Monday, April 30, 2018

Predatory Kill by Kenneth Eade - Second in Book Set...Spotlights Bank Fraud...







He had made it to his State Street office just in time to check messages and make sure everything was in order for the big weekend.  No work, only play and relaxation for the next 48 hours.  
As he entered the office, Melinda Powers, his secretary, looked worried.  It was unusual for her to be there past quitting time on a Friday. “Hey Mimi, what’s wrong?” Brent asked her.

“You’ve got a call waiting.  I told him you weren’t in, but he said he’d wait.” 

“Who is it?” 
“I don’t know, he won’t say.  He’s really weird, Mr. Marks.” 
“Why don’t we let him just die on hold then?”
“I think you should answer.” 
Brent entered his office, sat down behind his plush mahogany desk, and picked up the phone. 
“Hello, this is Brent Marks.” 
The eerie voice on the other end was cold and inhuman.  “Do you know how fast a bullet goes, Counselor?” it asked.

“Who is this?” 
“Seventeen hundred feet per second.  At that velocity, it will crack open your skull and splatter your brains all over your wall like a watermelon being hit by a sledge hammer.”  The caller cackled like a wounded chicken. 
Brent quickly switched on the recording device to the receiver.  He had bought that baby to record threats from ex-husbands whose wives had obtained restraining orders against them, but which Brent had always refused to dismiss, even in cases of so called “reconciliation.”  
“I don’t think I got your name, mister?”      
The voice responded with a maniacal chuckle, which turned into a full blown belly laugh, like Vincent Price in the final stanza of Michael Jackson’s Thriller. 
“No judge in the world can stop a bullet, Counselor.  No piece of paper can do that.”
“This conversation is really interesting, but if I don’t have your name, I…” 
“Think hard.” 
“I’m not going to play games with you.” 
“Oh, this is not a game.  I assure you.  I’m just giving you a little preview.  Wherever you go, I’ll be there.  When you’re at the corner at Starbucks, having your mocha grande in the morning before going to court, I’ll be there.  You won’t see me, but I’ll be there.  All it takes is one shot – one shot in the head.”  The phone vibrated from the eerie laughter. 
“And why would you want to shoot me?” 
“I am a servant of the Lord, Counselor.  I do His work.” 
“You’re saying that you’re going to kill me, because God told you so?”  
Without answering, the caller went into a sermon, like an evangelist preacher trying to convert a world full of infidels. “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord!  When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers.  I am your terror, Counselor.  I am the hand of the Lord and I will strike you down!” 
Suddenly, Brent realized who this character could be.  Last year, he took on a case for Felipe Sanchez, who had rented a house from a crazy religious fanatic named Joshua Banks.  When Banks found out that Sanchez had moved in his girlfriend, all hell broke loose.   “I won’t have fornication in my house!” Banks decreed.  
Sanchez ignored him and three days later, came home to find himself locked out of his house and all his furniture thrown out on the street.  When Brent succeeded in getting the police to open the house, Banks turned off the utilities, and Sanchez sued.  
Thanks to a little known provision in the Civil Code, daily damages were awarded to Sanchez at trial which allowed him to take his judgment, levy it against the house, and become the owner of it.  Justice can be hell for some people.  
Threatening my life is a felony, Mr. Banks,” said Brent, “Do you really want to go to prison?” 
“Do you think I care about your court?  Your prison?  There is only one lawgiver and judge, and that is the Lord God!  Judge not, that you not be judged, saith the Lord.  Man does not have the right to sit in judgment of his fellow man.” 
“You’re not God, Mr. Banks.”  Ignoring him, Banks pressed on. “Your judgment has been pronounced, Counselor.  And I’m afraid there is no chance for a pardon.  The punishment is death.”
~~~



The upcoming client had Brent intrigued.  Her matter was a potential wrongful predatory lending case against one of the largest New York banks, which had taken over one of the nation’s largest mortgage banks, rumored to have committed more fraud than Charles Ponzi and Bernie Madoff put together...
“I looked at the materials you sent over to me.  Of course, I would have to review all of the files, but its looks like when the bank bought the assets of Tentane Mutual after the FDIC seizure, your father’s mortgage was not properly assigned to the mortgage backed securities trust that was supposed to be one of the assets.”
Before the 2008 mortgage crisis, thousands of subprime real estate loans on over-appraised real estate were assigned to mortgage pools and then resold to investors as mortgage backed securities.  When U.S. home prices declined sharply after peaking in 2006, it became difficult for borrowers to refinance their loans.  As adjustable rate mortgages began to increase in monthly payments, mortgage delinquencies soared, causing mortgage backed securities to lose most of their value.  This, in turn, led to what is known as the financial crisis of 2008; the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. “Yes, they tried to slip it in with a forged assignment three years after the closing date of the Trust...”


