Fallen: Out of the Sex Industry and Into the Arms of the Savior, by Annie Lobert

Title: Fallen: Out of the Sex Industry and Into the Arms of the Savior

Author: Annie Lobert

Publisher: Worthy Publishing 

Date: February 17, 2015

Paperback: 224 pages








About the Book
When Annie grabbed at what looked like an opportunity to escape her tumultuous, abuse-filled home, she had never heard the term "sex trafficking.: Needing money, wanting to be loved, and desperately seeking control of her life, she stumbled into the ever-darkening world of the sex industry as a glamorous high class escort in Las Vegas. All that glittered was not gold. She embarked on a dangerous path toward self-destruction. She lost everything she envisioned her new life would bring her, even her own identity. Beatings, abandonment, and death threats became routine-she often wondered if dying would be the best way out.

In Fallen, Annie tells her remarkable story of surviving sixteen years in the sex industry, breaking free, finding healing, and then reaching back to help others find freedom as well. This riveting memoir opens a window into a sordid, shadowy world - and shows just how bright God's light can truly shine.

My Take
I know a lot of us think our life is really hard. We think every day that life could be easier or we would want it to be easier. But there are people out there that have actually had hard lives compared to some of us. I know a lot of times I think my life is hard (being a single mom, working almost full time and homeschooling), but I have to tell myself that there are other people out there who are having a harder time with life than I am and would give anything to be in my position than what they are in.

Annie Lobert had a tough life, but like most determined people, she found a way out. Life didn't start out well for her at all. She was sexually abused at a young age and then turned to prostitution or more or less a high class call girl. During her life as a high class call girl, she met a couple of men who didn't treat her the way she should have been and had to enduring beatings and abandonment. On top of that, she developed cancer and became addicted to cocaine.

The only thing that could happen to Annie Lobert was to either die or turn her life around. She decided to rely on God and turn her life around. Relying on him heavily helped her see that there were others that could benefit from her story. She decided to let others know that there is hope by participating in speakings and ministries. And as luck would have it, through it all, she found her prince charming.

Towards the end of the book, there is a section on sex trafficking. It gives you a deeper understanding of what it is and how it is done. There is also a section of testimonies from girls who have attended the Destiny House Ministry. You will be amazed at some of these stories that you read.

I have read a couple of "sex trafficking" stories, but this one was different. It was written in a way that you could truly feel for Annie Lobert. I practically read the book in one sitting. I think if you were to get this book, you would enjoy it and realize that no matter where your life is and how hard it may be/feel, that God can pull you through and push you to the top, just like he did for Annie Lobert.

About the Author
Annie Lobert is an internationally recognized expert and advocate of ministry to men and women in the commercial sex industry. She and her husband, Stryper lead guitarist Oz Fox, live in Las Vegas, where Annie runs Hookers for Jesus, a ministry to prostitutes and sex trafficking victims. She has been featured in major television shows, print and online publications, and also an I Am Second film.

The Mountains Bow Down, by Sibella Giorello

Paperback: 384 pages

Publisher: Thomas Nelson; 1 edition (March 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1595545352
ISBN-13: 978-1595545350
Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1.3 inches

{Click to purchase book}

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Everything's going to work out. Time away always makes things better . . ..

That's what FBI Special Agent Raleigh Harmon believes as she boards a cruise to Alaska. A land of mountains and gems and minerals, The Last Frontier is a dream destination for this forensic geologist who's hoping to leave behind a hectic work schedule and an engagement drained of romance.

But when a passenger goes missing and winds up dead, Raleigh's vacation suddenly gets lost at sea. The ship's security chief tries to rule the death a suicide, but Raleigh's forensics background points to a much darker conclusion: Somewhere on board, a ruthless murderer walks free.

Engulfed by one of her toughest cases yet, Raleigh requests assistance from the FBI and receives her nemesis-perpetual ladies man Special Agent Jack Stephanson. As the cruise ship sails through the Inside Passage, Raleigh has five days to solve a high-profile murder, provide consultation for a movie filming on board, and figure out her increasingly complicated feelings for Jack-who might not be such a jerk after all.

And that's only her work life. Family offers even more challenges. Joined on the cruise by her mother and aunt, Raleigh watches helplessly as disturbing rifts splinter her family.

