Reviewed by Viga Boland for Readers' Favorite

One of the joys of being a book reviewer is suddenly discovering a brilliantly talented author like Peg Brantley. Brantley is a crime fiction writer with three previous books to her credit. If Trafficked is any indication of the kind of writing one can expect in those other books, you’ll be wanting to check them out as soon as your heart and head calm down after you finish Trafficked. Trafficked is a psychological thriller that will leave you chilled, shaking your head at the ugly and heartbreaking reality of the sexual trafficking of young people, particularly, in this case, females. There’s actually several heroes facing terrible trouble in Trafficked: Mex Anderson, the private eye hired to locate the privileged but ignored 17-year-old daughter of a wealthy businessman; Mex’s estranged sister, Sedona, who cannot redeem herself despite the help she gives Mex; Cade, Mex’s woman; Darius, Mex’s right hand man; and Rachel, a former prostitute who will be key to the eventual rehabilitation of the three trafficked females, Jayla, Alexis and Livvy. These three young women each emerge from Trafficked with their lives forever changed, but each in her own way is a heroic survivor.

It’s human nature to want to tune out the constant media reports of the sexual trafficking of children and teens: it’s a reality many would prefer to pretend doesn’t exist, or that they tell themselves only happens in other people’s lives, in other countries, other cultures. Reading Trafficked will convince you otherwise. It will make you more wary and you need to be. The victims in Trafficked hail from Denver. Alexis comes from a wealthy family, spends her time working out and has money to burn; 15-year-old Jayla, a good student hoping to make something of her future, comes from a poor background where her single mom has too many mouths to feed; Livvy’s your typical 12-year-old teen, sharing secrets with her BFF, but looking for romantic love in the wrong place: the internet. What makes these three females coming from such varying backgrounds so appealing to and such easy marks for predators? Read Trafficked to find out. These girls could be one of your daughters…a chilling reality revealed brilliantly by Peg Brantley.

Characters drive the story in Trafficked and is just one of the reasons this book is so hard to put down. Readers of Trafficked will find what they read is almost more than they can bear. It would be lovely to be able to close the book and say, “That was a great read! Thankfully, it’s only fiction!” But you won’t say that as Brantley also prefaces each chapter with snippets from newspapers, books and various reports on trafficking that will alarm and frighten you and make you want to put your arms around your children and make sure you always know where they are, who they are with and what they are doing. But more important is the one question we all need to ask ourselves when it comes to our children: in our ever busy lives chasing what we think our families need, are we giving them what they really need? If we are, then maybe we will spare them what Alexis, Jayla and Livvy faced in Trafficked. Add this book to your reading list today. You’ll be glad you did.