I received this book from NetGalley and thank them for allowing me to read this great book. I don't read enough books written by men, and this one reminded me I need to diversify my authors!
Daniel did an amazing job writing from a vulnerable teenage girl's POV.

I found the chapters with Nadine, the teenage runaway, more interesting than Angie's (a Private Investigator.) The story is Angie's, and while her discoveries about her family are interesting, I was really intrigued by the dark terror of how easily a teenage girl can be tricked into trusting the wrong person. ( )

Lots of twists and turns and I never guessed where the ending would wind up in one of the two sort-of overlapping stories the author provides. All kinds of portrayals of trafficking that I was totally unfamiliar with---horrific in the probable accuracy---almost more than I really wanted to picture in this audio version of the book, read by Tavia Gilbert. ( )

Forgive Me by Daniel Palmer is a 2016 Kensington publication.

Angie DeRose is a dedicated PI, who has devoted her life to helping find runaway and missing children. When Nadine, a teenager with a troubled home life runs away, her mother hires Angie to find her.

But things become more complicated than usual when Angie’s mother dies suddenly and she discovers an old photograph her mother had hidden away. The photo is of a young girl with a deformity, with “May God Forgive Me’ written on the back in her mother’s handwriting, along with a what appears to be a code of some kind.

The picture haunts Angie and prompts her to investigate, never imagining the secrets she would unearth or the danger she would awaken in the process.

Based on the synopsis, I get the impression that of the two separate threads, the story concerning Angie’s mother was supposed to be the predominant story line. However, I could have taken or left this part of the story, as it didn’t provoke the same sense of dread that Nadine’s story did, nor did it evoke an emotional response from me, other than one of incredulity. It was just a bit too over the top in terms of plausibility and the last minute addition of characters muddied the waters, with the entire thread more or less falling to pieces, and then clumsily and hastily pasted back together.

This vivid portrait of a runaway who falls prey to sex trafficking and slavery is so tense and at times difficult to read, as it is told with such authenticity and realism, it's almost as if I going through the experience with Nadine.

This story would have been terrific if it had simply focused on the runaway angle, which was the saving grace of the novel.

The gritty details of being held prisoner, the slow degradation, the devaluing of human life, and the sad and mind blowing statistics involving the underground sex trade and slavery was written exceptionally well and if for no other reason, makes this novel worth your time.

Overall, both storylines were ambitious, and both could have been the main focus of a novel, with just a bit more fleshing out, but put together in one story, one outshines the other, thus creating an imbalance, but the one plotline was so well done, I still recommend this book to anyone looking for a taut crime story.

3.5 stars ( )

Angie DeRose is a private investigator in Virginia who specializes in runaways. Daniel Palmer has woven two suspenseful stories into one novel. One involves the case of a runaway that may have been taken by human traffickers and the other a mysterious photo of a young girl found in her mother’s possessions after she passes away. With both investigations comes a story of a strong woman. The characters are well developed, the story believable (although intense) and a has a conclusion that was riveting. ( )

If we knew little about human trafficking and the plight of runaways there might be an excuse for this book to be so pedantic. But Mr. Palmer's book is only a drop in the deluge of information on TV and newspapers, and also in fiction about the horrors and perversions of human trafficking and modern day slavery.

So I can't cut this book any slack because of the topic. My reaction to the book, which is echoed by other critical reviewers, is that the text is slow and dull and overly descriptive. The two stories do not fit together well. The editor needed a sharper red pencil.

I received a review copy of "Forgive Me" by Daniel Palmer (Kensington) through NetGalley.com. ( )