Review: Devil In Disguise

Title: Devil In Disguise
Author: Heather Huffman
Publication Date: June 2012
Source: Book Trope
Summary (from Amazon):
Tenacious reporter Rachel Cooper devotes her life to exposing corruption by shining a light on the darker corners of the world - a career that doesn't leave much room for relationships. Even so, she finds it impossible to stop thinking about her unexpected run-in with Conrad Langston, an old flame that never quite burnt out.

When her mother calls in the middle of the night because her sister is missing and the police are offering little help, Rachel immediately turns to the only person she knows she can always count on - Conrad.

Determined to protect her family, Rachel finds herself embroiled in the frightening and tragic underworld of human trafficking. As her pursuit of justice pulls her deep into the darkness, she recognizes an opportunity to re-evaluate her choices in life and take a new path - even if it means walking through the fires of hell to protect the ones she loves.

I am emotionally exhausted right now. This book brought out so many fears that I, as a daughter, a mother and an aunt, have. Beneath the message in this book there is a love story, but the romance will take a backseat to the real thing that Huffman’s novel is about—human trafficking.

Can I just say that it’s almost refreshing—as absurd as that sounds—to read a story that’s completely focused on the topic without throwing in sex or erotica or falling in love with your captor or buyer. Human trafficking is a serious issue, and even though Devil in Disguise didn’t get into the real gritty details of what happens it does focus on the problem and weaves a story around it.

Stories like this put fear in my heart. I watch my children play and just thinking of their innocence being stripped away from them makes me sick. I’m not saying that Devil in Disguise was entirely realistic, there were a few things that made me raise my eyebrows in question, but the subject is all too real. I think the author did a great job in spotlighting a horrible thing in a way that doesn’t glorify it by having these girls (or boys) falling in love with those who harm them. She wrote about the fear, the consequences and the fight.