Corban Addison

This book is a tough read. The subject matter can make your skin crawl and the hairs on your arms will rise. There are more ways to create a human slave than I had ever imagined. There is no end to the number of people who will prey on the innocent, who are simply driven by greed and a lack of conscience.
The book is mainly about two main characters, sisters, aged 17 and 15, Ahalya and Sita. Before literally being cast adrift by a tsunami, in their home town in India, they led charmed lives show more in a lovely house with loving, educated and successful parents. After, along with their family, all of their servants and friends are suddenly wiped out, and they are completely alone. While trying to get to their convent school and safety, they are kidnapped and sold into human bondage, for all intents and purposes, disappearing; one young woman’s life soon begins as a sex slave and the other, as a servant.
Many of the girls that are sold have been captured because of their naivete. They answer questionable ads, run away from home in search of a better life, escape to raise money for poverty stricken or ill relatives. Regardless of their motives, they are all abused and terrified of their captors who show them no mercy and treat them without any consideration for human needs. They fall prey to the dregs of society. Reading this, I could literally feel my blood pressure rise because of the horror the young women were exposed to and because of the despicable nature of the men who used and abused them. These young, inexperienced girls were in no condition to fight their captors. In order to stop this trafficking, the users of these services should be punished, along with the pimps and the kidnappers and the brothel owners, etc.; anyone involved in aiding or abetting this practice should be put away forever. They are monsters of the worst degree. How they turn a blind eye to their complicity in this crime is incomprehensible.
Although the book could have degenerated into a sex crazed story, with elaborate descriptions of rape and physical violence, the author let the story move the plot along rather than the titillating descriptions, which are the meat and potatoes of many novels today. The more explicit scenes are left to the reader’s imagination. The narrative is suspenseful and very exciting. The story is filled with twists and turns which will hold the reader's interest while at the same time educate the reader about this abominable trade that can only exist because there are so many depraved men supporting it.
The main problem with the book is the number of failed rescues; there were just too many near misses. They tried to include every different kind of human trafficking possible while at the same time, the author seemed intent on protecting and keeping the teenager, Sita, safe from the actual consequences of her captivity, the actual moment of the rape which would make her a courtesan or worse. Either all law enforcement is corrupt and inept or the author wanted to portray them that way to keep the story going on and on. One thing is for sure, there are corrupt politicians and law enforcement officers who allow this to continue. Also, there is an underlying love story complete with betrayal which probably could have been left out although it moved the plot along and moved the characters to the countries they needed to be in order for the tale to play out. The confluence of so many events occurring at just the right time, and for just the right reason, appeared a bit too serendipitous and unrealistic but the story held my interest completely; its human interest tugged my heartstrings. It is at once sad and painful, as it is also hopeful and joyful.
It is obvious that the author knows this subject well and while the story may go off on one too many tangents, on occasion, and lose credibility, at times, the book deserves to be read. The crime and shame of human trafficking always remains the main theme that the author wished to expose and expunge. show less

Corban Addison writes books whose subject matters are ripped from newspaper headlines. In A Harvest of Thorns he writes about the global horrors of workforce exploitation in the garment industry. The book opens with a nightmare sequence of a factory in Bangladesh burning to the ground, taking the lives of hundred of workers, mostly young women. The book then moves on Malaysia and the enforced slavery of workers and finally on to Jordan and the sexual exploitation of young women workers. All show more of these were set in garment factories, places where the clothing of North Americans are manufactured.

I have read other books by this author and it is obvious that he is a supporter of a number of humanitarian causes. His books are both descriptive and meaningful. Although I found the story in A Harvest of Thorns to be less engrossing than usual, it was educational and leaves you thinking about how and where you shop. We follow two main characters, Josh, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist as he tracks these incidents and Cameron Alexander, who works as the general counsel for a large American clothing company. Both these men have side stories dealing with their families, but my interest was all in the parts about the sweatshops, the rights of labour and the ethics involved in producing materials for the global market.

In writing A Harvest of Thorns, Corban Addison is prodding our conscience and demanding justice for overworked and underpaid third world workers and as an attorney, an activist and a world traveler, he knows of what he writes. A Harvest of Thorns is the story of these less fortunate people, but it is also a story that questions whether we are locked into consumerism at such a price. show less

I found this a very good book, delving into a topic that I really wasn't that familiar with.
The story starts in India, where two girls, Ahalya, 17 yr and her sister Sita, 15yr, go from a happy, somewhat privileged life, to one of compete uncertainty in an instant. They are walking on the beach with their parents, when a Tsunami, sweeps across their village. Miraculously, they survive, but their family and most of their village does not. They try to get to their school, which is some show more distance away, when almost immediately, they are abducted and taken to a brothel in Mumbai. Both being virgins, they fetch a high price when sold to the brothel. Across the world in DC, Thomas Clark, once a rising legal star, is watching his world crumble. When the big case he's been working on comes down opposite than they were working on, he gets thrown under the bus and is told to take a temporary leave, and his wife has left him. After witnessing an abduction of a little girl, and finding out how prevalent sex trafficking is, Thomas joins a group fighting human trafficking and heads to India. It doesn't take long for Thomas to get thoroughly involved. Meanwhile Ahalya has been sold to the highest bidder, and tries to withdraw the best she can in order to survive, hopes this will spare her sister. It doesn't and she is taken away. The story is told from the three points of view, it's fast paced and eye opening. show less

i read this page turner in two days. I am a fan of books taking place in Africa. This book took me to Zambia and the culture there of HIV ignorance, rape and the judicial system all wrapped up in a gripping human rights based novel. So many important themes came through in this entertaining novel, themes of sexual assault in sub- Saharan Africa, myths of children with disabilities, HIV / Aids stigma entrenched in African culture and the need for DNA testing in court trails. All this in a show more vastly entertaining novel. Well done. show less