~~~

It was interesting to go back and pick up the earlier books by Kenneth Eade, who has become my favorite legal author. Of course, there are the thrills of the "kill" where murder provides tension and suspense--in this book, Brent Marks, the main character even has a stalker to deal with while he works on his main case...

The reason for the stalker, as an aside, is one of those issues that really irks me--when an individual quotes God in explaining why he is going to kill somebody. The sad truth, however, is that there really are some who become fanatics in their religion...

But the main case covers fraud by major powerful, banks, using a sample to explore the 2008 crash that resulted in many banks being bailed out by the government. When I found a video where Bernie Sanders in 1998 expressed concern about what proved to later happen, I was gratified that Eade had also taken the opportunity to use his novel to help his readers understand what might (probably?) had happened! And could very well happen again...

It is scary to consider that banking institutions, especially large ones, could, and possibly already has, become the predator who turns to murder to cover-up their crimes...Eade presents an intriguing fictional account, which is, of course, as always backed up with research of real-time events... which is why he rose to my top legal writer...

April Marsh had found her mother murdered, and her father close to death... She was already named to legally act on their behalf and after her research had come to Marks, believing he was the lawyer she needed, even though he was a single-lawyer office and with no experience in this area. She cited a case from Marks' experience and had used it to explain why she had selected him. She was fairly certain who was behind what had happened...

She provided all documentation to illustrate how her parents had been swindled. Essentially because of a buy-out, the larger bank had taken over, and falsified information to show that it was not their fault... Her parents had already lost much and now they were coming after their home...

Although not versed in financial law, per se, I was easily able to follow the case put together by Marks  and his investigator. He began to worry, however, when he was personally attacked and his investigator disappeared, later presumably dead!

I had my small local bank bought out by a larger one...and I have been unhappy ever since. A large bank will soon use bureaucracy as the primary power control for their business. This was certainly the case in this situation. But can one lawyer succeed in a fight with the power of a company with all the legal advisers they could ever need? I think Eade did an exceptional job in allowing readers to learn as well as enjoy the reality of a story that all of us wish we will never face. Highly recommended...


GABixlerReviews



Described by critics as "one of our strongest thriller writers on the scene," author Kenneth Eade, best known for his legal and political thrillers, practiced International law, Intellectual Property law and E-Commerce law for 30 years before publishing his first novel, "An Involuntary Spy." Eade, an award-winning, best-selling Top 100 thriller author, has been described by his peers as "one of the up-and-coming legal thriller writers of this generation." He is the 2015 winner of Best Legal Thriller from Beverly Hills Book Awards and the 2016 winner of a bronze medal in the category of Fiction, Mystery and Murder from the Reader's Favorite International Book Awards. His latest novel, "Paladine," a quarter-finalist in Publisher's Weekly's 2016 BookLife Prize for Fiction and finalist in the 2017 RONE Awards. Eade has authored three fiction series: The "Brent Marks Legal Thriller Series", the "Involuntary Spy Espionage Series" and the "Paladine Anti-Terrorism Series." He has written eighteen novels which have been translated into French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. 

"I've been writing all my life, but began publishing my work out of a passion for the environment. My wife, Valentina, is a professional photographer, who worked for two years on an environmental exhibition called, "Bee Cause I Care" which was exhibited by the Prince Albert II Foundation and is now touring cities in France to bring awareness to the importance of pollinators and the dangers facing them. I penned a few articles on the subject for the Los Angeles Daily Journal and turned my research into my first book, "Bless the Bees." That passion continued with the publication of my novel, "An Involuntary Spy," which is an action thriller that also points to the dangers of genetically engineered food. Then I began publishing the "Brent Marks Legal Thriller Series," which, in part, is based on actual experiences during my long career in law.

