Made In The Image

by Mickie Turk, Benjamin Hovorka (Illustrator)

Made In The Image is rollercoaster suspense that picks you up on page one and doesn’t let you off until you’re begging for mercy at the cliff’s edge. Markiza, Russia’s most notorious human trafficker meets his match when he goes up against Miami’s daredevil cop, Lydia Angelova. When the elusive kingpin plants a mole inside her task force, he foils a sting that would have exposed his operation and freed two hundred young male slaves. Lydia doesn’t know whom to trust, so she fakes her own death and radically changes her identity in order to stay in the game. When Lydia returns to work with a new face and name, the welcome she receives from her old team is mixed. But the team pulls together as they ready to close in on Markiza. In a final gambit, everyone’s life hangs in the balance, especially when Lydia’s old lover and partner, Detective Darryl King, suspects her of being the secret mole.

Genres: Thriller

346 pages, Paperback

First published April 29, 2012

About the author

Born and raised in Minneapolis, Mickie Turk has worked independently and commercially in film, photography and journalism, for the past 20 years. She wrote, directed and produced several films, both short and feature-length narratives and documentaries. Wayward Girls, which appeared in festivals and on PBS, can be found in libraries across the United States and Canada.

Between 1992 and 2004, Mickie traveled extensively to photograph and film. Included were four trips to Cuba-during the last expedition she brought back a rare Cuban shorts film festival to show at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design-a gazillion times to New Orleans and the south generally, and to visit family in Russia and Ukraine.

In the past eight years, Mickie completed three novels, several feature-length screenplays, a variety of short stories and memoirs, and continues to write for a number of Minnesota journals.

One of Mickie's favorite activities is keeping up with her globetrotting daughter, whose travels have included Peace Corps service in Bulgaria and teaching English in South Korea.

Reviews

[Barbara]

I received this book as a GoodReads First Read, and I am glad I did!

I enjoyed the suspense and the thrill of seeing a special unit do undercover. I am glad that human trafficking was part of the plot, since most aren't aware that the US is one of the main importers of humans, and slavery was abolished nearly 150 years ago!

This is a fast paced novel, and you are wondering who the mole is; even while you "know" exactly who it is.

The one issue I have is Lydia. While we see that she has some problems with her re-imaged self soon after her surgery. There is only one episode that she realizes what she had done, and then for the rest of the book it seems like her new image is no big deal. I was glad when Darryl brought it up again at the very end, but Lydia still really doesn't seem to get it. Miami is not so cosmopolitan that there isn't any or relatively little prejudice. In fact, most big cities I find there seems to be as much prejudice as in the small towns. I have seen it in Washington, DC, NYC, LA, and most certainly in Miami. I realize that it is just a side bar to the true plot, however, it is a major part of the new Lydia and I feel that it should have been highlighted a bit more.

I did enjoy the book and highly recommend it.

[Barry]

In her second novel, Ms. Turk casts her thematic net more broadly while maintaining her interest in cultural dynamics and strong women. Having just read David Baldacci's "The Forgotten" which mines the same eastern European/child slavery/Florida lode, I found that her distillation of those themes compared favorably and blended well with the intercultural personal relationships between adults themselves and with children. In the absence of a visual comparison of Lydia with Aunjanue, the shift in language and demeanor was sufficient to delineate quite effectively the two personae of the woman. It was quite easy to view Aunjanue without thinking of Lydia. I did find that the romantic/sexual tension between the two detectives didn't generate the same interest and intensity as the events which drove the narrative and engaged me. ... another promising step forward for Ms. Turk!

[Susan Hastings]

Fast-paced and engrossing, Made in the Image is a great read. Turk weaves the sultry heat of Miami into the telling of this story so beautifully it becomes a character with its own role to play in the drama that unfolds. All the characters are well written, but Lydia, Darryl, Sasha and Tadzio are my favorites. Their relationships, struggles and joys are poignant, charming, aggravating, heartbreaking, and in the end, full of promise. Lydia is so focused on her goal -- to take the Russian trafficker down and save the boys -- that she takes huge risks and makes controversial decisions that not only affect her life, but everyone around her, too. Made in the Image will stay with you long after you read the last word.

[Laurie]

Made in the Image was a pleasant surprise! Sub-plots linked to the main storyline delicately unfold keeping the reader quite entranced throughout the book. It was not predictable... but a fast, entertaining read with a unique solution for criminal apprehension. The author was successful in creating a new plot angle in this book, which was quite satisfying to read!