Book Review: Deliver Me from Evil, by Kathi Macias

Kathi, you’ve done it again. Several nights I thought about your novel for hours after I closed the book and my eyes, wishing for sleep. But sleep didn’t come, because Deliver Me from Evil gave me a glimpse into an ugly world where God’s heart breaks for the young girls and boys who live—no, exist—in it.

Slavery is alive and well in this world, in this country, in this state, and maybe even in my town, even though Willows is a pretty small burg. This novel takes place in San Diego, where access to young girls in Mexico is as easy as a day trip across the border and a quick lie to the parents about a rich family who’d love to adopt a poor family’s little girl. Or maybe just a trip to the beach where a teenager makes a trip to the public restroom alone.

In the background of Deliver Me from Evil, I hear Jaws music. The shark draws closer, then swallows the youngsters whole. They might never be rescued from this sinister world of brutal human traffickers. Mara has given up home, Jasmine never resurfaces, and Lawan loses her sister twice. Any hope these girls had was extinguished by brutal men who rent them out as sex slaves over and over again.

And yet—when Jonathan sees two of the girls, he can’t forget them and doubts the claim of the man with them that he is their father. When he reveals what he saw and his doubts to his family, the door begins to open on hope for the young girls and boys enslaved by these inhumane monsters—but the same opening door reveals a deadly peril for Jonathan and his family. You wonder right up to the last moment whether God or evil will triumph.

Kathi Macias is a multi-award winning writer who has authored more than 30 books and ghostwritten several others. A former newspaper columnist and string reporter, Kathi has taught creative and business writing in various venues and has been a guest on many radio and television programs. Kathi is a popular speaker at churches, women’s clubs and retreats, and writers’ conferences, and won the 2008 Member of the Year award from AWSA (Advanced Writers and Speakers Association). Kathi “Easy Writer” Macias lives in Homeland, CA, with her husband, Al.