"Now I divide most of my time between France, where I have resided for the better part of 10 years, and Russia. I try to put as much realism in my novels as possible, and they all revolve around important social issues. I treasure all of my readers and love to hear from them, whether it's good or bad. Sometimes I make changes based on their suggestions and one reader has inspired a character that has appeared in my latest three novels. Everyone who signs up on my mailing list at www.kennetheade.com gets a free ebook and I give away a Kindle Fire every month to a lucky winner on the list. I love this new adventure and hope you enjoy taking it with me."

Email: info@kennetheade.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KennethGEadeBestsellingauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KennethEade1
ECommerce site: http://www.amazonsellers.attorney


Note: The last book in this set, I had already reviewed...





Friday, April 27, 2018

Kenneth Eade Presents A Patriot's Act - An American Citizen at Guantanamo...

Lawyer Brent Marks Legal Thriller Series Books 1-3: A legal thriller and courtroom drama collection (Brent Marks Legal Thrillers Series Book 10)Kindle Edition




Patriotism is a kind of religion; it is the egg from which wars are hatched. -Guy de Maupassant 

Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.  – Hermann Goering

  Democracy is not freedom.  Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.  Freedom comes from the recognition of certain rights, which may not be taken, even by a 99% vote. - Marvin Simkin
~~~

After reading A Higher Loyalty by James Comey, I decided to continue my legal reading via my favorite fiction legal author, Kenneth Eade. While reading from a book set, I will be doing an individual review for each of the books as I normally do...

A Patriot's Act is the first book in the set.

Patriotism is a kind of religion;
it is the egg from which wars
are hatched.
~~~
Exploring the Patriot's Act within a legal thriller would be difficult, I am sure. The author chose to formulate a fictional case which spotlighted Guantanamo, with the capture of an American citizen who was jailed as a terrorist and immediately placed in prison in that secret location outside of the United States.

This is an historical book to some extent but there are still prisoners being kept at Guantanamo. Included in the book's extra materials is a list of the congressional and presidential actions which support what was happening...

I was immediately struck by the quotes that were included on the first page, the first of which struck me the most--noting that patriotism is a kind of religion and that wars are the result. This quote caught me and my first thought was an internal question--how did patriotism come to be before God? And yet this quote provided what could be an explanation to what I have wondered about all my life. Why was patriotism spoken of and responded to more than God in our lives? I've always given God the glory for my life and and the country in which I lived was the luck of the draw...I happened to be in America, which was called the land of the Free...

And then 9/11 happened...

