The Bracelet

by Roberta Gately

Humanitarian aid Abby Howell and reporter Nick Sinclair find themselves in the middle of a human trafficking ring in Pakistan. When Abby realizes she may have witnessed a murder by a high-ranking official, she and Nick must break the story before she becomes its next casualty.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Book Club, Contemporary, Mystery

318 pages, Paperback

First published November 6, 2012

About the author

A nurse, humanitarian aid worker, and writer, Roberta Gately has served in third-world war zones ranging from Africa to Afghanistan. She has written extensively on the subject of refugees for the Journal of Emergency Nursing, as well as a series of articles for the BBC World News Online. She speaks regularly on the plight of the world’s refugees and displaced.

Reviews

[Antonella Imperiali · Rating 3 out of 5]

Non so se classificarlo come un romance vestito di giallo, o come un giallo dal cuore romance. La storia è abbastanza scontata, semplice, occupata da personaggi dimenticabili, molti dei quali risultano viscidi, odiosi ed insopportabili. La scrittura è scarna, elementare, insomma... non coinvolge molto, ma si legge speditamente, almeno.

E a tutto questo vanno solo due stelle scarne.

La terza stella la metto per gli argomenti trattati, anche se avrei preferito maggior approfondimenti e non storie trattate all’acqua di rose.

Si parla dello stato in cui versa il Pakistan con i suoi campi profughi, la povertà, il degrado, la fame. E poi della tratta di esseri umani. Questa è una realtà sconvolgente; a detta dell’Autrice (non ho approfondito), pare sia il terzo commercio illegale più remunerativo del pianeta, dopo quello della droga e delle armi. [...] La tratta di esseri umani resta il piccolo sporco segreto del mondo. [...] Le vittime potenziali si trovano ovunque. Sono bambini senza voce, abbandonati per strada nelle grandi città, le donne dimenticate, tutti gli esseri più vulnerabili tra noi.

Troppo poco per porre sotto gli occhi di tutti un problema così enorme, una goccia nel mare, un grido molto fievole... però che pena...


#iorestoacasaeleggo


🌏 LdM - Paesi: Pakistan 🇵🇰
🌏 Asia: Pakistan 🇵🇰

[YA Reads Book Reviews · Rating 1 out of 5]

Originally posted on www.yareads.com, reviewed by Nichole.

Humanitarian aid Abby Howell and reporter Nick Sinclair find themselves in the middle of a human trafficking ring in Pakistan. When Abby realizes she may have witnessed a murder by a high-ranking official, she and Nick must break the story before she becomes its next casualty.
I was really nervous to read The Bracelet because it discussed such a terrifying topic for me: sex trafficking. I live very close to Seattle, WA, which actually has a large amount of sex trafficking, and trafficking in general going on. I also learned quite a bit about human trafficking in one of my college courses, which scared the living crap out of me. Not to mention, the movie Taken, starring Liam Neeson. Obviously, I didn’t handle that very well either.
When I read the prologue for The Bracelet, I was expecting a rather strong novel from Roberta Gately. It was pretty intense witnessing Abby watch a girl get thrown off the roof, and I expected high action throughout the rest of the novel. Unfortunately, I ended up being bored throughout most of the book.
The novel is set in Pakistan, which, honestly, is not a book for me. I don’t mind reading about other cultures, but I often find those types of books to be really educational and long, which is exactly how The Bracelet turned out for me. I also felt that the book was very repetitive.
I cannot express how much I disliked the main character, Abby. I really don’t have any logical reason for disliking her, I just didn’t. She got on my nerves so much! Not to mention, I thought she was an absolute idiot. I know that Gately was trying to educate her readers on what sex trafficking is. However, it really made Abby look bad when she had no idea what sex trafficking was. Seriously? What grown adult has never heard of sex trafficking or human trafficking? I know it’s not widely discussed, but I definitely scoffed at that. I also found her to be very obnoxious, and I felt that she whined way too much. I really did feel pity that her boyfriend of three or so years broke up with her. I did! But….going clear to Pakistan to recover, which is basically what she did, from a break up? REALLY? That’s a little over the top in my opinion.
Unfortunately, while reading this book, I found myself doing something that I never do. I skimmed a bunch of pages, and I ended up skipping whole paragraphs because I was that bored. It really did feel like a history lesson/educational novel, and I felt that this book could potentially be assigned to me from one of my professors. I read enough for school as it is, I don’t want my luxury reading to feel like school also.
Now, here’s the thing. Roberta Gately is a great writer. I understood that while I was reading The Bracelet. To make me a fan, though, Gately needs to take that great writing and make it interesting. Give me a plot that’s going to catch my attention and make me a loyal reader. The Bracelet is more of an adult novel than a young adult novel, but I read both. My books don’t have to be full of fantasy or paranormal activity. I’m fine sitting down and reading an adult romance novel or action/thriller.
In the end, I can’t tell readers whether or not they should read this book, because it really wasn’t for me. However, it did have great writing and this concept may appeal to some. I would encourage fans of this genre to give the book a chance. You never know, you may really enjoy it. Unfortunately, the book just was not for me.

Pages: 304
Publisher: Gallery Books
Publication Date: November 6th, 2012
Rating: : 1

Teaser Quote: “There is a lot to tell.” Nick was suddenly serious. He leaned across the table. “Trafficking is a big business. It’s a damned bonanza- third-biggest illegal business in the world behind arms and drugs, and it has an endless supply of resources. While the supply of drugs and arms could dry up, there’ll always be girls and women to exploit. It’s a thirty-two-billion-dollar-a year business.”

[Reeka (BoundbyWords) · Rating 2 out of 5]

As seen on my blog:



Oh lookie! There goes my faith in humanity again..*waves goodbye for the millionth time this month*. This book pried my eyes open, yes, PRIED. I was aware of the horrors of human trafficking before ( a 32 BILLION dollar profit for this sick bastards!!), but not through such personal accounts, and I definitely did not feel the level of sickness, and disgust this book allowed me to feel. Roberta Gately included some heart-wrenching stories of pain in this pages, so I will start off with that warning.

