Deliver Me from Evil (Freedom) [Paperback]

Kathi Macias (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 5, 2011 | Series: Freedom (Book 1)

Deliver Me from Evil introduces readers to Mara, an eighteen-year-old girl who has been enslaved for nearly ten years, having been sold by her parents in Mexico and then smuggled across the border into San Diego where she was forced into sexual slavery. Readers will also meet 18-year-old, Bible-college-bound Jonathan and his 16-year-old sister, Leah, whose paths cross Mara’s and who become involved in her dramatic rescue.
Interwoven between the stories of Mara, Jonathan, and Leah is the heartbreaking story of another young woman in captivity in the Golden Triangle of Thailand, whose past life mysteriously connects to the young people in San Diego.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Award‐winning author Kathi Macias has written more than 20 books, including the “Extreme Devotion” series of novels for New Hope Publishers.
Kathi has won many awards, including the Angel Award from Excellence in Media, fiction awards from the San Diego Christian Writers Guild, and the grand prize in an international writing contest.
With women’s ministry as her primary interest, Kathi is a
popular speaker for women’s retreats, conferences, and churches. A mother and grandmother, Kathi and her husband, Al, call California home.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: New Hope Publishers (September 5, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596693061
• ISBN-13: 978-1596693067
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #56,192 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hauntingly realistic - READ THIS BOOK, August 19, 2011

By 

christianfictionaddiction - See all my reviews

This review is from: Deliver Me from Evil (Freedom) (Paperback)

Deliver Me From Evil depicts the story of several youth whose lives could not be any different from each other. 18-yr-old Mara has been a victim of sexual slavery since her uncle brought her across the U.S. border from Mexico at the age of 6. Jonathan, also 18, and his 16-yr-old sister, Leah, reside in the comfort of suburbia, pastor's kids who have known relative security their whole lives and who have been largely unaware of the seedy undercover world around them. When Jonathan drops off a pizza at a motel as part of a routine delivery, his path crosses that of Mara and starts his whole family on a journey they never could have anticipated.

Kathi Macias has penned a heart-wrenching, well-written story, from the haunting beginning to its satisfying conclusion. The author writes with a steady hand, with beautifully developed characters and a keen insight into the world of human trafficking. The transitioning scenes between Mara's situation of being a sex slave and the home of Jonathan & Leah provide a stark contrast between the world of those where God is given priority, and the world of those where evil rules the day. The additional stories of other children being used for perversion, both in the U.S. and in Thailand, are also powerfully told. I found the novel to be engrossing, and the story impossible to stop reading as I had to find out what happened in the end.

This novel is not a light read. To be honest, I found it incredibly difficult to read about the horrific abuse suffered by the children trapped by human trafficking. At some points I wasn't sure I could even keep reading because the story made me sick to my stomach, but I'm glad I did as the story is an incredibly important tale, one that will stay on my mind for some time. My heart broke as the author vividly put a face to the experiences of millions of children every day, and I find myself wondering how can I respond? What would God have ME do about the situation?

I challenge everyone to read this book and have their eyes opened to a situation that is real and is likely occurring in their very own backyards. If your heart isn't touched by this book, then nothing will. Highly recommended, I give this story 4.5 out of 5 stars.

This review is based on an electronic copy provided by the publisher via netgalley for the purpose of completing this review.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A powerful story that everyone should read!!!, October 17, 2011

By 

Katie McCurdy "Legacy of a Writer" (U.S.A.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Deliver Me from Evil (Freedom) (Paperback)

Wow. What a book. Readers who pick up Deliver Me from Evil are sure to be changed by the powerful story found within the pages. I just finished the book minutes ago, and I am still trying to take it all. How incredible sobering, eye-opening, and stirring! People everywhere are often ignorant of this very real issue (human trafficking) going on around us, but this books brings it into a very up-close and personal prospective.