“What do we do?”  Catherine started to cry.  “It seems to be impossible.” “Of course, you have no obligation to hire me, but what you could do is file a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in Federal Court here in the States.  If that’s granted, he will have a hearing in a U.S. Court on U.S. soil instead of being held indefinitely in Cuba.” 
“Indefinitely?”
“Yes, some suspected terrorists have been there since 2003.  If they are accused of being ‘enemy combatants’ they can be held as long as it is deemed fit, without a trial.  But they do have a right to challenge whether they are enemy combatants or not.” 
“Ahmed is not an enemy of the United States.  He loves America.  And he’s not a terrorist!” 
“The Government thinks he is, and they
think that gives them the ability to foreclose all his rights.” 
“Is this expensive, this habeas corpus?” 
“Yes, it is.  I can give you a very good hourly rate, but I can’t work for free.  We’ll be fighting the Government, and they’ll throw everything at us to crush our petition.  It’s going to take a lot of hours.” 
“I’ll do whatever it takes to save Ahmed. I’ve got some savings, and I’ll borrow money if I have to.” 
“I’ll see if I can get the Government to admit they have him, and the next step will be to go down there to talk to him.” 
“I’ll go with you.” 
“Let me see what I can do first, then we’ll try to set up visitation for you, okay?” 
“You’re my last hope, Mr. Marks.  I’ve tried everything and every door closes in my face.  The only ones who even tried to help me were that FBI agent and Mr. Penn. 
Brent was accustomed to the way tribal bias and prejudice gave way to mistreatment in his native America, his Hispanic looks being mistaken for Mexican more than once. 
Brent left Catherine with the assignment of digging up every piece of paper she could on Ahmed: a copy of his passport, his naturalization papers, his work history, even his banking records.  Brent would have to present on paper the picture of a good American citizen.  
George W. Bush said, “It will take time to restore chaos.”  Brent was about to confront Bush’s creation head on.
~~~

President Bush and apparently many who lived in America seemed to think that an attack on America was totally unexpected and unwarranted, yet we had traveled all over the world, fighting many wars in other countries. I was not even surprised when 9/11, a most horrible event, occurred. Thereafter I watched as the Patriot's Act almost immediately was put into effect and "potential" terrorists were arrested and acted on under a special military court rather than through our standard system. Torture was implemented, although nothing they were doing was placed under the definition, which was created for torture... Water Boarding, Dry Boarding, physical abuse of all kinds, mental abuse of various kinds were implemented routinely and handled by the officers at Guantanamo with oversight only by the military.

Ahmed, an American citizen, had gone to his home country when his brother called him and told him he needed help. He knew nothing about his brother's involvement in terrorism, if indeed he had been... Ahmed never knew what happened to him. Ahmed was stripped naked and taken to Guantanamo and immediately placed in isolation for weeks...then moved to another location where he was in bright lights all the time and rock music blared 24/7... and much more. This book is not easy to read for those who care about God's people... The video below is an illustration, but it was during this process that Ahmed was most affected...


Catherine, Ahmed's wife, had found Brent Marks after going to many different offices to seek help in finding her husband. Brent Marks is a wonderful fictional lawyer that you would want to have if you needed help. Readers will watch as each legal process was handled, together with much investigation by a private investigator, who was also a personal friend of Brent. What happens is unbelievable, and extremely upsetting since this American citizen had had nobody to act on his behalf until Marks took his case. How, I thought, can Americans talk about other countries who are routinely doing acts against humanity, yet, do the same, in secret, by direction of the President.

Was it at that point when things started to get really bad, and the division started? For those who seek peace versus those who follow leaders into immoral acts have surely initiated actions that by now are beyond secrecy and out in the open... While a disgusting book, if you care about what is happening in America, I recommend this as a must-read...Each of us need to "feel" emotionally what happens to the individual who is caught in acts of our government that have been authorized--but never explained to us what would really be happening.


GABixlerReviews

Now Reading Predatory Kill, the Second in Set
Review Coming



Tuesday, April 24, 2018

A Higher Loyalty by James Comey - NOW Is the Time...



James Comey coordinated an updated, easy-to-remember Mission Statement for the FBI soon after he took office...exists to “protect the American people and uphold the Constitution of the United States."
~~~



AUTHOR’S NOTE:

WHO AM I TO TELL others what ethical leadership is? Anyone claiming to write a book about ethical leadership can come across as presumptuous, even sanctimonious. All the more so if that author happens to be someone who was quite memorably and publicly fired from his last job.

I understand the impulse to think that any book written about one’s life experience can be an exercise in vanity, which is why I long resisted the idea of writing a book of my own. But I changed my mind for an important reason. We are experiencing a dangerous time in our country, with a political environment where basic facts are disputed, fundamental truth is questioned, lying is normalized, and unethical behavior is ignored, excused, or rewarded. 

This is not just happening in our nation’s capital, and not just in the United States. It is a troubling trend that has touched institutions across America and around the world—boardrooms of major companies, newsrooms, university campuses, the entertainment industry, and professional and Olympic sports. For some of the crooks, liars, and abusers, there has been a reckoning. For others, there remain excuses, justifications, and a stubborn willingness by those around them to look the other way or even enable the bad behavior. So if there ever was a time when an examination of ethical leadership would be useful, it is now. 

Although I am no expert, I have studied, read, and thought about ethical leadership since I was a college student and struggled for decades with how to practice it. No perfect leader is available to offer those lessons, so it falls to the rest of us who care about such things to drive the conversation and challenge ourselves and our leaders to do better. 

Ethical leaders do not run from criticism, especially self-criticism, and they don’t hide from uncomfortable questions. They welcome them. All people have flaws and I have many. Some of mine, as you’ll discover in this book, are that I can be stubborn, prideful, overconfident, and driven by ego. I’ve struggled with those my whole life. There are plenty of moments I look back on and wish I had done things differently, and a few that I am downright embarrassed by. Most of us have those moments. The important thing is that we learn from them and hopefully do better. I don’t love criticism, but I know I can be wrong, even when I am certain I am right. 