We open with the main character, Abby Monroe, witnessing a horrific "murder" on her morning run through the streets of Geneva, Switzerland, before her big career move to Pakistan. A woman is apparently thrown to her death from an apartment balcony, but all Abby seems to be able to focus on, once she makes it to the body, is a beautifully adorned bracelet. This bracelet is then retrieved from her "murderer," as Abby watches in fear from some nearby bushes. I understood her need to hide, she was alone, and terrified for her own life, but this act of hiding, and the fact that she could not lead the police to the correct street afterwards, pretty much placed her nicely in my "I don't think I'm going to like you very much" holding cell. She instantly came off as cowardly and aloof.

Skip forward, we find Abby in the currently riotous city of Peshawar, Pakistan. She believes this career move is for the best, she is anxious to help, and even more anxious to get over her failing relationship with ex-boyfriend, Eric. At this point, I already know that the intense scene at the beginning of the book has incorrectly set the tone for the remainder of it. The rest of the story reads like a romance novel, interspersed with moments of panic, and information about the all-too-present act of human trafficking within the city, and beyond. Abby is completely oblivious to this illegal trade, and makes that excruciatingly obvious with her outbursts of "Jesus!" and other such nonsense. I couldn't wrap my head around that for a SECOND. She is an employee of the UN, how could she possibly be so uneducated about the act? It's extremely unrealistic for her to have established the position she's in without any former knowledge of this, OR the country she seems to have just been "dumped" into.

There was so much potential here, though I feel as though the author only scratched the surface. The subject matter was intense, deep, and highly controversial, but the story line fell short, and read too easily. I was very humbled, and stricken by the first-hand accounts of the abuse and humiliation experienced by the girls in this book, and I think the author did an excellent job of driving that point home-allowing the readers to really wake up and consider the world around them. Though I also think, at the same time, she made too light of something that deserves much more heart, and seriousness.

For example, in this exchange, Abby, reporter Nick, and caretaker Zara are listening to a victim of trafficking, Mariyah, tell her story. Keep in mind, she revisits moments of rape, SEVERE abuse, and even mutilation:

"Clothes washing too. Boss woman take in laundry. She get the money, but we do the work. Scrub clothes and press wrinkles away. Clothes for rich women who no do own laundry. At night, husbands of rich women come to us. Rich women do nothing."

Zara suppressed a giggle. "You were taking care of the whole family"

REALLY!? You suppressed a GIGGLE about that!? How about you throw up instead!? Which would have been the response of every other sane human being listening to that story. I just..I didn't understand how the author could possibly have thought it okay to break up the horror with humor. I know these women were trying to live normal lives now, to find happiness and meaning, but that line was just uncalled for, and made horribly disgusted.

I want to end this review by reiterating a point that another reviewer made that mirrored my own thoughts as I read on. THE COVER: why is the model a white female? Perhaps the author was keeping attempting to keep it consistent with the cover for her previous novel, Lipstick in Afghanistan, which also depicts a white female. I think the model should have better reflected the woman who actually wore the bracelet: olive-skinned, and of east Indian descent.

The characters were pretty one-dimensional, the story line predictable, and the tone completely off in relation to the subject matter. However, I learned a lot about something I only knew a little about previously, so I can't fault this book completely.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Abby Monroe needs to get away for a while. Especially after her boyfriend, Eric moved away and left her. Abby signs up to assist the UN. Abby is going for a morning run while on her last day in Geneva before she heads to Pakistan. While on her run, Abby hears a woman and a man arguing. The next thing Abby spies is the woman tumbling over the balcony to her death. All Abby can remember is the bracelet the woman was wearing on her arm. It was encrusted with lots of shiny jewels.

Abby travels to Pakistan. Abby can not get the woman or the bracelet out of her head. Abby meets Noah, a journalist. Abby’s boss, Najeela is hiding something.

This book held promise and had my attention. There were both pros and cons to this book. Of course, the negatives were really very minor. For example, I felt that Abby was a bit stiff in the way she presented herself, mean towards Noah, and naïve to the true horrors of the country she was residing in. Ok, so the last item about Abby I can forgive. I mean this is part of the reason that the author wrote this book is to help share great awareness of the horrific act of “human trafficking”. Readers may have heard about human trafficking but to be honest no one really know the full extent. Human trafficking is like a way underground dark secret that people are aware of but turn their backs to. Luckily I have never had to experience this act. However, the more that I learn about this subject the more that I am intrigued to help out being awareness to others to assist. It does not happen just in other countries but in the United States as well.

It was just that since Abby was working for the UN, I thought she would be a little familiar with human trafficking. Noah was a good character for me. He has the strong personality to put up with Abby and he was a go getter. I was cheering for him that he would bring down the bad guys. Najeela and her carefree attitude did get annoying after a while. The romance between Noah and Abby did not have me totally convinced. Not after how harsh Abby was to Noah when she did not even make an effort to get to know him first.

This book had a good, steady pace. I like that the author tackled the subject of human trafficking and I thought that Roberta did it in a nice presentation.

[Mary BookHounds · Rating 4 out of 5]

MY THOUGHTS
LOVED IT

Abby Monroe, newly dumped and laid off from her job as a pediatric nurse, decides to leave her life behind and is hired by the UN to compile statistics for their vaccine program. It is a job she is uniquely qualified for and is assigned to Peshawar, Pakistan. On her way to the refuge camp, she stops in Geneva for training and on an early morning run, she witnesses what she believes is a murder. A women falls four stories and Abby rushes to where she lands, as she approaches she see an amazing bracelet on the women's wrist. A man scares her and she rushes back to her hotel, only to discover that when the police are called, the body isn't there.

