Modern Slave

Modern Slave is a fictionalised account of the true life experiences of Gaia Cooper,who as a 14 year-old was sucked into the orbit of a grooming gang, Troubled teen Gaia ,always the outsider, was desperate for love and attention but settled for "being useful" to a couple of petty criminals much older than herself . With the crimes they expected her to carry out ,getting little or nothing in return for risking prison,getting more and more serious,she's also subjected to increasing levels of violence and abuse. Finally leaving her old life behind her Gaia opens her door to 2 policewomen in 2015 asking her to help them in their investigation into the now notorious grooming gangs.

This is a very disturbing and hard-hitting story with Gaia seemingly unable to break the ties with her abusers,I suspect more than a touch of "Stockholm Syndrome" as some of her decisions are distinctly strange. The writing style is quite "young adult" ,maybe what the author is aiming for as it's written by very experienced ghostwriter Veronica Clark,who knows what she's doing. Gaia now talks to young people about her experiences to serve as a warning and I'd guess this is the market she wants this book directed towards.

My only problem with the book is that Gaia doesn't ever appear to see things from other people's point of view,there were good adults in her life that she criticises despite her own actions having the consequences she blames them for. Likewise,aside from one instance when she's totally correct that an officer let her down,she criticises the police for not taking action in instances when she's outright refused to tell them anything.

That aside it's an important book,albeit rather simplistic in places for an adult reader.