Blog Archives
Horrors of Human Trafficking
Omega I – The Creation follows a group of citizens who dive headlong into the battle against child trafficking and the failures perpetrated by the justice system. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The growing number of children and adults who go missing every day. Never to be seen again, only to end up in sex trafficking, forced labor, or organ harvesting. This is nothing but modern-day slavery.
There’s not enough written about this hideous crime forced on the innocent. I wanted to do my part and somehow bring from the darkness into the light the horrors of human trafficking.
How much and what type of research went into putting this book together?
A lot of internet searching. Everything that I included in my book is being used today. I wanted everything to be realistic and something that many, if not most, people could relate to. I also conducted in-person interviews and attended several classes on the topics covered in the Omega book series. Although The Omega Book Series is fiction, it is also based on real events, and I would call it a work of factual.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Many stories feature superheroes as their main characters. I wanted to use average characters as my heroes so that readers could relate to them. I wanted to show the many flaws they have and how they overcome them. I also want to show how everyday people can make a difference.
Can you give us a peek inside the next book in this series? Where will it take readers?
The Omega Group continues its fight, not only here in the United States, but also in other parts of the world. They also address the Dark Web and the issue of organ harvesting. The team grows and matures together to become a force to combat the evils of human trafficking.
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Enter the world of Child Sex Trafficking and Slavery. Follow the Omega team as they fight against it. Some may call it vigilante Justice, Street Justice, what would you call it?
Have you ever been disappointed by the actions, or lack of, by the legal system? For instance, how about when someone is set free of a horrific crime, because of a minor technicality? Did you say to yourself, “That is wrong, something should have been done?”
What if your son, daughter, brother, or sister was kidnapped and sold into slavery, but the people who were responsible for it got away with it due to an error in the paperwork? Suppose some high dollar lawyer was able to “game the system” and get their guilty client off.
What if…. YOU, had the means and resources to do something about it?
What if a group of these disappointed and fed-up citizens, banded together to do something about it?
This story is about such a group of everyday people just like you. People who have suffered from injustice. People who know someone who were, or currently are, the victim of a broken legal system. People who are tired of the failures of the legal system.
Now put yourself in the shoes of the girls and boys who have suffered or are still suffering from being used as sex slaves. What if someone had done something about it before you were forced into slavery?
Join Jack Davidson and Shay Lynn, along with the others of The Omega Group. As they come together and bring justice to those who have beaten the system. Some may call it vigilante Justice, Street Justice or simply wrong, but it is the only justice many victims will receive.
Enter the dark world of sex trafficking and slavery. Once a person has been forced into this world; they may escape physically, but emotionally they will forever be a prisoner.
Child sex crimes have been an issue for much of recorded history. As a society; we have failed in our efforts to keep our children safe from the sexual predators.
Families have been shattered and destroyed when a family member, a friend or total strangers have robbed them of their children using them for their own perverted needs Sometimes they are found and returned to their families. Sadly however, the vast majority are never to be seen again. They are either so broken they cannot find their way back, or they are simply removed from the world through no fault of their own.
Children, and sometimes adults are taken for many sick and horrendous reasons. These include the prostitution of others, sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery or similar practices, and the removal of their organs.
Law enforcement agencies as well as the courts have tried and failed to reign in this evil. Sometimes it’s up to the streets to hunt down and bring these perverts to justice.
This is a story about a small group of individuals that have had enough. They have found themselves taking up the fight for the innocent when the establishment has failed.
They are not superheroes, nor or they specially trained former military. They are like you and me; people who’ve had enough and have taken it upon themselves to do something about it. They slowly grow from a band of misfits into a crack team working together to save as many children from the horrors of sex and slave trafficking as they can.
As they work their way through this dark and evil world, they find that the world of sex trafficking is bigger and more sinister than they could have ever imagined.
Maybe you’ll find a part of you, within one of them. How would you react if you or, a loved one was taken and thrown into the dark world of sex trafficking? How far are you willing to go to protect a loved one from being another figure in the growing world of sex trafficking?
