Book picks similar to
Stolen Lives: The Heart Breaking Story of a Trafficking Victim by Brandy Sullivan
abuse
serial-killers-and-other-dark-stuff
good-read
abduction
The Daughter In Law
Nina Manning - 2019
They have always been together. Just the two of them. So, when Ben brings home his mysterious beautiful new wife, Daisy, immediately Annie doesn’t trust her. Who is this woman who has taken her son away from her? And what is she hiding?She’ll protect him with her life…When Ben disappears, suddenly Annie and Daisy are all the other one has. Alone in Annie’s big, remote house, just the two of them, the tension is rising. And like any protective mother, Annie will stop at nothing to expose her new daughter in law, and the secrets she is hiding…A gripping, psychological page-turner, perfect for fans of Sally Hepworth's The Mother In Law, Lisa Jewell and K.L. Slater.
Coming Back
Emma South - 2015
Learning to live and love again is going to be so much harder.After being abducted and vanishing without a trace, she was presumed dead. But Christie isn’t the kind of girl that goes down without a fight. When she crawls out of the forest almost two years later, bruised and bleeding, she is confronted by a world that seems to have moved on and left her behind.Dean Hawking returned to Warfields after a terrible tragedy on the job shook his faith in humanity. The cop’s transfer home wasn't the cure-all he hoped for until the best thing about it, the girl he loved since high school, Christie Jayne, turns up alive.Their worlds are thrust together again for the first time in years. Though still reeling from her ordeal, in Dean she finds a fathomless love that reminds her there are still beautiful things in the world. In Christie, he sees his chance at redemption…Then Dean uncovers some startling information about Christie’s case, revealing that she might be in imminent danger, and their second chance at love will be put to the test when the full story of her escape is revealed. Can there be any coming back from what she’s had to do?
The Decimation of Mae
D.H. Sidebottom - 2014
Not in the physical sense, you must understand, but very much literally. He was persistent, resolute and tenacious. His ruthless greed to annihilate me was utterly disturbing. I am sure if he had hierarchy, the man at the top would have dragged his arse into Hell’s prison for his unscrupulous methods. I was just fifteen when I first became aware of what he was capable of. This initial taste of him set the playing field for how my life was to be lived – for want of a better word. He mocked me, showed me mercilessly how he played the game and how he liked to cheat at said game. He ridiculed and taunted me until, six months later, he won and took something of so much importance from me that I would never be the same again. His second visit was, in my eyes, so much more cruel and heartless. I know we’re talking about the Devil here, and yes, you have a right to say he had no heart but even then, even when I was so utterly broken, I begged to differ and hoped – no, prayed – that somewhere deep in the caverns of his black, tortured soul there was something that beat and confused his emotions once in a while. The third visit was somewhat different than the other two. He tried, and at first succeeded to bring me to my knees once and for all, but then something happened. God finally intervened and altered Satan’s intention; he sent hope and morphed the Devil’s minion into an Angel, hoping to break and shatter the anguish and suffering. He gave the ability for me to feel pleasure in pain, order in the chaos and light in the darkness. But in giving me a reprieve, he also gave me something that would finally and ultimately obliterate me. He gave me the capability to love, therefore giving me the ability to be destroyed. And Satan made sure that I was destroyed. Cruelly, viciously and sadistically. I am Mae Swift, and this is the story of my decimation. ***WARNING*** This story doesn’t contain hearts and flowers, it doesn’t even contain the word ‘love’. It isn’t for the fainthearted, nor those who want romance and happy ever afters. It’s dark, in fact it goes beyond the dark realms of misery and despair. It contains disturbing scenes of sexual violence, cruelty and torture. It also includes self-harm, pain addiction and brutalisation. Please bear this in mind before purchasing this book. Thank you.
Keri Karin: Part 2: The Shocking true story continued further
Kat Ward - 2014
However, as readers of the first two volumes of this series will know, her childhood was hardly the loving, supportive, preparatory period it should have been. Instead of family dinners and piano recitals, there were shattered dishes and abusive parents. Instead of trips to the museum, there were trips to TV studios - to be molested by celebrities. In short, her childhood was nothing short of a nightmare. Should it really be any surprise then, after such a traumatic baptism into life, that her first foray into the adult world was hardly an unmitigated success? From living in squalor to racking up debts, her new-found independence forced her face-to-face with many of life's grim realities. And despite waiting all her life for her freedom, she soon realised that a world without the institutional bars she was so accustomed to was just too much of a jungle. And every jungle has its predators... But what was a girl to do? Regress back to an abusive enslavement? Or continue moving forward in a world that seemed so backward? She needed a friend - and fast. Naturally, her understandable distrust of others didn't make things easy. Not to mention her warped idea of love. In the end though, her determination proved the deciding factor. As far as she was concerned, she'd performed her final "favour", and cried the last of her tears. But just when she thought she'd finally left her demons behind, she found herself at the mercy of unsavoury characters yet again - and this time, without anyone to turn to... DISCLAIMER: This is a true story of child abuse, and as such, reader discretion should be advised. Names have been changed to protect the innocent.
The Contract
Scarlett Edwards - 2014
My imagination conjures up demons of the worst kind.Reality is much worse:A collar with no leash. A prison with no walls. And a life stripped of meaning.I am presented with a vile contract and asked to sign. It outlines the terms of my servitude. The only information I have about my captor are the two small letters inked at the bottom:J.S.Armed with only my memories, I must do everything I can to avoid becoming ensnared in his twisted mind games. But in the end, it all comes down to one choice: Resist and die.Or submit, and sign my life away.
