"Eric Martin ripped my heart out. He tore my soul and poured salt into
the wounds. He ripped and shredded and broke…Martin doesn't pull his
punches in this book. He doesn't wrap things up in a neat little bow
and end it all with a happily-ever-after. He writes a very real
thriller about a very real problem, and he does it in a manner that
will literally take your breath away…This book is, in so many words,
amazingly brutal, horrifying and breathtaking by turns, and I wouldn't
have missed it for the world. " – Book Review Blog 'So I Read A Book
Today'
"On one hand, parents preparing to send daughters away to college
should avoid this book. On the other, said parents should require said
daughters to read this book…The plot is chillingly plausible; a
ripped-from-the-headlines type of story. In The Trading Society, Eric
Martin combines the sports writing style of Buzz Bissinger with the
historic novel fashion of Erik Larson." – Amazon review by Bill M.
"I found a good author. This is an evenly paced, totally engrossing
thriller. It has a bit of everything: terrorism, romance, suspicion,
politics, globe-trotting, and a really big surprise. I found at times
it was too much, but this is a whirlwind of a read that won't bore
you. The writing is solid and his characters are real enough to allow
you to lose yourself. When you mix all these elements together it gets
interesting." – Amazon review by Sabrina C
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For centuries their evil trade was considered legal and fueled the
engine of the world's commerce.
As men profited and accumulated vast fortunes from the sale of human
flesh, millions suffered and thousands died as helpless chattel
imprisoned in the chains of slavery. Then those empowered of just
cause engaged in a righteous, and at times bloody, crusade to abolish
the despicable trade, believed their efforts eradicated the indelible
stain of human slavery from the world.
They were wrong.
Slavery didn't vanish, the despicable trade never ended. It only
evolved into an enterprise far more insidious, took on a sinister new
identity. Those plying the trade slipping deep into the shadows to
offer a far different product, women young and helpless, to a
clientele both wealthy and powerful to satisfy their twisted desires
and act out sick and barbarous fantasies.
Now a beautiful, young college journalist is about to uncover this
darkest secret of human trafficking. And for her terrible discovery
become their next victim…
For Samantha Grayson life at prestigious Great Northern University
outside of Chicago couldn't be any more complete: the star news
reporter for The Daily Northern and deeply in love with Tyler
McManaway, the strikingly handsome All-American quarterback of the
school's resurgent football team. But a passing glimpse at a story
concerning the baffling disappearance of five young women that
terrorized Los Angeles a year earlier catches her interest and
research into the tragic incident unknowingly sends Samantha towards a
dangerous rendezvous unimaginable in her most dreadful nightmares.
Samantha has no idea of the link between the puzzling disappearances
and the evil, shadowy cabal trafficking in female flesh, kidnapping
unsuspecting young women to fill grim consignments worth millions to
powerful men. Now their most skilled Collector, an operative known for
ruthless cunning and the man behind the missing women in Los Angeles
and other vanished victims, has come to Chicago in search of 'product'
for his most profitable, and brutally sadistic, client. A man if his
depraved secret of violent bloodlust comes to light will send
political shockwaves around the globe and threaten to shatter the
fragile stability of the world's economy.
When a worried freshman seeks Samantha's assistance in locating her
missing roommate, the investigation thrusts Samantha into the clutches
of a terrifying peril not only threatening her life, but that of her
closest friends as well. As Samantha struggles to survive a seemingly
hopeless situation and a cruel destiny guaranteeing certain death, it
falls upon Tyler McManaway to perform heroics in a desperate
life-or-death contest far removed from the playing field. He must
rescue the woman he loves from evil men with malicious intentions
before time runs out and Samantha Grayson vanishes forever another
victim of The Trading Society.