Maybe someday soon, you’ll be part of the Omega team.
Omega I – The Creation
Omega I: The Creation, by David J. Story, is a gritty, emotionally charged vigilante thriller that throws readers headfirst into the horrors of child trafficking and the failures of the justice system. It follows a group of ordinary citizens, survivors, the broken, and the angry, as they unite to form “Omega,” a clandestine team that takes justice into their own hands when the courts fail. Beginning with a mistrial that lets a known pedophile walk free, the story quickly escalates into street-level retribution, covert operations, and deeply personal reckonings, all woven together with high-octane drama and moral ambiguity.
David J. Story does not hold back. From the opening chapter, the emotional weight is immediate and intense. The section titled The Macon Trial is especially powerful, an unflinching depiction of courtroom failure that had me tense with frustration. The dismissal of crucial evidence on a technicality, allowing a known predator to go free, felt disturbingly plausible. That sense of injustice is palpable, and it’s clear the author intended to provoke exactly that response. Story captures the deep, familiar outrage that comes when the system fails the vulnerable. The prose is blunt and unpolished at times, yet that roughness complements the story’s urgency. Even when the writing strays into uneven territory, the emotion behind it remains unmistakably authentic.
The characters, particularly Jack and Shay, are compelling not because they embody heroism but because they feel authentically human. Shay’s trauma and Jack’s own concealed past unfold gradually, revealed through moments of vulnerability and stark, difficult conversations. One especially powerful scene takes place when Jack and Shay sit in a diner reflecting on their experiences with abuse and vengeance. The moment is emotionally jarring. The writing may not be refined or lyrical, but its honesty is undeniable. It strikes with blunt force. Jack’s revelation about his past is both unexpected and deeply affecting. This is a novel that holds profound pain at its core, yet there is a persistent, somber sense of justice that lingers long after the scene ends.
What truly carried the story was its heart. This isn’t a book about flawless prose; it’s about people reaching their breaking point and choosing to act when no one else will. When the Omega team commits fully to their brand of vigilante justice, I couldn’t help but root for them, even when it made me question my own sense of right and wrong. That’s the power of this story: it doesn’t offer easy answers. It wrestles with justice and vengeance, law and healing, and it does so with an honesty that’s raw and compelling.
If you prefer stories with clean resolutions and neatly tied endings, this may not be the book for you. But for those who have ever felt a surge of frustration at injustice, whether watching the news or sitting helplessly in a courtroom, Omega I resonates deeply. It speaks to the angered, the grieving, and those who still hold onto the conviction that action matters, even when the system fails. Unflinching and emotionally charged, this novel is both powerful and provocative.
Pages: 297 | ASIN : B0C2L9KH94
Shadows on the Heart
Shadows on the Heart is a deeply emotional and character-driven novel that traces the sudden upheaval in the life of Lita Bravo, an MMA fighter whose brother and sister-in-law are killed in a car accident, leaving her as the unexpected guardian of their three children. As Lita wrestles with grief, responsibility, and a fractured relationship with her estranged mother—who is suffering from dementia—she must confront her past and figure out what kind of future she can build for herself and the children in her care. Set in both Arizona and California, the novel unfolds across tender, painful, and even humorous moments of transition.
What really hit me was how raw and believable the characters felt. Lita is the kind of protagonist I don’t see enough—tough on the outside, absolutely flailing on the inside. She’s not a savior. She screws up. She runs away, literally, when confronted with her mom after nearly twenty years. Her brokenness isn’t glamorized, and that made her growth all the more satisfying. I’ve read plenty of stories about family estrangement, but this one nailed the messy, confusing swirl of shame, anger, guilt, and stubborn love in a way that felt too real.
The kids stole my heart. Jade especially. She’s twelve, and already carrying more emotional weight than most adults. Her quiet grief, her fierce loyalty to her siblings, and her desperate need to feel some control over her crumbling world broke me. The scene where she hides behind the curtain from the police, praying her parents will come home, is one I won’t forget. And the way Oscar, one of Lita’s friends, subtly becomes a calming presence for the kids—without stealing focus—was just sweet, in a gentle, understated way.
