Ricky and Julie - New novel by Shay Cullen

Ricky and Julie is an exciting and reflective novel about the plight of trafficked children, drug smuggling, abduction and human courage by Fr Shay Cullen, author of Passion and Power. He has lived 49 years in the Philippines and is an internationally-known journalist and writer about the social and humanitarian situation in the Philippines. He has been nominated four times for the Nobel Peace Prize and has received numerous human rights awards including the Martin Buber Plaque.

The story is based on real events and after a dramatic opening, it leads us to reflect about good and evil in the world today and reveals a world of intrigue, crime and redemption. Written with a thoughtful and meticulous attention to descriptive detail, it has a powerful and vivid story that will have the reader turning the pages as the plot unfolds and one event leads to another, sometimes unexpectedly and cumulating in a dramatic ending. Knowing that these events have happened in the Philippines makes it contemporary and relevant.

Who was the patriarch landowner Dom Ortega and his cruel son known as El Toro?

Meet Develio, a vile woman who specialised in trafficking young girls into the sex industry to please El Toro and his henchmen. They are all members of the dominant family that run the great plantation La Aguila from where the teenager Julie was abducted and imprisoned in a sex bar and exclusively exploited for their pleasure.

When she was made pregnant and resisted a forced abortion, she was rescued by a once shy woman who found her voice and the courage to help Julie escape and protected her child Ricky when born. But more challenges were to follow years later when Julie was again captured and her 12-year old son Ricky disappeared and became the target of the death squad. But why and what happened to him and the street urchins?

The terrorist bandit Scarface kidnapped the Australian and American businessmen. What was the role of the US Navy? The mysterious figures behind the drug smuggling cartel are the ones destroying the Philippines and we will learn what happened to the investigators. Did the human rights lawyer Attorney Ross and his friend American journalist Jill and Father Alfonso survive the final violent clash?

The characters are all connected in this intriguing thriller set in modern day Philippines where a war-on-drugs is waging, where victims of kidnapping are beheaded and social injustice and poverty is rife. Order it now and help children to a better happier life. All proceeds of sales go to support the Preda charity helping abused children.

Read more about Preda: www.preda.org

Buy the book: http://amzn.com/B07DXKX4SV