Like the scenery that surrounds the cruise ship, Raleigh discovers a situation so steep and so complex that even the mountains might bow down.

MY THOUGHTS:

I really enjoyed the book. It kept me intrigued from the beginning to the end. At first I did not realize that it was the fourth book in the Raleigh Harmon series, but after finding out, it has made me want to read the rest of them. Sibella Giorello's style of writing had me visualizing everything while I was reading. It actually felt as though I was there. I am not one who tends to read mystery type books, but was glad I was able to read this one.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Sibella Giorello grew up in Alaska and majored in geology at Mount Holyoke College. After riding a motorcycle across the country, she worked as a features writer for the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Her stories have won state and national awards, including two nominations for the Pulitzer Prize. She now lives in Washington state with her husband and sons. Find out more about Sibella and her other books at her website. http://www.sibellagiorello.com/

Sibella’s celebrating the release of The Mountains Bow Down by giving away a Cruise prize pack worth over $500.00!

One Grand Prize winner will receive:

A $500 gift certificate toward the cruise of their choice from Vacations To Go.

The entire set of the Raleigh Harmon series.

To enter go here!

Then tell your friends. And enter soon - the giveaway ends on 4/1! The winner will be announced at Sibella’s Raleigh Harmon Book Club Party on FB April 5th, 2011! Don’t miss the fun – prizes, books and gab!

Thanks goes to Litfuse Publicity for providing me with my complimentary review copy.

Blog Tour and Giveaway for Red Ink: October 21st - 28th



I am happy to announce the Red Ink Blog Tour and Giveaway that will be running today through next Thursday (October 28th). Red Ink is the third book in the Extreme Devotion Fiction Series by Kathi Macias.

   Day #1 - Thursday, October 21, 2010

A Cozy Reader’s Corner Reviews

http://acozyreaderscorner.blogspot.com/

At the Water Cooler

http://atwc1.com/

Be sure to stop back through on the 27th of October to read my review on the Red Ink book. And leave a comment to let me know how much you enjoyed it!!

Here is a small preview of the book:

Prologue

Yang Zhen-Li was nearing thirty but at times felt twice that old. Her back was becoming permanently bent forward from the heavy pails she carried daily, one attached on each end of the thick bamboo rod that stretched across her shoulders, mirroring the heaviness of her heart. There had been a time when she’d been acclaimed as a beauty, but she could scarcely remember why…or imagine that it would matter.

She tried to fight the encroaching darkness, tried to hold fast to what she knew was true, but the constant lies and propaganda were taking a greater toll even than the physical labor and abuse or the burning, gnawing hunger. If her situation didn’t change soon, she knew she would never live long enough to see her husband or son again. And with nearly eight years of her ten-year sentence left to serve, the possibilities of her emerging from prison alive grew dimmer by the day.

For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. She forced herself to focus on one of the many scripture verses she’d had opportunity to memorize between the time she accepted Zhu Yesu as her Savior and her arrest by members of the Public Security Bureau (PSB) on charges of teaching religion to children, including giving them papers containing religious writings. Even before her arrest, her parents had written to her—warned her, begged her, threatened her—and finally had her kidnapped in an attempt to convince her to go along with the government rules, especially the one limiting each family to one child. After all, she already had a healthy son. Why would she want another baby when they could scarcely afford to feed the first one? But though her abductors had forcibly aborted her second child, they had not succeeded in convincing Yang Zhen-Li to abandon the faith she had adopted before marrying her Christian husband. If anything, the ordeal had only strengthened her resolve to take a stand for the meaning of her name—Zhen-Li, “Truth,”—and spurred her to begin actively sharing the Good News of Yesu every chance she got. As a trained teacher, that quite naturally included talking with children about the gospel, a practice expressly forbidden by the government.

And now she was paying the price. Separated from her family and sentenced to ten years of hard labor and “re-education,” Zhen-Li struggled to survive against pain, exhaustion, and bitter loneliness. Worst of all were the times she felt God had abandoned her. It wasn’t enough to know in her mind that He promised never to leave or forsake her. She needed a visible reminder—soon—if she was to continue to remain faithful behind these prison walls.