Listening to others who disagree with me and are willing to criticize me is essential to piercing the seduction of certainty. Doubt, I’ve learned, is wisdom. And the older I get, the less I know for certain. Those leaders who never think they are wrong, who never question their judgments or perspectives, are a danger to the organizations and people they lead. In some cases, they are a danger to the nation and the world. 

I have learned that ethical leaders lead by seeing beyond the short-term, beyond the urgent, and take every action with a view toward lasting values. They might find their values in a religious tradition or a moral worldview or even an appreciation of history. But those values—like truth, integrity, and respect for others, to name just a few—serve as external reference points for ethical leaders to make decisions, especially hard decisions in which there is no easy or good option. Those values are more important than what may pass for prevailing wisdom or the group think of a tribe. 

Those values are more important than the impulses of the bosses above them and the passions of the employees below them. They are more important than the organization’s profitability and bottom line. 

Ethical leaders choose a higher loyalty to those core values over their own personal gain. Ethical leadership is also about understanding the truth about humans and our need for meaning. It is about building workplaces where standards are high and fear is low. Those are the kinds of cultures where people will feel comfortable speaking the truth to others as they seek excellence in themselves and the people around them. Without a fundamental commitment to the truth—especially in our public institutions and those who lead them—we are lost.

As a legal principle, if people don’t tell the truth, our justice system cannot function and a society based on the rule of law begins to dissolve. As a leadership principle, if leaders don’t tell the truth, or won’t hear the truth from others, they cannot make good decisions, they cannot themselves improve, and they cannot inspire trust among those who follow them. 

The good news is that integrity and truth-telling can be modeled in powerful ways, shaping cultures of honesty, openness, and transparency. Ethical leaders can mold a culture by their words and, more important, by their actions, because they are always being watched. Unfortunately, the inverse is also true. Dishonest leaders have the same ability to shape a culture, by showing their people dishonesty, corruption, and deception. A commitment to integrity and a higher loyalty to truth are what separate the ethical leader from those who just happen to occupy leadership roles. We cannot ignore the difference. 

I spent a lot of time thinking about the title of this book. In one sense, it came out of a bizarre dinner meeting at the White House, where a new president of the United States demanded my loyalty—to him, personally—over my duties as FBI director to the American people. But in another, deeper sense, the title is the culmination of four decades in law, as a federal prosecutor, business lawyer, and working closely with three U.S. presidents. In all those jobs, I learned from those around me and tried to pass on to those I worked with that there is a higher loyalty in all of our lives—not to a person, not to a party, not to a group. 

