Captive Youth (The Trace Trilogy)

Keith’s boring life becomes a fight for survival when a half-naked, handcuffed Mexican girl jumps into his little sports car. Events escalate to mortally dangerous when a man starts shooting at and chasing them. Raised by his grandmother as a “Christian gentleman,” Keith quickly learns that behaving in accordance with those values is more difficult than he imagined. Not understanding the Spanish the girl speaks, he contacts his girlfriend for help in translation. She tells him members of a human-trafficking ring are pursuing them, and local police can’t be trusted. When his girlfriend tries to help them find safety, members of the trafficking ring kidnap all three teenagers. Faced with the threat of abuse and death, the young people must depend on each other if they are to escape. Set in the South of the U.S. during the tumultuous sixties, this thriller immerses one in the limitations, mores, and prejudices of the time.