The following review appeared in Publishers Weekly and was one of the first reviews of an ebook done by the prestigious trade magazine.Tribunal
Nancy Hersage. Online Originals
(www.onlineoriginals.com), $7 (350 p)
ISBN 1-84045-52-5
Global sex trafficking--the sale of humans, primarily women, for sexual purposes--has long been tolerated by national governments. Hersage's gripping first novel is based on the idea of bringing those involved in this offense before an international court.
At an Amsterdam hospital, American Railey Suchins encounters a Filipino woman who needs help. Shaken by the woman's urgent plea, Railey and social worker Greta Bogardus identify her as Nita Pangil, who works in the city's red-light district. Nita, we learn in flashbacks, was struggling to keep her two children alive in Manila, like thousands of others, when she was offered a job in Europe. She accepted, only to be traded like a slave from Italy to the Netherlands, ending up in an Amsterdam brothel and desperate to escape. After freeing Nita, Railey befriends her and the two become the keystones of an international tribunal in the Hague, determined to bring justice to the thousands who have similarly suffered.
Hersage spins an enthralling tale, tackling this difficult subject with clear writing, strong characters and a brisk pace.
Tribunal is available from Online Originals at www.onlineoriginals.com