Rust & Stardust
T. Greenwood - 2018
When 11 year-old Sally Horner steals a notebook from the local Woolworth's, she has no way of knowing that 52 year-old Frank LaSalle, fresh out of prison, is watching her, preparing to make his move. Accosting her outside the store, Frank convinces Sally that he’s an FBI agent who can have her arrested in a minute—unless she does as he says. This chilling novel traces the next two harrowing years as Frank mentally and physically assaults Sally while the two of them travel westward from Camden to San Jose, forever altering not only her life, but the lives of her family, friends, and those she meets along the way.
The Butcher of the Bay: Part I
J. Bree - 2020
My life was simple: I kill for money and I’m the best in the Bay at my job.That was enough for me until I met the woman of my dreams, only to deliver her to hell itself for a pretty penny.Nothing will stop me from getting her back and when I do… there isn’t a man in the Bay that’s safe from my vengeance.They’ll pay in blood for their crimes.
NOT A BOOK
NOT A BOOK - 2016
It is also full of useful things that will help organize your year, including dates, numbers, and pictures of dogs.
Screaming in the Silence
Lydia Kelly - 2010
While hitchhiking across the country, she and her companion are struck by a car. Her friend is killed but Raleigh survives and her life is thrown into the hands of the three men involved in the accident. Bruised and in shock, Raleigh is locked in the basement of their remote country house, unsure of her fate. Kaden, one of her captors, is handsome and at times protective, and he convinces his friends to spare Raleigh’s life to ransom her. But the safety he provides is only from his friends, and Raleigh must face his sinister intentions. Agreeing to become his lover in return for continued protection, she begins to see a tender and caring side of Kaden despite their short but violent history. As the ransom payment begins to unravel and Raleigh's life hangs in the balance, she wonders how much she can trust Kaden. Are the feelings she has developed for him genuine or a result of her situation? Does he truly care for her, as he claims, or does he just see her as a ransom payment?
Gator
Bijou Hunter - 2014
I am a killer, yet gave her life. She is mine and I dare anyone to stand in my way.MiaI am nobody until Gator sees me through the scope of his rifle. My life is suffering and violence, but he offers redemption. I am his and I dare anyone to keep us apart.Gator is a standalone romance noir scheduled for release on Feb. 25, 2014.
In the Garden of Discontent
Lily White - 2020
It’s brutal. Heart-wrenching. Dirty, terrifying, and raw. But a love story nonetheless because it is so beautiful. Ensley: Noah Carter was the type of guy that every girl wanted. Gorgeous. Talented. Smart and kind. He was the world that revolved around me even though I didn’t deserve him. But then something went wrong. He snapped maybe, just lost his mind.I found him the night my family died, their blood staining his hands. I put him in prison. I got my revenge. But then years later he found me again... ...and stole me away from my life. Noah: You couldn’t know Ensley without wanting to strangle her. She was beautiful, she was wild, she was the girl next door .I grew up with her by my side. I watched her destroy herself while I held on. I protected her when she had been blind to the danger that surrounded her. I let her go once only to find her again. She would see me this time no matter what. DISCLAIMER: This book deals with sensitive subject matter that may be difficult for some readers.
Trust
Terry Towers - 2014
She comes from a great family and has a future at Stanford University to look forward to... until the night she is abducted by masked men with the intention of selling her to the highest bidder, leaving the people in her town heartbroken and desperate for answers on her disappearance. Lance Winters is the son of the man called “The Boss.” He's gradually being introduced to the “family business” with the intent of him becoming the right-hand man of his father's human trafficking organization. Little does his father know, Lance has his own agenda when it comes to the organization that has taken his father over a decade to build. When Lance is assigned to train Gwen, to make her the perfect slave for sale, he's hesitant. He can't become emotionally tied to the slaves or it could ruin his plans. Training new slaves isn't part of his agenda, but there is something about her sweet innocence that touches him and the thought of any of the monsters working for his father touching her is unthinkable. Is it possible for Lance to gain the young woman's trust and perhaps even save her life when he's one of the bad guys keeping her from everything she's ever known and loved? Can she ever understand that sometimes it takes an even bigger monster to stop a monster?
The Scarlet Mansion
Allan W. Eckert - 1985
Henry Holmes, one of the most notorious serial killers of all time, who in the late 1800's, murdered no less than 133 people. A fascinating view of this highly dangerous person from the time of his first murder, when he is only 12 years old, to his adult years when he built a huge, 105-room mansion in Chicago, with most of the space devoted to chambers for torture and death. But then an incredible chase begins, involving kidnapping and more murders when a detective gets on his trail.
Blood Red Rose
Fawn Bailey - 2018
I'll make you." Stolen. Kidnapped. Taken. He snatched me off the street, ending my dream of becoming a dancer. Now, I'm locked away in a mansion with girls who've met the same fate. My captor is always rough, rarely kind. He punishes me for every little mistake. He's training me. Preparing me. Getting me ready. Slowly, my body is starting to break. Obey. Bend to his will. Time's ticking. My body is learning to submit. I've almost stopped fighting. Almost given in. Still, the promise of something darker hangs in the air. The real monster is lurking. And soon, he will come for me. Cover reveal for Blood Red Rose coming February 2018.
Blue Suburbia: Almost a Memoir
Laurie Lico Albanese - 2004
Her mother may stand silently at the sink year after year, or lie in the basement weeping, but Albanese is determined to flee the deadening certainty of her parents' lives. Her story does not disappoint us.By turns haunting, hilarious, tragic, and romantic, Blue Suburbia is the chronicle of a determined young woman who overcomes family limitations, socio-economic obstacles, and personal fears to build a happy -- and blessedly ordinary -- life. Written entirely in free verse, Blue Suburbia's cadence is a steady, rhythmic heartbeat, pulsing with pain, rebellion, love, and triumph. This is the story many of us might tell, if we had the courage.