Duped

by Christine Maynard

**Contains Mature Content** Upon Amelia's return to her home town in Louisiana, the allure of a strong, sexy man seems intoxicating. In reality, it is toxic. She is unaware that she is a mark for a nest of borderlines who need another meal ticket, fast. Amelia escapes repeated close brushes with destruction. Yet, there is protection like an amulet in this dark, southern-fried version of Eat, Pray Love, crackling with Faulkneresque language. This complex, riveting story insinuates the reader into a world of MK Ultra handlers, perverse politicians, dirty priests, vapors of the meth trade and one woman's quest for love and truth. Amelia and her friend Huelo unintentionally stare into the abyss, a web of evil deeds by locals who abuse their power and prestige, until it stares, or rather, leers back. The University, court house, and a youth detention center in her home town harbor and clandestinely protect VIP’s for a lucrative global pedophile and child sex trafficking ring. The Sheriff, D.A. and a senator tell her to keep her mouth shut, and burn the evidence. “They will kill you,” she is warned, repeatedly. Amelia retreats to the white isle of Ibiza, taking refuge in asanas and lapus lazuli ocean. It is there in a spiritual setting, the antithesis of the darkness in her home town, that she is able to clearly see the ruse and the true culprits. Light is required to unravel the mystery. She returns to Attaway in the nick of time, to stop the evil acts. Amelia saves her friend and a child, a sacrificial offering, on the night of the Red Mass. A crop duster as deus ex machina and others she has convinced the evil is real align to ensure that justice prevails, with a twist. To experience the world Amelia inhabits is terrifying, but her great heart and strong spirit keep her going through one hardship after another, making this a marvelous, mystical and empowering journey we take with her, growing along the way.

276 pages, Paperback

Published July 21, 2017

Reviews

[Fiona Lessing]

Duped the novel is similar to Thomas Woolfe's writing with a True Detective Season One locale and theme. The Eat Pray Love of Louisiana bayous, 'dark and deep as you've been done' (from Neko Case,) is a very well written thriller with a strong female protagonist who has a lot of naivete, in the beginning, despite her smarts and accomplishments. This book explores things rarely mentioned in polite society and tears away concepts of security and false notions that one can create floorboards ensuring one's feet have a safe place to land. It's a rugged world and the protagonist Amelia's first discovery of being duped leads to further discoveries and more and more layers which she fiercely cuts away in a Buddhist fashion but also like the Hindu goddess Kali determinedly dancing away the dead wood of the past. Her insistence on discovering and revealing the truth is not self serving. Amelia's great heart is the impetus that galvanizes her to fight for what is right and to effect positive change, all while keeping her heart open. Amelia's attempts at making a marriage work with a very bad man who is into the darkest things imaginable are at times punctuated with humor by the author. At other times, the reader is very scared right along with Amelia. The author writes with warmth, honesty and finesse about matters of the heart and about Amelia's foibles for she so badly wants to believe. A great read. A great ride!