There were times I wanted to shake Lita. She’s impulsive. Stubborn as hell. And sometimes I got frustrated watching her retreat just when I thought she was going to show up for these kids. But that’s what makes her feel human. She’s no instant hero, and this isn’t some cozy “all’s well that ends well” journey. It’s rough. The pacing lags a little midway, and the transitions between character POVs—especially when jumping into Evie’s fragmented memories—can feel jarring. Still, those moments also gave the book texture. Life doesn’t flow smoothly, and Oldham leans into that discomfort with courage.
This book is for anyone who’s ever felt like the ground has dropped out beneath them and had to figure out how to keep going anyway. If you like layered family dramas, tough women with soft cores, and stories that don’t shy away from the ugliness of healing, Shadows on the Heart will resonate. It made me ache, made me laugh, made me remember why I read fiction in the first place.
Pages: 352 | ASIN : B0DL3KMTK7
Consequences of Choice
A Tuft of Thistledown follows a white man and a Cherokee woman in the early 1800s who grew up together as their mothers were like sisters, and now as adults are rivals each fighting for different things. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I dreamt it all many years ago but forgot how it ended. It wasn’t until a few years later that I remembered the ending thanks to a very special horse and a horse whisperer from Scotland, UK.
There was a lot of time spent crafting the character traits in this novel. What was the most important factor for you to get right in your characters?
I wanted to not insult/portray badly/misrepresent the Cherokee and Africans of those times along with everyone else who lived there first.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
I guess, thinking about it, there could be a few really; when to trust, the sometimes never-ending consequences of choice, the pain of a love or a life that can’t be had, and what the terrible want of always more can make people do.
Our hard-wired will to survive is also a theme, unless like one of the characters, too much has been seen or happened, then that will can spill away.
But for me, one of the major themes is the absolute need to sometimes go with what all you feel inside, no matter what others say.
What is one thing that people point out after reading your book that surprises you?
I think the one biggest thing that surprises me is when some people say they think about it after they have finished reading it.
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In the early 1800s, a time when people in parts of the world did things that their souls wouldn’t want them to, John Lucas Jnr. and Horse Song, the children of two women raised as sisters in England, find themselves caught up in the brutal western expansion of America; a place where for some to live and survive was all in the undying consequences of choice.
Later, in 1839, after being officially tasked to clear all Cherokee still living in hiding east of the Mississippi, John Lucas Jnr. finds Horse Song, the woman whose hands he once wanted to hold forever. Torn by their shared past and love that couldn’t be had, Horse Song and the Cherokee she is hiding with are forced into deciding that when it comes to duty, land, and the right way to be, can John Lucas Jnr. be trusted or not.
Psychological Knots
Whose Hearts Align follows a woman who becomes engaged to the man of her dreams, though not everyone is happy for her, and things get complicated with their families. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
In this book, and in my entire series, I wanted to honor a woman’s own sense of fulfillment. It used to be common for society to assume that the right marriage would solve most of life’s problems for women. But no one can know a woman’s heart but herself. My protagonist Miranda Jones is an artist who has worked hard to find her professional voice, despite her family’s feeling that pursuing a career in the arts can never succeed financially. Since they already tend to believe she makes poor choices, they wrongly assume she’s done it again in choosing an astronomer to marry. After all, are the income prospects for a scientist any better than for an artist? Yet Miranda and her fiance are listening to their own sense of guidance. Both their personal and their professional lives are unfolding with far more joy and success than expected because they stood for their own identities.
What are some things that you find interesting about the human condition that you think make for great fiction?
What fascinates me are the choices people make. All of us have emotional or psychological knots to untie. Do we tackle these issues head-on? Do we try to skirt them, skip over them, and pretend they aren’t there? In my novel, we see a range of choices made by my characters. Miranda is morally courageous and tends to face things as soon as they’re recognized. Her friend Samantha, who’s twenty years old, put some major choices on hold years earlier and has to face them now when it’s harder with more at stake. Miranda’s sister Meredith feels some choices are unfairly out of her hands and Zack Calvin has been in denial about his own behavior, and now these two characters are drawn together, partly because of how the issues they have in common are helping to illuminate new possibilities. I often have very lively discussions about these issues with members of various book clubs.
