The Unrepentent

At the start of this gut-wrenching crime thriller from Aymar (You’re as Good as Dead), Mace Peterson, who suffers from PTSD from his stint in the Army a decade earlier, is out for a walk late one night in the woods near his apartment in Baltimore County when he spots two men removing a struggling woman from the trunk of a car. Mace follows the men as they carry their victim deeper into the woods. When one of them returns to the car to retrieve an axe, Mace seizes the chance to overpower the remaining man and rescue the woman, 18-year-old Charlotte Reyes, who has been forced by circumstance into becoming a sex worker. When Charlotte later realizes that her captors aren’t going to give up pursuing her, she decides she has to fight back. Human slavery kingpin Barnes, who takes Charlotte’s vendetta personally, sends his soldiers and dirty cops after her, keen to render the final punishment at his own hands. Mace does all he can to help Charlotte avoid that fate. Readers who appreciate depth of character alongside gritty nonstop action will be rewarded. [em]Agent: Michelle Richter, Fuse Literary. (Mar.) [/em]