Told from the point of view of a wonderful cast of characters--several of them begin young girls stuck in the sex-slave world--Deliver Me from Evil is a story I won't soon forget. I've read a few of Kathi Macias' books before, but this one trumps them all! While she did a great job keeping the book as clean and non-graphic as possible, she doesn't steer away from the facts of the trade and what the girls go through.

Because of this, I wouldn't recommend it for younger readers, but older teen girls and mature readers should make this a must read. How many times do girls complain about protective parents? Reading the story of Jolene and Jasmine, girls taken when they wandered from the protection of their family, made me resolve to never complain about an over-protective parent again! Oftentimes, we girls think "it won't happen to us"...but Deliver Me from Evil shows how sex slavery is in our backyard! And, yes, it could very well happen to you. Sobering stuff, this book, but necessary. Eye-opening.

From the very first sentence in this book, my attention was captivated. I forewarn you that this is a very heavy read--but good at the same time. Illegal sex slavery exists today because too many people want to believe it isn't there. I highly commend Kathi Macias writing about such a difficult and painful subject. I can't imagine how heart-wrenching the research for this book must have been. If you aren't aware how prominent slavery is in the world--in America--get this book. Read it asap. Your thoughts on this issue won't ever be the same.

I reviewed this book for Pump Up Your Books: Virtual Book Publicity Tour. It was not required that I give a positive review, but solely to express my own thoughts and opinions of this book, which I have done.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book that will forever change you!, October 2, 2011

By 

Pirate2240 "Kat" (Victorville, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Deliver Me from Evil (Freedom) (Paperback)

Perhaps one of the most powerful books I've read in a long time, exposes the world of child kidnapping and human trafficking. Often times we think this happens in other countries far away from us, but we would be so shocked to learn that it may in fact be happening in our own neighborhoods in this country.

Using a fiction based story, Deliver Me From Evil by Kathi Macias is an eye-opening and tragic story of one girl, Maria whose name is changed to Mara is sold by her family in Mexico to her uncle in hopes of a better life. The better life she had dreamed of turns into a nightmare when she learns she has been sold into a prostitution ring and her uncle is running it. Now year later, Mara has found a way to cope, a way to place herself outside of what is happening to her body in hopes that one day she will die from the hands of one of clients who beats and abuses her. She knows she can never escape and find a life of freedom again.

Jonathan is on the verge of graduating high school and works nights delivering pizza at Slice of Italy. Only tonight's delivery will change his life forever when he encounters a young girl running from a motel room, half naked, begging him for help. An older man appears and takes the young girl back from him, claiming he is her father and she is mentally unstable and hasn't been taking her meds. Just as Jonathan tries to intervene, Mara calls for the young girl and validates the story. Thinking nothing more of it, Jonathan leaves, but can not forget the image or the young girls face pleading for his help.

In the novel, Deliver Me From Evil from Kathi Macias, the first book in the Freedom series, Kathi takes the reader into the world of human trafficking in the prostitution market within San Diego as the setting for this story. Finding it difficult to read as a parent of two girls, this book really hit home for me. Wondering if this isn't really occurring in our own towns and neighborhoods as young girls go missing, claimed by police as merely runaways or the victims of internet dating. How would a parent ever know if their child wasn't a victim of this senseless crime that is happening all over the world, especially when kids are walking home from school or attending late night events or a day at the beach.

This makes the reader more aware that these things are happening and even want to take a proactive approach at seeing this end. Not just criminals placed behind bars but for the need of this type of service to end and the tragic lives that are taken away forever, finding a way to heal the pain inside. I want to thank Kathi for taking a stand and writing a difficult novel with a strong story line like this one, if not to create an awareness in us, but to cause us to help in finding a way to stop this abuse once and for all.

I received this book compliments of Pump Up Your Book Tours and New Hope Publishers for my honest review and highly recommend it. Not a subject for young adults but definitely something that the church ministries should all actively be pursuing in their own communities. The more aware we become, the more we can find a way to end this nightmare for those involved. I rate this book a 5 out of 5 stars.