The higher loyalty is to lasting values, most important the truth. I hope this book is useful in stimulating all of us to think about the values that sustain us, and to search for leadership that embodies those values.
~~~

A Higher Loyalty:
Truth, Lies, and Leadership

By James Comey

In my opinion, the Author's Note that begins this excellent book is one of the most important statements. For me, it was mostly a regurgitation of my own thoughts, concerns, and experience after over 50 years in working in higher education and/or while working for a publisher and then as a book reviewer... I have not only sympathy, but empathy, for James Comey, as I, too, was fired without cause. I found much in the book that paralleled my life as Associate Director and Acting Direction of a major administrative unit on a university campus. 

When I was first working at the university, the Chairman of Political Science was talking about the ethics and honesty of a government official--I don't remember who at this point--but what he said stuck with me... "An individual who decides to take public office must be above the norm in ethics..." Since then I have watched and seen much that has bothered me about the personal truth, ethics and leadership of those who hold our public offices, especially those who are elected...

One of the first things I thought when I finished the book was that it should be required reading for Business and Public Administration and Political Science students. The facts behind the firing of the FBI Director is a lesson in itself. But it is more important...and most important...that the book be read as broadly as possible given the present situation in Washington. I had already developed my own concern and fear of what is happening...Comey's statement: "We are experiencing a dangerous time in our country, with a political environment where basic facts are disputed, fundamental truth is questioned, lying is normalized, and unethical behavior is ignored, excused, or rewarded." merely confirmed that this book was one I wanted and needed to read!

I must spotlight early on that it was illustrative of this administration to have Comey fired while he was out of the office and without prior notice by any of his line superiors. I have seen more and more individuals who have reach middle or high level leader positions who not only don't have the experience, make no effort to learn what the job requires, and, especially, is unwilling to handle the major personnel issues of a leader. But did you know that James Comey was at a site visit in California, where he was working on an important project he had initiated--to bring more minority individuals in as agents!?!

Readers will begin the book by learning of Comey's professional background, but you will also learn about the importance of early training in his home about his moral conduct. He learned early the difference between good and bad, sometimes through his own errors. But that parental training helped him to work to move toward improvement.

With one of the major issues facing America being the treatment and division on racial differences, I found it gratifying and significant that Comey, on his own initiative, had started a recruitment effort to bring agents in who could show and help in the diversity very much needed to deal with the expanding division that I saw initiated directly from the man in the presidency of our country. Note that Comey had worked for three different presidents and had already began this program.

One of the other major issues that had bothered me greatly and covered in the book was related to the support, and reasons given, for some of our religious individuals in America to support this President...
I see many so-called conservative commentators, including some faith leaders, focusing on favorable policy initiatives or court appointments to justify their acceptance of this damage, while deemphasizing the impact of this president on basic norms and ethics. That strikes me as both hypocritical and morally wrong. The hypocrisy is evident if you simply switch the names and imagine that if a President Hillary Clinton had conducted herself in a similar fashion in office. I’ve said this earlier but it’s worth repeating: close your eyes and imagine these same voices if President Hillary Clinton had told the FBI director, “I hope you will let it go,” about the investigation of a senior aide, or told casual, easily disprovable lies nearly every day and then demanded we believe them. The hypocrisy is so thick as to almost be darkly funny. I say this as someone who has worked in law enforcement for most of my life, and served presidents of both parties. What is happening now is not normal. It is not fake news. It is not okay.
I have never been a political person, nor do I have any allegiance to a specific political party. It was only as I saw what was happening during the lead-in television to the election that I saw a man who purposely instigated hate, prejudice, lack of respect for women and so much more. When I saw that the Republican party allowed this kind of behavior, I was incredulous to hear that it was mostly Christian people who supported him. Then I saw a major leader who said the same as Comey included above...How could his policy issues be more important than his basic ethics--his moral conduct. I still don't have an answer, but with Trump as well as Bush, I was gratified that Comey's opinion and narrative of actual events matched mine.

But this is not a personal applause statement about James Comey. It is merely as I have watched politics and leaders for nearly 40 years, I have come to the same conclusions as the former Director of FBI.

I have no other choice than to highly recommend this book to those who are willing to listen/read...and who are also concerned about what has happened to the United States especially recently. I have felt Comey a truthful man, who was quite willing to admit he didn't know how to handle the impossible situations he was placed in. I have also felt concern about those above him...and many others who have spoken one way or another for the last 15 months and more... But who, when cornered as to take a stand to their leader, chose to not act or to send a subordinate... Been there and done that... American leaders have much to learn about the three points highlighted in the book: Truth, Lies, and Leadership!