Were you able to relate to your characters while writing them?
To most of them, yes, though there are some who are too far outside or beyond my own experience. This is where research and imagination help flesh out characters. Many of my readers describe moments, choices, and experiences they can relate to, and this is so important to me. As an author, I observe and listen closely to how people navigate their lives. I feel I owe it to my readers to bring authenticity to my stories. My characters won’t let me write them any other way!
What is the next book that you’re working on, and when can your fans expect it out?
Two new books are upcoming. Next spring a new adventure novella titled “When Birds Sing” will chronicle one of Miranda’s painting adventures. As a wildlife artist, she visits locations and studies creatures in their native habitats. And these stand-alone novellas also include a couple of humorous characters who manage to show up every time. Next autumn, the fifth novel will debut, When Hearts Heal. This will be the last in the pentalogy so a lot of excitement is building up. Now that Miranda is happily married, what’s next? And what’s to become of her sister and Samantha and several other characters? It’ll be fun to find out!
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She’s over the moon with her astronomer, and her close friends are thrilled. With a deep, romantic relationship, and increasing success in her career as a painter, all the stars seem to have aligned for Miranda at last.
But that leaves her sister jealous, her parents concerned, and her artist’s representative Zelda scrambling to realign her schemes. Meredith is now dating the man Miranda used to date, creating complexities for the both families. Meanwhile, Samantha is closer to finding her lost son, and Sally is making room for big changes in her life. Will all these relationships stay aligned?
What Once Was Promised
Set in 1914, What Once Was Promised by Louis Trubiano opens with sixteen-year-old Domenic Bassini, who boards the Cretic, bound for America and a future filled with unknowns. Leaving his family behind in Italy, Domenic’s journey across the Atlantic is one of hope and uncertainty. Aboard the ship, he meets Cologero and Francesca, a young married couple brimming with dreams of a new life, and Ermino, a stowaway searching desperately for his father. Together, they envision a land of promise and opportunity, unaware that the paths they embark on will twist and bind them together for decades in ways they could never have foreseen.
What Once Was Promised is a rich, multigenerational saga that vividly portrays the Italian immigrant experience in early 20th-century Boston. Trubiano masterfully blends themes of love, loss, family, and survival with the gritty realities of politics and organized crime. The setting bursts to life with meticulous detail, drawing readers deep into the vibrant world of Boston’s North End. Every corner of the city pulses with authenticity, from its cramped tenements to its bustling markets, without ever bogging down the narrative with overwrought descriptions. Instead, the immersion feels effortless, making you experience the hardships, the joys, and the perseverance of a community bound by heritage and resilience. What keeps this novel so captivating is the powerful sense of family that courses through its pages. The characters’ struggles against racism, punishing labor conditions, and the challenges of tenement life are rendered with empathy and depth. Trubiano weaves a story where survival isn’t just about overcoming obstacles but about the bonds that sustain and uplift. In a world battered by the flu epidemic, the Great Depression, and World War II, the lesson is clear: everything starts and ends with family, a timeless truth passed down through generations. The novel’s characters are unforgettable. Domenic, Ermino, Cologero, Francesca, and the many others who populate this story feel achingly real. Trubiano’s gift for character development ensures that each person leaves an indelible mark on the reader. Their choices shape their destinies in unexpected ways, and witnessing how their lives unfold is as rewarding as it is heart-wrenching.
The narrative evokes a spectrum of emotions, moments that made me laugh out loud, passages that brought tears, and scenes that left me gasping in shock. I found myself so engrossed in their world that I often paused to look up real events and figures from history, eager to know more. What Once Was Promised is a triumph of historical fiction that offers a deeply moving glimpse into the past. It’s a story of dreams, survival, and the enduring power of family, one that lingers long after the final page. Truly, I never wanted it to end.