Once she reaches Peshawar, she meet Najeela, who is the liaison for the UN. She is Afghan, and her father wishes to return to Afghanistan and seek a place within the new government. Najeela complains to Abby that she would love to marry her European boyfriend but she is under her father's rule at home and can only marry who he approves of. After growing up in Paris, she hates that she must return to the ancient ways of her land. She also explains the whole slave trade to Abby, were boys are sold to Arabs as camel jockeys (I had to look that one up), and young girls are sold as sex slaves. This is really eye opening and brings a lot of horrifying this to the forefront.

The story really becomes more of a romance and mystery when Nick, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, comes to the camp to research. He also tells Abby some harrowing stories about the refuges and human trafficking. As the pair dig deeper into the unsavory world of this horror, Abby seems to find herself. I really enjoyed this quick read and although there are some really awful things that happen to these refugees, it really opened my mind to what goes on in the rest of the world. I would definitely read another book by this author.

[☠tsukino☠ · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Bracelet
1.5

L’argomento trattato è importante, difficile e interessante, sicuramente fa riflettere ma la Gately l’ha trattato veramente male. Purtroppo il libro è di una banalità sconcertante e sovraccarico di informazioni inutili (non c’è bisogno di spiegare cos’è la tratta degli esseri umani; è inverosimile che Abby abbia bisogno di spiegazioni, dove ha vissuto finora? Nel mondo dei Puffi?).
La protagonista è uno dei personaggi più odiosi di cui ho letto. Perfetta in tutto, è l’ultima arrivata ma sa tutto lei, fa tutto lei; sembra essere la sola a provare compassione, è una falsa umile, tutti gli altri appaiono egoisti e scortesi. È un’infermeria (cosa che le ha permesso di accorgersi che una povera donna, spiaccicata per terra dopo essere stata buttata giù da un balcone e con il cranio sfondato, era morta) però all’occorrenza può essere: investigatrice, giornalista, esperta nella gestione di un rifugio di donne maltrattate (come abbiano fatto ad andare avanti in Pakistan senza la sua supervisione rimane un mistero), un membro della polizia scientifica (cavoli, per fortuna che guarda CSI, così ha scoperto che anche sui gioielli rimango le impronte), il tutto senza dimenticare di mettersi un po’ di eyeliner e gloss. In compenso raggiunge livelli d’imbarazzo notevoli, come quando ci ha messo un po’ a capire come mai tutte le sue mail erano sparite. Insomma è la celebrazione di una Mary Sue.
L’antipatia iniziale tra lei e Nick è ingiustificata, si sono guardati e hanno incominciato a comportarsi come due dodicenni odiosi. Poi altrettanto incomprensibilmente si sono piaciuti.
La parte gialla è insensata e non c’è un minimo di mistero, si capisce subito come stanno le cose (l’unica sorpresa è stata Hana, se non ricordo male il suo nome), il finale poi è inverosimile e assurdo.
I dialoghi servono solo a fornire infodump a gogo.
No, non lo consiglio e non credo leggerò mai altro di questa scrittrice.

[Meg - A Bookish Affair · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. "The Bracelet" is a fairly easy read about a very tough subject: human trafficking. Abby, a nurse, is running away from a failed relationship in the United States. She ends up in Pakistan, one of the most dangerous places in the world, as a UN worker. When she is there, she meets a journalist, Nick, who is chasing a story about human trafficking. Meanwhile, Abby, through her own work and her own relationships in Pakistan, becomes more aware of the issue with human trafficking. She also comes across the man who may be running the largest human trafficking ring in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Human trafficking is both a fascinating and important subject and I really liked that the author chose to tackle it. It is a difficult subject so it could be very difficult to write about. People who are interested in learning about this subject will find this book interesting even though it is a fictional book.

I never really warmed up to either Abby or Nick or their relationship. Abby is running away from a relationship but falls for Nick and gets involved right away. She didn't seem to be making very good decisions. I wasn't able to find a lot of common ground with her.

Also, I mentioned that this is a light read and I suppose I wished that the storyline itself had a little more gravitas when it came to dealing like such a heavy subject like human trafficking. The feeling throughout the book and the subject matter just seemed a little mismatched to a degree. Overall though, this book did pique my interest to learn more about this grave issue.

[S. · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5
I’ve read some books that portray the abuse that many women have suffered due to sexism or some other sort of prejudice, namely in the Middle East. I think that is a subject that needs to be discussed and brought to the media so that people realize that this is real and it is important to fight against it, and eradicate such atrocity. So it’s always good to know that some authors are brave enough to tackle such a delicate and meaningful topic.

Also, the topics for discussion at the end of the book, were a very good surprise. Too bad editors aren’t adding them to any published book, these days.

Unfortunately, I think that, despite the good plot, the end result could have been a lot better. Let me explain:

- The writing isn’t that bad, but it isn’t remarkable either;

- The plot is predictable from beginning to end, if you expect to be surprised at any part of the book, well…you won’t, or at least, I wasn’t;

- The romance it’s so cliché that it becomes annoying, (boy meets girl, they hate each other at the beginning, but end up together)

- Also, it’s very “fairy tale’esque” - the good guys prevail at the end

Don’t get me wrong, it was an enjoyable read, for sure, but it wasn’t my cup of tea.

I just think that this wasn’t the best approach to a topic so challenging as the violation of women’s rights, namely, in the Middle East.

[Laurie Johnston · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Human trafficking remains the world’s dirty little secret.” – Roberta Gately

“Commendable” seldom leaps to mind as the appropriate word to describe chick-lit, but commendable chick-lit this one is.

Boston nurse, Abby Monroe, would like a husband and meaningful work, but when prospects tank on both these fronts, consoles herself with UN job based in Peshawar, Pakistan. Initially stuck behind a desk, she’s surprised how dull her assignment is—until New York Times reporter, Nick, requests her help in questioning girls who’ve escaped a human trafficking ring. Naïve at first, Abby soon learns how dangerous life in Peshawar is. Worse, it appears her UN home has ties with the human trafficking ring.

