Joseph M Puglia

Redemption Joseph M Puglia

"Redemption" begins in the sleepy village of Dzembronya, in the Carpathian Mountains of Ukraine. The countryside, embattled in the bitter war between Ukrainian loyalists aligned with Russia and Ukrainian separatists fighting for autonomy, has left Ukraine unstable. The instability of Eastern Europe proved to be futile hunting grounds for sex traffickers. Sex trafficking, the scourge of the 21st century responsible for 150 billion-dollar-a-year worldwide, is the fastest-growing criminal activity in the world. Each year some two million women and children worldwide are sent into lives of sexual bondage. Well entrenched criminal oligarchies protected by layers of complex social structures provide porous avenues that appear and disappear. Ofa Hawkins, now a United States Senator, pleads to Congress to support aggressive legislation to combat this modern-day slavery. Following her righteous indignation, Senator Hawkins declares war on human trafficking, "I will bring the powers of my office, my righteousness, and my God in a war that I will wage against human traffickers." "And so, it begins," she exclaims. "Redemption" examines the concept of "righteous indignation," her moral outrage, a form of reactive emotion when faced with the stealing of children, enslaving them in sexual bondage. Hawkins' juxtaposed persona follows Christian principles and Shakespeare's philosophy, "O, from this time forth, my thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth." Her declaration of war puts a knife in the hearts of sex traffickers, and of course, they vow her death. She recruits a clandestine group of unsuspecting operators, loyal and committed to her righteousness. "To be the cat, it takes brute force, the courage of conviction, and cunning, and of course, a cat," she says. She recruits the cat then sends her team to Ukraine, Montenegro, Albania, Thailand, Vietnam, China, and Mexico. "Bring hell down from heaven on these bastards as you are the dogs of war, she exclaims. It's the war she would fight, but no one could win. "I stirred up more snakes than I could kill," she laments. Regardless she proclaims, "When someone needs rescue, we should never count the price." "Redemption" examines a plethora of philosophical quandaries. Justice and Vengeance. Hawkins "brings it on" with a vengeance and does not hesitate to employ the swift sword of justice for she believes, might make right? Is forgiveness possible? or is there no redemption. Throughout "Redemption," this extraordinary cast of characters follows Senator Hawkins' righteous indignation "if one is to be alive, they are to do painful, brave, and beautiful things."