Pages: 314 | ASIN : B0D57JJRJJ
A Noble Bargain
Jan Sikes’ A Noble Bargain transports readers to 1948, a time when post-war prosperity contrasted sharply with the struggles of small-town life. In Crossett, Arkansas, Oliver Quinn dreams of escaping his humble beginnings to become a professional baseball player. Across town, Rose Blaine endures a harsh reality under the thumb of her abusive, moonshine-brewing father. The two form an unlikely alliance: Rose promises to connect Oliver with her influential uncle in St. Louis if he agrees to take her and her brother away from their oppressive life. Their pact sets the stage for a poignant tale of ambition, resilience, and survival.
Sikes writes with a plainspoken elegance that perfectly suits the story’s setting and themes. Oliver and Rose, the central characters, embody a restless hope that propels the narrative. Their yearning for a better life highlights a central tension of the era: even amid national growth and optimism, achieving one’s dreams often remained an uphill battle for those born into hardship. The book’s portrayal of economic struggle and personal perseverance resonates deeply, making their journey all the more compelling. The story shifts gears when the protagonists arrive in St. Louis, expanding the narrative’s scope and raising the stakes. Sikes captures the wonder and challenges of city life with vivid descriptions and a keen sense of contrast, deftly illustrating how overwhelming the big city must feel to individuals from such modest beginnings. The new setting introduces a rich supporting cast that adds layers of intrigue and drama, pushing the characters to grow and adapt. Sikes keeps the plot moving with charged interactions and period-appropriate details, skillfully blending personal struggles with broader societal themes. Sikes avoids excessive sentimentality, instead grounding the story in the grit and determination of its protagonists. The conclusion feels earned and satisfying, a testament to the characters’ resilience and the strength of their bond.
Fans of character-driven fiction and historical narratives will find much to admire here. Young adults may connect with the story’s themes of ambition and self-discovery, while older readers will appreciate its rich period detail and timeless message. Reminiscent of Elmore Leonard’s The Moonshine War and the baseball-themed works of John R. Tunis, A Noble Bargain is an evocative, heartwarming novel that lingers long after the final page.
Pages: 301 | ASIN : B0DHQY46MJ
Sentinel of the Damned
In Sentinel of the Damned, Klothild de Baar weaves a sweeping, multigenerational tale set against the ancient lineage of the von Lindenberg family. The story opens with the mysterious disappearance of Lily, the family’s youngest member, in the remote landscapes of Canada. Through the devoted eyes of Maria, Lily’s eighty-five-year-old nanny, this narrative of rescue unfolds into a profound exploration of identity, loss, and the subtle despair that shadows cultural erosion.
From the very first page, Sentinel of the Damned defies expectations. The novel’s premise of a lost daughter and an aging nanny’s quest appears straightforward. Yet, de Baar enriches it with an intense emotional and philosophical depth. She masterfully transforms Lily’s tale into a larger meditation on the values we inherit and the forces that challenge them. Lily, nurtured within a lineage deeply rooted in Christian tradition and the security of family heritage, ventures beyond these confines into a relationship with Malcolm, a man whose ambitions and values stand in stark contrast to her own. Maria’s narration carries readers across decades and continents, painting a poignant picture of Lily and Malcolm’s connection. Their relationship is less a love story than a tragic intersection of contrasting worlds and ideals. Those with an eye for irony may even catch moments of unexpected humor woven into the narrative’s darker currents. This novel is not for the casual reader. Its slow, almost meditative pace and rich symbolism demand careful attention, inviting readers to delve beneath the surface.
For those drawn to literature that probes into tradition, love, and the existential battles within, Sentinel of the Damned is a rare and rewarding find. With its mythic tone and weighty themes, the book invites readers to immerse themselves fully, making it a journey for contemplation rather than light entertainment. Sentinel of the Damned resonates long after the final page, leaving readers both haunted and deeply moved. It’s a powerful, memorable read.
Pages: 538 | ASIN : B0BCWPKLG4
LITERARY TITAN 