Precisely put, I’d peg The Bracelet a borderline-frothy romantic intrigue. Making it truly powerful, though, are the tales revealed by the women abused. Gately clearly has full details, but she brings her dirty secret to light in a frank, yet highly sanitized manner even sensitive readers can take.

A bit bland for my tastes, but in spreading the word, an entertaining, "commendable" read.

[Cassandra. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Timely subject, great characters (needed more depth), insightful look at the politics of the middle-east and the workings of the UN. The crime of human trafficking is presented in riveting, humanistic, horrifying reality. While reading this book, I found myself wanting more. I read it in a little over a day, so it certainly kept my attention. The coincidence of the main character, Abby, witnessing a crime in Geneva in the beginning of the book and the involvement with the perpetrators later was a bit contrived. I wavered between giving it 3, 4, or 5 stars. It kept my interest and kept me wanting more so 4 it is. Forgot to mention that this is my tenth book from First-reads. Number eleven is on its way. What could be better than a free book?

[Cheryl Buckworth · Rating 1 out of 5]

not going to read! i hate all the nasty stuff

[Christine Fay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! This novel starts off with protagonist, Abby Monroe, witnessing a fall/push/murder of a woman out of a high-rise building in Geneva. She is a nurse from Boston, traveling and working now for the United Nations. Her witness of this murder drives the plot through many twists and turns. On the reader’s journey, we end up learning much about the culture in Pakistan, where she is stationed, and about the human trafficking ring that her reporter friend, Nick Sinclair, is currently researching. Even though the novel is fiction, it brings to light one of the world’s most lucrative industries -- the human sex trafficking industry. It is, in fact, occurring right under our noses. If you want to learn more, read this novel. If you want to learn even more, go to the author’s website, www.robertagately.com, to get educated, and see what you can do to help this worldwide crisis, or www.humantrafficking.org. Kudos to Roberta Gately for bringing awareness to this corruption through her work of fiction. I can’t wait to read her first non-fiction foray this coming Fall.

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Abby is a pediatric nurse who ran away from Hurricane Katrina with her best friend Emily and settled in Boston. She thought she found the perfect man, only for him to take a job across the country without her after she was laid off. Emily is getting married. So she signed up for the UN’s vaccination program and is sent to Peshawar, Pakistan. On a stopover in Geneva, she witnesses a woman being thrown off a balcony. In addition to her and the man who threw him off, it’s the woman’s bracelet that sticks in her mind.
While in Pakistan, a NYT reporter named Nick says that he’s there to do a story about her and the work the UN is doing. Abby’s eyes become open to the world of human trafficking through the people she works with as well as Nick and she finds herself in the middle of it all.

This book is only a cursory look into what is the third largest illegal money making market around the world. The biggest problem is the cover: this book focuses on the Middle East. Why is the woman white?

[Novella Semplici · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ero indecisa se mettere tre o quattro stelle, ma alla fine ho voluto premiare l'argomento. E' molto positivo infatti che si parli della tratta delle schiave del sesso a pagamento in un libro che può raggiungere persone che di solito non leggono le pubblicazioni Onu. E' un modo degnissimo di sensibilizzare al problema, non passarlo sotto silenzio, anche da noi che sembriamo innocenti e non lo siamo. La trama in alcuni punti è un po' debole, all'inizio l'ho trovato un po' monotono e a tratti anche un po' ingarbugliato. Poi si riprende alla grande sul finale quando arriva il giallo vero e proprio e aumentano i ritmi. Pregevole la leggerezza della storia sentimentale, che altrimenti avrebbe rovinato tutto. Prosa scorrevole. Sì, dopotutto, promosso.

[Ilaria · Rating 4 out of 5]

VOTO: 4.5⭐

Questo libro è una rilettura in realtà.

KINDLE EDITION

È prevedibile, si intuisce chi starà con chi, che succede, ma il finale, il plot-twist è la parte che rileggerei all'infinito.
Amo questo libro, perchè parla di tematiche che mi hanno sempre interessato, con un pò di amore che non fa mai male.

La scrittura è scorrevole, non ti riesci a staccare dal libro, anche se ho trivato alcune parti un pò troppo leggere.

Il finale è realistico, mi è piaciuto e mai avrei pensato ad Hana in quel modo. Il convoglio si sapeva che era no bueno, ma comunque non pesava troppo.

Non gli ho dato 5 stelle piene perché ho torvato delle incoerenze, dei punti troppo pesanti o troppo leggeri.

Nonostante ciò è una ottima lettura, che consiglio a le persone non troppo sensibili.

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.


The Bracelet follows the story of Abby, who, after being dumped the day after her 30th birthday and losing her job due to layoffs, runs away from her life by taking a job with the UN, as a nurse providing vaccinations in Pakistan. While there, Abby is touched by the suffering she sees in the poor, but soon comes to realize there are much bigger problems facing the populations she is sent to serve - namely, the billion dollar industry of human trafficking. With the help of a reporter sent to cover the work Abby is doing with the UN, they do their best to save the women they can, expose the bad guys they can, all while trying to escape with their lives.

Pros:

This was a very easy read. The time between when I downloaded this book and when I actually read it made me forget its subject matter, so I was pleasantly surprised to find the element of human trafficking (pleasant because the subject matter is interesting and not often covered in fiction). The story flowed fairly well, and it was rather hard to put down once I started.
The stories of the trafficking victims that Abby met were terrifyingly real, and what I appreciated was how the author demonstrated their lives weren't all that great even after they were rescued from traffickers.



