Book Review: The Bracelet by Roberta Gately

Title: The Bracelet: A Novel by Roberta Gately
Publication date: November 6, 2012; Gallery Books paperback
Genre: fiction set in Pakistan

In Geneva, Switzerland, Abby Monroe is being prepped for her work with the UN in Peshawar, Pakistan as a nurse. During an early morning run, she sees a woman fall to her death from a hotel balcony, and doesn't know if she has witnessed a murder, a suicide, or an accident. She notices an unusual and elaborate bracelet made of precious stones on the dead woman's wrist. When a man shouts at her from the balcony and rushes down to confront her, Abby fearfully hides from him and hurries away.

In Peshawar, Abby once again sees the unusual bracelet. Abby is puzzled by this and feels she is being observed and followed. She tries to see if she can recognize the man from the balcony.

During her work as a UN nurse, Abby also meets New York Times reporter Nick Sinclair, and they both try to discover who is behind a far reaching human trafficking ring that preys on women and girls from the villages. This provides further drama and explosive action in the novel.

My comments: I enjoyed the suspenseful plot surrounding the unusual bracelet. It was a good story and an excellent vehicle for the novel to describe human trafficking of women and girls taken or lured from their villages and then forced to work under demeaning conditions. The descriptions of women shelters and camps are realistic, even more convincing when I learned the author was a nurse and humanitarian aid worker in several war zones, from Afghanistan to Africa.
I recommend this novel on several levels.

Roberta Gately is also the author of Lipstick in Afghanistan.

Thanks to Gallery Books for an ARC of this book.