Today I’m thrilled to welcome Lorraine Mace to my Thursday Themes blog.
Lorraine is joining me to discuss the dark, relevant and fascinating themes of her latest book, Children in Chains. Today is the release of the audio book; it’s already out on kindle and in paperback.
Over to you, Lorraine…
Children in Chains, the second in the D.I. Sterling series, deals with the darker side of human nature, where adults and children alike are viewed as commodities, rather than as human beings. Modern day slavery exists and is every bit as disturbing and degrading as that which took place centuries ago. However, where in the past this was almost a public trade carried out in broad daylight, in today’s world this insidious evil is hidden from view – as are its victims. As long as it isn’t brought to light, we don’t need to accept that it happens.
My book is intended to put a spotlight glare on the traders who prey on the vulnerable – innocent children who are kidnapped and sold into prostitution, as well as the many unfortunates seeking a better life for themselves and their families. My theme is that monsters can look like the person next door, and so are not recognised as the villains they are.
Of course, the hero of my series, Paolo Sterling, works tirelessly to discover who is behind this despicable network, but he is hampered by his own personal issues. His daughter is recovering from an attack that has left her emotionally damaged, his ex-wife blames him for all the ills of the world (not just her own traumas), his colleague is acting weird, and the newspapers and television stations are only concerned about a missing blonde-haired, blue-eyed child and don’t feature the less attractive children who don’t make such compelling images on the front pages and news channels.
Against this, I hope I have shown the goodness inherent in the vast majority of people. That there is always hope as long as there are those determined to bring the monsters to justice. My message is that good people are always there to combat evil. They may not wear a cape and put their underpants on over their tunic, but that doesn’t make them any less superheroes.
Blurb: Detective Inspector Paolo Sterling is determined to shut down the syndicate flooding Bradchester’s streets with young prostitutes.
When a child is murdered, Paolo becomes aware of a sinister network of abusers spread across Europe, and spanning all levels of society. But Joey, the shadowy leader of the gang, always seems to be one step ahead in the chase.
Has Paolo come up against a criminal he cannot defeat?
Book link: viewbook.at/Children_in_Chains
Audiobook: https://amzn.to/2PeewH9
Bio: When not writing crime, Lorraine Mace is the humour columnist for Writing Magazine. She is also a columnist and head judge for Writers’ Forum magazine. She is a tutor for Writers Bureau and also runs her own private critique and author mentoring service. She is co-author, with Maureen Vincent-Northam, of THE WRITER’S ABC CHECKLIST (Accent Press). Her novel for children, VLAD THE INHALER – HERO IN THE MAKING, is available in both paperback and e-book formats.
Find her at:
Website: http://www.lorrainemace.com
Blog: http://thewritersabcchecklist.blogspot.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lomace
Thank you so much for hosting me.