Cons:

Abby. I didn't hate her, as I did a certain other protagonist with that name. But she definitely made me want to break a stack of 2x4s with my head. She was just so... American. Despite having been in New Orleans when Katrina hit, and despite working as a nurse in a hospital in a major city, Abby seems to have surprisingly little understanding that the world has bigger problems than whether your pretty-boy-boyfriend dumps you. Don't get me wrong, we have all shed wasted tears over some man, my gripe wasn't about her personal tragedy, my gripe was that she was - in this digital age - unbelievably uninformed about human condition in other parts of the world - even generally.
Case in point, the UN tells her that Pakistan is "an unstable security situation". If you've caught one segment of news since 2001, you know that many of the terrorists who were in Afghanistan crossed the border into Pakistan. But apparently Abby doesn't have a smart phone? Or a television? She's all "hmmm, wonder what that means." And then does not fucking investigate. If you're being sent halfway around the world, even voluntarily, don't you try to get a few basics about where you're going? I'm not asking you to be a Pentagon-level Taliban expert, but come on.
But this underlies Abby's mentality. She is a (presumably) pretty, young, middle class white girl going off to do good deeds, and with this mentality came a belief that she was immune to harm or danger. EVEN AFTER SHE WITNESSES SAID DANGER. It got old, real quick.

And in addition to being tragically American, she was just so damn stupid. After the reporter comes, they begin to unearth some of the human trafficking elements. Nick is a seasoned reporter for the NY Times, and has done his fair share of investigative reporting. Abby, who truly does want to help and I have to give that to her, makes his life (and mine) so difficult by her inability to follow simple directions.

Nick: Don't trust Najeela
Abby: mmm, I think you're just paranoid
Nick: Don't trust that broad, her uncle is the devil
Abby: Yeah but that's not her, she's cool
Nick: Don't tell anybody where you're going
Abby: Okay, I'm just going to give my driver (hired by Najeela) explicit directions to every place I go
Nick: Keep your mouth shut
Abby: Okay, I'm just going to send my BFF this long detailed email telling everything we know because OMG ISN'T THIS EXCITING?
Nick: Leave Hana alone
Abby: Okay, I'm just going to harrass her about her missing son because, you know, I want to know
Nick: Stay away from Imtiaz
Abby: Well, I was going to, but since he showed up I thought I would just interrogate him about all his illicit activities

If she were just stupid for stupid's sake, that would be one thing, but her stupidity puts her and Nick in repeatedly dangerous situations. I just wanted to go "Bitch, where are your survival instincts?" Throughout the course of the book, Abby somehow manages to put all the bad guys on the trail of EVERYTHING she and Nick had uncovered. And her stupidity risked not just her own life, but Nick's and the women at the clinic she worked for. All because she was so damn hardheaded.

Nick and Abby. When Abby first meets Nick, she is put off that a reporter has been sent to interview her, and takes that out on him. I understood neither. He wasn't being an ass, she was just rude and difficult and it really didn't make sense in the context or of her personality, which was generally open and trusting.
Their inevitable romance I found both unbelievable and predictable at the same time. Granted, she was rebounding over her BF, and she was in a strange world and lonely and scared and he was literally the only other white guy around (sigh...) but still, it seemed rushed. And given how little respect I had for her intelligence, I can't figure out what he saw in her either, but hell, who says guys have to like smart girls (soul sigh....)


And yet...while I would have liked to see a more engaging and strong MC, it was an interesting story that in spite of itself I enjoyed.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was hooked right from the beginning reading this interesting novel about the atrocities of human trafficking. Ms. Gately has used her personal experiences to make the reader know what it is really like being away from the comforts of home and dealing with a world miles away. The two main characters, Abby and Nick have a great compatibility and you are drawn into their story. I look forward to reading more of Ms. Gately's novels.

[Cat · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author did a poor job of developing the participants in this story; each just superficially painted. The horror of the trafficking, the abuse, the kidnapping, all required much more seriousness in a book, and I think Gately just didn't know how to write it.

I also had a sense of so much repeated narrative. While some stories are well told through repetition, this one just ended up being boring.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

such a clean and beautiful story!

[Cristina Volpin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scrittura scorrevele sicuramente ma non riesco a dare di più. Non si capisce bene quale è il filo conduttore e il finale mi ha lasciato l amaro in bocca

[Elisa Vangelisti · Rating 1 out of 5]

noioso

[Chaitra · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Bracelet is one of those books I requested an ARC of way back when, and let expire. Or so I thought. Turns out it didn't, and I finally got around to reading the book. Bad idea. I should have just let it lie on my computer.

I requested it for the subject matter, and coming from the subcontinent, I'm always interested in books set in the general vicinity. While I can appreciate that it deals with sex trafficking, I really hated the way it was dealt with - superficially. This is just a book where a white woman runs off to a random exotic country because of boy trouble, acts horrified about things she should have known about, and no matter how hard she tries to put everyone else in danger because of her arrogance, she finds the one white male in the entire country to a) save her sorry arse and b) to fall hopelessly in love with her.

Other reviews have touched upon how bad the character of Abby is. I want to add my voice to this chorus. This 30-something woman is a nurse who's worked through Katrina. So we're led to believe. She's applied for a position in UN, to work in a country with an "unstable security situation", yet she has no clue that Peshawar is not exactly a safe place to be? What in the name of hell was she doing in her orientation in Geneva? Napping? Pakistan was in the news before Bin Laden was killed, but this book is set after he was killed! There is absolutely no excuse for the character to be as unaware and ignorant as she is. Information dumps can be inserted into the book without making your main character have a mental age of a 2 year old. At least she could have shown some initiative and found out stuff herself? Instead she looks around wide-eyed and mouth open when someone says something that is even the least bit unpleasant.

Being a nurse I would think she would have some idea about abuses, about human condition in general, but she is surprised every time she hears the words sex worker. Seriously? Did she live in the clouds? Every single time that her co-conspirator Nick tells her not to do something, she idiotically does it. Nothing happens to harm her - in real life she would have been toast within the first two days. The magnitude of stupidity (in plural) she displays should have gotten her killed several times over by the time the book was done. Oh, and she doesn't speak the language. Not even a close approximation of it. She was probably the only one that applied for a job, because I can't think of anyone as unprepared as her beating out a single other person for a job in the UN.

