Changes

The author deals in reality, a fact that is not only evident in the subject matter. The hero himself, Thomas Clarke, is no knight in shining armour. When his baby dies, he plunges into his work for solace which, ironically enough, means defending a company charged with the corporate manslaughter of children. Once his wife leaves, he seeks a physical form of comfort from a colleague, who in turn suffers from his cowardly decision not to tell her he's going to Bombay to work for the NGO and try to make things up with his wife. When he gets to Bombay, he allows his wife to believe he wants to stay there to please her when in fact he's got the same goals as when they met – a seat on the Federal bench with his name on it. Not someone you'd want your sister to go out with. However, this is also a story of redemption as guilt is a big a driver as ambition. When a child puts her faith in him, Thomas knows he has to repay it.

The fact that Addison includes several different forms of trafficking and abuse to give the reader a thorough overview didn't dawn on me till the end as it's so deftly executed. This stops being a news story between the takeaway being ordered and arriving. The personalities on the page make it more alive, more relevant. Please don't let the subject matter put you off. This is a fast paced thriller of the first order so you will be entertained. However, you'll also learn. Surreptitiously you'll absorb information about the ease with which girls can be transported from country to country, aided in some countries by the blind eyes of a proportion of corrupt law enforcement. You'll hear how traffickers explain their 'occupation'; they're 'just' businessmen fulfilling a need and, their justification continues, therefore not the defilers. You will share the frustration when the traffickers seem to be one step ahead of the rescuers. You will see that not this is not a story with a Hollywood ending.