Customer Reviews

The Trade

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Matt Lowell is a single guy who lives on the beach in Malibu and loves his dog. And he needs that dog, because as far as women are concerned, he has a problem with commitment. As the story opens we find Matt racing home to rescue said dog from a raging wildfire. The area has been closed off, but that's not stopping Matt. As he dashes though the surf, he finds an abandoned newborn. He picks up the baby and continues he dash home. Unfortunately, the child dies before he can get help.

The police are quick to put Matt directly in the crosshairs of their suspicion. Then, when the baby's teenage mother is found dead, they galvanize their sights on Matt even as Matt begins to feel a sense of duty to this perished mother and her child. He can't leave the situation alone. He can't rest until he finds out what had happened to them and why.

Then, while in the woods look for clues, he comes upon more children, runaways. But runaways from whom? One of the children is ill and he takes her home, hoping she might be the key to the mystery. He calls and asks his ex-girlfriend Ginn Chang for both support and legal advice. He has never really gotten over her, though she makes it very clear she has no intention of picking up where they left off, as she is definitely aware of his commitment problem.

Then he calls a doctor friend to help with the girl and they find that the child is afraid of men, and, if that isn't enough, that night someone tries to break into his home and kidnap the child. What has Matt gotten himself into? He's about to find out as his investigation drags him into the underbelly of the criminal world and eventually leads to some very bad, very connected hombres who endanger not only Matt, but those he holds dear.

In my opinion Ms. Palmer has written a powerful story, one that should open a lot of eyes. I know it did mine. I always thought slavery ended with the Civil War. Well, apparently it didn't. This is a thriller with a message, a thriller with heart, a thriller not to be missed.

I am a huge fan of Shirley Palmer, have read every one of her books (Danger Zone; Veiled Journey; Lioness) and I have to say this is her best yet! Palmer reveals an underworld that is shocking and eye opening. Highly recommended!

This is a very exciting and well written book. The hero is a real human. The trade in children is very moving and the ending is exciting and unexpected.

This story surrounds a man, named Matt Lowell, who during one of the infamous California fires, while trying to escape the flames, finds a baby (newborn) seriously injured. While carrying the baby to safety, the baby dies in Matt's arms. During the same time frame, Matt comes across a young girl that is about 14 or 15, presumed to be the mother of the dead child, dead herself. In trying to search for the identity of the child and the mother, Matt comes across 4 children in the bottom of a canyon, neither child talks or for that matter wants to deal with Matt.
When Matt becomes cocerned that the baby and mother do not have family around, Matt becomes interested in taking custody of the bodies so that they can have proper burial...this in return causes local law enforcement to believe he had something to do with the deaths of these two people.
Matt also gets himself enbroiled in sex slavery while trying to find out who the 4 children belong to that he found at the bottom of the canyon...
Throughout the book, it does have some twists and turns, but in my opinion, I think that the author has tried too hard with this one, in giving the reading too many plots to think about. I found the book to have many mistakes in it (editoral) and the author does say that there are mistakes in throughout the text. In my opinion, this is something that the author and editor should do their best to avoid...it turns the reader off!!!
In hindsight, this book was not really that bad. I am not sure that I would read this author again, for fear of running into more of her careless typographical errors. I found this book to be written like it was written by an 8th grade student, not someone who has had other books under her credit...
A redeeming quality is finding out who was behind the deaths and sex-slavery trade of the kids in the canyon...this will not disappoint.

A couple of days before I read The Trade I read Palmer's great book Danger Zone. Although this book is a worthwhile read it is not in the same high league as Danger Zone which could be compared to Harlan Coben, Joseph Finder and other similar authors' great work.

In The Trade, Malibu resident Matt Lowell ignores a police road block and races towards his house to save it and his dog from a fire raging in the neighbourhood. Losing his car to the fire he is forced to run along the beach to his house but on the way comes across an abandoned baby. Eventually when he arrives at his house he notices the baby is dead. After the fire the baby's teenage mother is found dead on the roadside covered in flowers. Upon investigating the scene Matt finds out there's other children in the canyon and brings an injured girl home with him who can't speak English and is terrified of everyone. For reasons only known to him and to allow the plot of the book to happen he doesn't just ring the cops but keeps homicide police in the dark about everything and instead tries to solve the problem himself. Only when those who also unbelievably have also gone along with his plan start to turn up dead does he realise he will soon be dead if he doesn't gather enough evidence first.

The Trade is also similar in plot to another book I recently read called California Fire and Life by Don Winslow which tackles a similar plot a lot more brilliantly and with substantially more substance and believability. The Trade is all right if you are borrowing it or can get one for free but if you're trading money for it you'll get a better deal with Danger Zone or California Fire and Life.

On his way home to rescue his dog before the California wildfires reach his house, Matt finds a baby abandoned on the beach. Thinking to save the little girl, he takes her home, only to have her die before he can do much more. Shortly thereafter, a teen age girl, likely the infant's mother, is found dead. Matt goes to take a look at where she was found, and finds himself walking into a hornet's nest.

He finds a group of run away foreign children, escapees from modern day slave runners, apparently. A good man, Matt wants to help them, even though it might cost him his life or freedom. With the help of close friends and his ex, Matt ventures into a glittering hell to save the innocent.

** Although the Trade is action packed and fast moving, it's hard to build an emotional tie to the story. More details about Matt and Ginn's relationship would have made them easier to empathize with. Still, this shocking story will hold your attention. **

Reviewed by Amanda Killgore.

Thanks to the Santa Ana winds, the fires are winning and roads are closed in and around Malibu. A frantic Matt Lowell needs to get inside the dead zone to rescue his dog, Barney, but is told that no one enters. Still he feels he must try as Barney has no escape from his fiery prison being locked inside their home. However, on the final leg of his trek along the beach, Matt is stunned to find a still breathing abandoned newborn in the midst of the inferno, but to his everlasting nightmare, the infant dies before he can bring the girl to safety.

Not long afterward, the police find the dead body of the baby's teenage mother covered with wildflowers. Obsessed as much as he was in saving his beloved canine and feeling a connection to the deceased baby Matt wants who killed them especially since the police thinks he murdered the mother. Matt begins his own inquiries. He will soon find that he opened up more than just Pandora's Box as the malevolent forces are involved in more than just the killings are so ruthless AND evil that even a Good Samaritan hero like Matt could be killed going after them.

Though Matt seems a bit too perfect, suspense fans will appreciate this terse thriller. The story line is action packed from the fires (out of the headlines) to the implied accusations to the amateur sleuth inquiries and finally to THE TRADE itself. Greed is the common theme and contrasts sharply to the hero who is goodness personified. Shirley Palmer is an expert storyteller whose tale is a study in contrasts.

Harriet Klausner