As for the human trafficking subject - I don't know. Being raised by fairly open parents in India, it would have been hard for me to not know about the sex trade, about force, about pimps who would make you believe anything. I would have had to be extremely sheltered for that. I wasn't. I read exposés published in major publications about the subject, and those were so much better than this book it's not even funny. I did like the portions where the women explained their plight to Nick and Abby, but they were really minor compared to the Abby Show. And even those were marred by either Abby's disproportionate and fake-sounding horror/corny humor/stupid questions.

One thing I do give props to - Gately tries hard to be fair to the countries in question. But some of the demographics don't seem very likely (not impossible, just unlikely). The rescue shelter in Peshawar has exactly one woman of Pakistani descent. The rest are from the East of Pakistan. And one of the girls - a devout, touting the names of many Hindu gods girl from India just happens to saunter into Pakistan, with no one's help or force. Very unlikely, she's more likely to have fled south, east or even north of India, rather than west into Pakistan/Afghanistan. That's just the way it is. I also wondered about the pat statement about undefended borders - it's more correctly indefensible (as in really hopeless terrain), given how some random British man drew the border on the map with his eyes closed without considering stupid things like natural geographical borders.

Eh, never mind the subject, it's a popcorn book, and I'm over-thinking it. The real problem with it is that it's a bad popcorn book. 1 star, grudgingly given.

I received a copy of this book for review via NetGalley.

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Abby Monroe is in Geneva for orientation after having lost her job as a nurse in Boston, where her position was slashed because of the recession. Her love life had also crashed when Eric, the love of her life, broke up with her by e-mail.


Abby's parents had wanted her to move in with them in Florida, but Abby chose to go work for the U.N. to get away from her heartbreak.

While in Geneva, Abby witnessed a jump or murder from an office complex. The young woman has either jumped, fallen or was pushed out a window from the 4th floor of an office building. Abby hides from the gentleman who comes running out of the building, and gets away. Abby's brain is imprinted with this and especially by the bracelet that adorned this young woman's wrist, diamonds, sapphires & rubies in a sun pattern.

Abby calls the police as soon as she gets back to her hotel, but there is no body found and the authorities seem to want this to go away, and treat her as if she is crazy.

Abby is then placed in a home in Pakistan to assist with vaccinations on women and children at a camp in Pakistan. The house is very quiet with an unfriendly housekeeper, Hana, and a young woman who comes and goes named Najeela, who resembles the woman who Abby saw in Geneva.

Najeela is very friendly, but not very work-oriented. She likes to go shopping and eat at the finest restaurants, which strikes Abby as strange, considering all of the poverty surrounding them, at the house and on the streets and at the camp.

While Abby works at the camp for only two days during the week, she is in the house a lot and is very lonely. Najeela does not live there, she lives with her parents, with her father being considered for presidential status. Najeela's uncle, Imtiaz, also stays there at times, and Najeela is trying to get Abby and Imtiaz together, although Abby is not inclined to want anything to do with the man.

Najeela lets Abby know that she has a secret fiance, one that Najeela's father would never approve of, as he is not of her origin.

Nick Martin, a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist has shown up to interview Abby about her work. She is an American nurse working in a very dangerous part of the world. Abby is not comfortable speaking to Nick, who is very street and world-savvy, unlike the very naive and unwordly Abby. Nick wants to see the clinic and camp that Abby works at and gets to know Abby and brings her to lunch at a very American place in the middle of a very busy and poor country.

Abby is still suffering from nightmares about the girl in Geneva. She starts to trust Nick and tells him about the incident. It is then that Nick opens up about his true reasons for being in that part of the world. Human trafficking is his story and he want to bring down the men that are profiting from that business and shed light on it.

Abby then becomes more involved in helping him learn more, although she is very naive and trusts people a little too easily. There could be extreme problems for her and Nick's safety because of that, and Nick is trying to make her understand how deeply this goes.

This novel really sheds light on a major issue that takes place and opens your eyes to the dangers that unfortunate poor people from these countries face in life. Roberta Gately certainly has done her research and this story makes a very readable show of that.

This is well-written and during the story, you are hoping that Abby toughens up and learns that there are people that you just don't know the truth about until the worst happens.

[Kristin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was wanting to like this book, largely because it deals with a serious, largely under-reported issue, but in the end... I found the writing weak, the characters not at all realistic and the story not believable as a result.

The plotline of the book is that Abby, totally inexperienced with worldwide humanitarian work, takes a job in Peshawar, Pakistan, working on a vaccination program. On the way to Pakistan, she witnesses a murder in Geneva, that is ultimately connected to her experienced in Pakistan. In Pakistan, Abby meets Nick, a New York Times reporter, working on a story about human trafficking. The two characters eventually end up working together on the time, run into problems, and you are supposed to have danger, suspense, romance, etc.

My thoughts... It's totally unrealistic that the United Nations would hire such an inexperienced person to work all alone in Peshawar, Pakistan, with absolutely no security in her housing and transportation. This wouldn't be allowed in even less dangerous locations, but Peshawar? Never. Second, Abby and her job position? Abby gets excited about including women's personal stories in her statistic reports to the UN, hoping it'll help the UN better understand the human faces behind the number. The UN understands the human situation in its camps, and it does appreciate stories to include in reports to its donors. But the stories would need to be related to the project (and its donor source). So, for example, Abby would need to report on the women's lack of vaccinations previously, and how this new access would impact their lives. I therefore found Abby's employment situation unrealistic. Third, you have Nick. Anyone who has spent any time with experienced war reporters (especially someone who won a Pulitzer!) would never believe this character. He tells Abby information and sources that would put her in danger. He constantly eats in the American club with Abby (experienced reporters always gather with other reporters in local joints). He has never ending patience with Abby... unlikely, experienced reporters hate dealing with "newbies." It's just SO unrealistic, the friendship, the working relationship, the romance.

