for Sam's detective friend, Luke, to find Jade. The years have left scars on Jade's soul. After her mother died, she became a commodity, sold to the pedophile who would pay the most. Only when maturity made her unappealing to that brand of pervert could she and Rafe escape. Yet, unknown to Jade, Rafe is dying because of what was done to him. Being found by Luke and Sam is an answer to his own prayers; now he knows he can leave Earth with Jade cared for, he just doesn't know how soon. Those who hurt them the most have seen the pictures as well, and want to silence the two runaways. When they kill Rafe, Luke becomes determined they won't do the same to the woman he's come to love.
***** Light and dark contrast in this complex novel. Jade and Rafe will wrench your heart with the beauty of their souls. Somehow, both retain an innocence despite the hardness of their lives. A round of applause must go to Ms Sala for avoiding the overused angst that might be used in characterizing Jade and Luke's relationship. Overall, this novel is suspenseful, sweet, and hopeful all at once. *****
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Light on romance and suspense
12 Oct 2003
By K. Tunstall
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Sharon Sala's new romantic suspense is light on both romance and suspense, but two of her characters stand out with amazing depth. Jade, the lead of the story, and Raphael, her friend, share a convincing, complex relationship, built by the bonds of their past. If the lead character of Luke Kelly had been as carefully drawn as Raphael, and if his interaction with Jade has been as deep, it might be believable that the two end up together. As it is, her healing happens much too quickly to be believable, and there's so little substance to Luke that one wonders what she possibly sees in him.
Their relationship is improbable, at best. By page 142, Luke is falling in love with Jade, despite hardly knowing her. So far, she's been alternately clingy and prickly--not much of a basis for a relationship. At this point in the book, she can't even stand for him to touch her, so what makes his heart pitter-patter for her?
Despite its flaws, this book has memorable sections. Ms. Sala confronts head-on a topic one doesn't generally find in women's fiction. She handles child sexual abuse, lingering fear, and trying to heal all with grace, class, and sensitivity. Some passages of the book made me teary-eyed.
I'd say this book might have been better as a straight suspense, rather than augmenting it with a romance, but that side of the plot falls flat too. The villains are predictable, the tension is non-existent, and the threads are woven together with too much coincidence to be plausible. One thing that really bothered me was the scenes where Luke confronts the antagonists. Regardless of his past as a cop, no police station would have let him interrogate the men.
All in all, this is an average read, but lacking some of the componenents that would make it a fantastic book. Sadly, Ms. Sala seems to have joined the assembly line of authors producing romantic suspense, simply because it's popular, and not because it showcases her talent. Look for her older books if you want to see her shine.
7 of 10 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars
Pass on this one, there are better Sala books out there!
30 Oct 2003
By A Customer
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Maggie Cochrane steals away in the night with her young daughter, Jade, to join the cult known as the People of Joy. Within two years Maggie is dead and Jade is being used as a child prostitute by the leader of the group, Soloman. Her father, Sam, has never stopped looking for her and completely by a fluke he finds out where she is and he sends his friend, Luke, to find her. Luke brings Jade and her companion Rafe back to St. Louis and instead of a happy homecoming, a killer learns of her return and plots his revenge...
I've been a long-time fan of this author and I really wanted to enjoy this book, but I couldn't. I don't have a problem with the subject matter rather my issues with this book stem from the improbable romance and poor research that was completed.
The romance between Jade and Luke felt forced. How can a man fall in love with a woman he doesn't know, whom he has barely spoken to and she can't stand to be touched? He can't. They have no shared experiences nor common ground yet he's falling in love with her within a day of meeting her?
Second - the research is off the mark with regards to police procedures. SWAT teams do not allow street officers to enter a house with them. That is a really good way for a street officer to get killed as they don't train with the SWAT team. Also - when called to the house of a dangerous person, street officers don't pull up and make themselves known as this book portrays. They park down the street and come in on foot under some sort of cover.
I had numerous other problems such as the tone felt `preachy' with regards to religion and some of Jade's motivations are unclear and consequently she comes off as wishy-washy at times. I'd recommend you skip this book and pick up some of Sala's older work such as Chance McCall or Jackson Rule (writing as Dinah McCall)
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3.8 out of 5 stars
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