GABixlerReviews





I have been in various leadership roles through most of my professional life, including on he job and in professional organizations. I believe my background allowed me to read this book and verify its Truth... 
This is more of an opinion piece than I normally allow myself for reviews. Please feel free to comment and I'd be happy to discuss my position further...

Monday, April 23, 2018

Guest Blogger, Pamela Samuels Young, Spotlights her Latest Novel, Abuse of Discretion, Including #YA Version


Read My Review!


Mysteries 

     That 

          Matter






I’ve often been asked if I intentionally set out to write legal thrillers that tackle important social issues. I did not. As it turned out, my work as an employment lawyer naturally led me to interesting social topics that developed into a niche for writing mysteries that matter. 


YA Cover
My novels have focused on subjects such as race discrimination, sexual harassment in the workplace, child sex trafficking, and HIV and AIDS. With each book, I always try to entertain readers, but educate them as well. 

That’s definitely the case with my latest legal thriller, Abuse of Discretion. When a lawyer friend complained to me about having yet another teenage client charged with distributing child pornography as a result of sexting, I was stunned. He went on to explain that all over the country, teens who swap naked selfies are facing child pornography charges. Even worse, if convicted, these children must register as sex offenders.

I immediately started researching teen sexting. One study reports that 30% of teens have sent a naked selfie and 57% have been asked to send one. I was shocked to learn that children as young as thirteen or fourteen were facing child pornography charges. In some schools, dozens of teens were found to be trading naked selfies. 

Determined to shine a spotlight on this epidemic, I wrote Abuse of Discretion. In the book, 14-year-old Graylin is charged with possession of child pornography and quickly finds himself embroiled in a legal nightmare. 

Mothers and grandmothers who’ve read Abuse of Discretion constantly tell me it’s prompted a discussion about sexting with the children in their lives. I began hearing that so often that I decided to write #Abuse of Discretion—a young adult adaptation of the book—in an effort to reach teens directly.

It’s my hope that after reading Abuse of Discretion and #Abuse of Discretion, parents begin to monitor what their kids are doing on their computers and cell phones and kids become aware of the legal consequences of sexting.

I’m thrilled about Abuse of Discretion’s great reviews on Amazon (an overall rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars, with 92% of reviewers giving it 5 stars) and glad to have written yet another engaging mystery that matters. 

###


Pamela Samuels Young is an attorney and award-winning author of eight legal thrillers. Her most recent courtroom drama, Abuse of Discretion, tackles a troubling sexting case that gives readers a shocking look inside the juvenile justice system. Pamela is also the recipient of an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Fiction for her thriller Anybody’s Daughter. The former journalist received a bachelor’s degree from USC and earned graduate degrees from Northwestern University and UC Berkeley School of Law. She is a frequent speaker on the topics of child sex trafficking, online safety, fiction writing, and pursuing your passion. To read an excerpt of Pamela’s books or to invite her to a book club meeting or speaking engagement, visit her website at: www.pamelasamuelsyoung.com

Website URL:  www.pamelasamuelsyoung.com
Blog URL: http://letswritetoday.blogspot.com/
Facebook URL: www.facebook.com/pamelasamuelsyoung
Twitter: www.twitter.com/AuthorPSY
Instagram: www.instagram.com/AuthorPSY
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/authorpamelasamuelsyoung/
Skype: www.skype.com/pamelasamuelsyoung
YouTube.com/Pamelasamuelsyoung
Buy link for Abuse of Discretion: at Amazon


Note: Videos on Sexting pulled together by Young

April 29, 2018 (Sunday)

Brain Candy and Brunch Book Club

Private Book Club Meeting

Reading Selection: Anybody’s Daughter
Inglewood, CA
2:30 p.m.

May 10, 2018 (Thursday)

Literary Viewpoints with Fran Lewis

Author Interview

7 a.m.

May 12, 2018 (Saturday)

Books and Brunch

Hosted by Delta Sigma Theta, Inc.

Los Angeles Alumnae Chapter

Los Angeles, CA

11 a.m. 

May 15, 2018 (Tuesday)

Destination Mystery

Author Interview

DestinationMystery.com

10 a.m.

May 19, 2018 (Saturday)

Pasadena Lit Fest

Writing Workshop

Pasadena Theatre District

1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

June 14-16, 2018 (Thursday-Saturday)

Romance Slam Jam

Kansas City, MO

Featured Author

Register at rsjconvention.com


July 27, 2018 (Friday)

Sisters with Books Book Club

Private Book Club Meeting

Reading Selection: Abuse of Discretion
Los Angeles, CA
7 p.m.

July 29, 2018 (Sunday)

Victorious Ladies Reading Book Club

Private Book Club Meeting

Reading Selection: Abuse of Discretion
Via Teleconference
Durham, NC
4 p.m.

August 26, 2018 (Sunday)

Diamond Divas Book Club

Private Book Club Meeting

Reading Selection: Anybody’s Daughter
Baton Rouge, LA
Via Skype
1 p.m.

October 26, 2018 (Friday)

National Black Book Festival

Featured Author

Visit NationalBlackBookFestival.com

Houston, TX

December 2, 2018 (Sunday)

A Sip and Read with Author Pamela Samuels Young

Discussion of Anybody’s Daughter and Child Sex Trafficking

Hosted by The Links, Inc.

Beverly Hills West Chapter

Los Angeles, CA
2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

July 11-14, 2019 (Thursday-Sunday)

Essence in Romance

Midwest National Book Conference

Featured Author

Detroit, MI