I DO appreciate the attempt to raise awareness on human trafficking. If you know little or nothing on the topic, perhaps this book is a decent starting place. If you already know something on the topic, reading this book is like reading an elementary-school level book on the topic. It just touches the surface (a fluff book). The simplicity will drive you crazy. If you want complex, developed characters, this book will drive you crazy. If you've worked in dangerous, international disaster areas, this book will drive you crazy, as it does nothing to really show the true complexity of necessary security precautions, dangers to locals versus foreigners, and the reasons behind the security situation. When I read the fact that the author has served as a humanitarian aid worker in disaster zones I was surprised. This book simply in no way meshed with my experience living and working abroad with refugees, torture survivors, humanitarian workers, psycosocial-counselors, reporters, photographers, security analysts and security managers. So I was disappointed with both the storyline itself, and the actual writing quality. However, I DID finish the book, which is more than I have done with other books. So I rated the book as "okay," it wasn't a bad book.

[Miriam Downey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read my full review here: http://mimi-cyberlibrarian.blogspot.c...

The Bracelet by Roberta Gately is a fictionalized look at the serious problem of human trafficking through the eyes of a UN nurse in Pakistan. Abby needed a big change; a romance that she had depended upon was over. Hurt and angry, the idea of working for the UN for a while seemed like a good idea. Get away. Make a fresh start.

Her first assignment is Peshawar Pakistan where she is to evaluate an immunization clinic for UNICEF. Before she arrived in Pakistan, she spent a period of time in Geneva training for the positing. The time in Geneva, however, was marred by a murder Abby saw committed as she was out running, and the vision of that murder haunts her nightly after she arrives in Peshawar. Her dreams seem to focus on the beautiful bracelet worn by the murder victim.

The UN house in Peshawar is in a nice neighborhood; it is staffed by a young Afghan woman, Najeela, and a housekeeper named Hana. Shortly after Abby arrives at the posting she meets Najeela's unsavory uncle, the staff of the immunization clinic at a refugee camp, and a New York Times reporter named Nick. Nick is in Pakistan ostensibly to interview Abby as a UN relief worker, but his main interest is the rampant human trafficking that is taking place in the country. He introduces Abby to the woman who runs a half-way house for trafficking victims, and Abby gets involved in helping the women at the half-way house. All is not as it seems, however, and Abby and Nick barely escape Pakistan with their lives.

Roberta Gately is knowledgeable about human trafficking and UN refugees because she worked as a nurse in several war torn countries. It is obvious that she knows a lot about the situations presented in the book, and she writes in an engaging style that keeps you reading. The plot is serviceable, but the plot is not the main reason for the novel. This is a message novel, plain and simple. Gately is trying to get out the message that human trafficking is one of the world's dirty little secrets, and while things are being done to combat it, there is a great deal of money to be made in many of the countries of the world. She indicates that government officials in many countries and even the UN are on the take, turning a blind eye to the trafficking right under their noses. The stories of the victims in the pages of The Bracelet are heart rending, and they are the important part of the novel--not the plot or the romance. The Bracelet should be read with that in mind.

Recently there have been efforts in West Michigan to identify human trafficking in our area. Michigan State University is spearheading a task force to work on the problem and alert the citizens to the problem as it appears in Michigan. You can find a link to the task force here.

This is Gately's second novel, the first Lipstick in Afghanistan was published in 2010. She recently wrote an article about how she turned to fiction writing, which you can find here.

Roberta Gately's website: http://robertagately.com/

[Stacie · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE BRACELET begins with Abby, a UN aid worker witnessing what she believes to be a murder on her last night of training in Geneva. As Abby arrives in Pakistan to begin her UN work at the vaccination clinic, she finds that she can't get the woman who dies or the bracelet she was wearing out of her mind or her dreams. Abby ends up taking the UN job after two upheavals in her life. First, her job at a hospital in New Orleans is gone when Hurricane Katrina destroys the hospital. Then she starts a new life in Boston and when the man she expects to marry dumps her in an email, she believes the best thing for her is to focus on those with bigger problems than hers. She has no idea how big the problems she will face in Pakistan will be. Once there, Abby tries to focus on her work at the clinic, but after learning about the horrors of human trafficking and meeting with the victims, she begins to wonder if the woman who died in Geneva was one of the many unnamed victims.

With the murder of the young woman happening at the beginning of the book, you are instantly drawn in to the story. I was intrigued by the setting, the characters, and their individual stories. Once Abby arrives in Pakistan, the fast pace of the story kept me turning the pages all the way to the end.

The characters were well developed and I was able to create pictures of them in my mind,especially Nick the NY Times journalist, Najeela, the local UN worker, Hana, the housekeeper and Imtiaz, the sleezy uncle of Najeela. Each of the characters were essential to the story and the author doesn't bog the story down with unnecessary details or people to make it confusing.

Unfortunately, this story tells the horrors of human trafficking and the cases can be tough to read. But, the author takes care to share their realities with dignity and empathy. It is clear the author knows the ins and outs of this world-wide problem. I have to admit that I was pretty ignorant to the extent of human trafficking. Living in the privileged world makes these issues and the people suffering, invisible to us. You will want to learn more about this horrific crime after reading this novel.

Even though I figured out the connection between the murder in Geneva, Abby, and Pakistan, it didn't hasten my journey through the story and the chase to find the bad guys. I was intent on seeing them all brought to justice. Unfortunately, the reality is that there are millions suffering unimaginable horrors for years and it is likely that while I was reading this book, another child or woman was sold to a man that will continue the horror. Like the book said, the women who are in these situations believe there are not enough tears in her eyes or prayers to save her. I would like to believe that, through this book and the telling of their stories, we can begin to save them.

