This is the second book from the "Edge of the World" books by Tom Davis. I had really loved the first one, entitled Scared. Priceless was actually the first one I had wanted to read because of all the human trafficking books and research I've done over the years. This certainly depicted truly what happens around the world, including in Russia, with the many young trafficked women who are sent out of their country to many others around the world, and even nearby. Many young women from European countries are also sent to Russia (such as those from Ukraine, Romania, and Moldova, but this book didn't really highlight much on that at all).
We have Stuart Daniels, who seems to be making a documentary or movie about girls trafficked in Russia. He goes there on a trip to learn more about it. He is known for his photo-journalism and was truly transformed by God when he was in Swaziland a year earlier.
He is asked by an old friend/colleague/girlfriend of his to do a secret mission of sorts to help out a few trafficked girls and in hopes of finding one girl he met when she was a child in an orphanage that he had kept in touch with named Marina. Marina had gone missing after she was let out of the orphanage, and had been lured by traffickers who constantly are watching out for young women let out so they can offer them jobs in places in other countries that seem legit.
My problem with this book is that it didn't really seem to fit together enough with the character of Stuart in the first book, though at other times it totally was him. This one was definitely more raw, but that beautiful Spirit that shone through the first book was missing a lot in this one. There are some graphic instances that definitely would have occurred that would probably anger many people who read this, but considering I've read a few books by men who have had to do operations of saving girls and sometimes have to act like the men they hate who end up hurting these girls just to find out information, this definitely held true to that.
I did not enjoy the violence that seemed to be acceptable. Justice is not served by killing others or threatening anyone and I don't think it is what Christ would glorify even if it does mean you are saving the oppressed. I think at times it was applauded though in this book.
There is definitely a Catholic perspective in this, though I don't know if Tom Davis is Catholic or not. Definitely you can see much love for Jesus in this book, and I loved it, but I have a hard time with prayers to saints and Mary which seem like idolatry to me, so that is mentioned and I tried to shrug it off because I know there are many in Russia that are predominantly Catholic but still love Jesus.
There were holes throughout this story that didn't seem to go too well, and even some questions I was left with such as, "So who was this Mr. M and what happened to Dasha mentioned in this story?" and many other things that I would mention here but I don't want to give away spoilers.
We have Stuart Daniels, who seems to be making a documentary or movie about girls trafficked in Russia. He goes there on a trip to learn more about it. He is known for his photo-journalism and was truly transformed by God when he was in Swaziland a year earlier.
He is asked by an old friend/colleague/girlfriend of his to do a secret mission of sorts to help out a few trafficked girls and in hopes of finding one girl he met when she was a child in an orphanage that he had kept in touch with named Marina. Marina had gone missing after she was let out of the orphanage, and had been lured by traffickers who constantly are watching out for young women let out so they can offer them jobs in places in other countries that seem legit.
My problem with this book is that it didn't really seem to fit together enough with the character of Stuart in the first book, though at other times it totally was him. This one was definitely more raw, but that beautiful Spirit that shone through the first book was missing a lot in this one. There are some graphic instances that definitely would have occurred that would probably anger many people who read this, but considering I've read a few books by men who have had to do operations of saving girls and sometimes have to act like the men they hate who end up hurting these girls just to find out information, this definitely held true to that.
I did not enjoy the violence that seemed to be acceptable. Justice is not served by killing others or threatening anyone and I don't think it is what Christ would glorify even if it does mean you are saving the oppressed. I think at times it was applauded though in this book.
There is definitely a Catholic perspective in this, though I don't know if Tom Davis is Catholic or not. Definitely you can see much love for Jesus in this book, and I loved it, but I have a hard time with prayers to saints and Mary which seem like idolatry to me, so that is mentioned and I tried to shrug it off because I know there are many in Russia that are predominantly Catholic but still love Jesus.
There were holes throughout this story that didn't seem to go too well, and even some questions I was left with such as, "So who was this Mr. M and what happened to Dasha mentioned in this story?" and many other things that I would mention here but I don't want to give away spoilers.