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was fascinating and tragic at the same time. It gave me a look inside the world of human trafficking at a time when my local church is getting involved in a local program dealing with human trafficking. It is really scary to me to think that there may be women in my own community who are trafficking victims - but that is a story for antoher day - back to The Bracelet.

Abby chose to go to Peshawar to get away from a broken heart and an unsatisfying job. She wasn't really thinking about where she was going, but what she was running from. When she sees a woman fall from a balcony in Geneva on her way to Peshawar, she has no way of knowing what that even will come to mean to her, but it is really just foreshadowing the events that she will experience in Pakistan.

She is pretty timid at first, pretty introverted, visiting the camp but not really stepping out side the boundaries she has erected for herself. As she gets to know the women though, her compassion comes to the forefront and she really starts to relate to them and goes out of her way to befriend them. Abby does not really understand how Najeela, an Afghan woman who works in the UN house that Abby lives in, does not want to do more for these women. Najeela is just concerned with what her European boyfriend can give her in the way of jewelry, and how she is going to get past her father's objections when she announces that she wants to marry him.

Nick, a journalist who comes to Pakistan to do an article on Abby, also helps to push Abby out of her comfort zone. Abby is determined not to cooperate with him, because she does not want to be the subject of an article. But like with the women in the camp, her carefully constructed walls start to come down and soon her and Nick have stumbled upon some key players in the trafficking world.

LIke I said in the beginning, this was a fascinating read but the tragedy that is happening both here and all over the world is horrifying. It was quick paced and really kept me glued to the pages. I would highly recomment this one if you are looking for chick lit with a little soul.

[Viviane Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Abby Monroe has lost her job as a nurse after Hurricane Katrina wiped out the hospital in New Orleans where she worked. Soon thereafter her boyfriend Eric dumped her and moved from Boston to Oregon, saying he needed to do this alone. Now she's initially in Geneva, where she inadvertently witnesses a devastating crime which haunts her dreams for a very long time. Now, she just wants to get away which she does by being accepted for a UN job in Pakistan. The nightmare and sorrow of the past now becomes the escape route to reshaping her life but certainly not as expected at all!

Abby receives a warm welcome from another UN worker, Najeela, and a cold, hard look from the UN housekeeper, Hana. Reeling from the sites of abandoned children and abused women at a nearby refugee cam, Abby meets an American Pulitzer-prize-winning journalist, Nick who initially strikes her as an arrogant waste of a guy but who later will be the link that helps her keep her sanity. Now Abby is enduring culture shock of the highest magnitude!

In the days ahead Abby learns of the sexual traffic and opium businesses that just might be linked to someone she is coming to know well. Story after story is recounted by women who were sold as young girls in order to insure financial solvency for the girls' family, with devastating, abusive scars that will probably never heal permanently.

The remainder of the story concerns the capture of those deeply involved in maintaining and promoting the illegal sexual and drug traffic not only in Pakistan and nearby Afghanistan but across the Middle East and Europe as well. Some characters are part of the secret sent to put a stop to this travesty of justice and the story ultimately reaches a violent conclusion involving some thought to be innocent and others who seemed unimportant who are pivotal to solving these crimes.

The Bracelet: A Novel is a hard, tough story to take but a necessary one. This is truly "real" fiction and well told. It should be a story that fosters greater dialogue about how to cope with these pathological, evil deeds and their perpetrators. Finely told, Ms. Gately

[Danna · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Bracelet is an easy-to-read novel about a not-so-easy topic: human trafficking. As I read The Bracelet, the term that came to mind was "human trafficking lite." Abby Monroe is an unbelievably naive young woman who has run off to Pakistan as a UN aide worker. Her decision to enter this "unstable security situation" was made hastily, post-breakup, and as a result, Abby had no idea what she was up against. For example, I found myself annoyed at Abby, who gallivanted off to Peshawar, never having heard of human trafficking, or the riots and the danger of Pakistan. I was incredulous: it seems impossible that (1) a young American woman would head to Peshawar with no history of the situation and, (2), that the UN would send her there in that state.

Despite Abby's naïveté, this story moves along quickly and had enough mystery to keep me hooked. It's an easy way to get background on the sad story of women and children sold around the world, and would probably be best marketed to a YA audience. Abby's inevitable and predictable romance with Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Nick Sinclair is sweet, apart from his abundance of misogynistic comments when the two first meet. Her relationships with the women she works with also help keep the story interesting, especially the women who share their eyewitness accounts of kidnapping and abuse.

If you don't have the fortitude to make it through a true and disturbing account of human trafficking (I'd suggest Somaly Mam's The Road of Lost Innocence to start), The Bracelet is probably right up your alley. Or, if you're the parent of a teen who wants to learn more about this painful topic, The Bracelet is a great place to start.

[LaQuita · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am loving Roberta Gately more and more and becoming such a huge fan. The Bracelet was a book that I got to read on my way home from California. It's an easy read that keeps you on your toes and turning the page. This story touches a difficult topic that many of us know about, human trafficking, but not too many of us knows exactly what and how this is still going on. I think she did an incredible job tackling on this subject for this being a fictional story. I honestly was glued to this story just as I was with her first book, Lipsticks in Afghanistan.

The main character is a lady name, Abby. She's just getting out of a relationship and decides to go out of the country to be an UN worker in Pakistan. Similar to Gately's first book, the main character is leaving home from a difficult situation and trying to find her purpose in life by going to a different country and helping others. This is where she runs into her love interests, Nick. The relationship between the two was both predictable, but at times I couldn't see how it was still going on.

I have to admit there were times where I got a bit upset with Abby's character because she seemed to not be as bright as you would want your main character to be, but after reading the book and looking back, I guess that's how she should have been for this story to be what it was. Throughout the story I was extremely impressed by how well it was written and with all the details put into it.

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