Never Broken.
By Lori Duffy Foster.

A well written Mystery/Suspense
Thriller. My favorite kinda Books.
Thank you Lori Duffy Foster.
For this Early Read. This one will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Looking for that sweatshop.
Crime stories. Are my go to books.

Coming April 12th 2022.

Lisa Jamison.
Journalist finishing up in a shady area one were she should be keeping a better eye out around her surroundings, this downtown area isn't always the safest.
Soon leaving finding she has a passenger. Not that she's expecting one. Things surrounding her new passenger go very wrong .Lisa soon finds herself in a few tight spots.

Saul,
Once he was a man who worked had a place of his own.
Then one day. Everything went Dark.

Dorothy,
Lisa's best friend.
Has lost so much after the loss of her son, and husband.
Dorothy runs a retreat for folks . A place to go and relax.
Her place is a place most can just Relax.

Thank you
Lori Duffy Foster 🌹🌹

Thank you NetGalley and Independent Book Publishers Association for the copy of Never Broken. The story was different from any book I have read, and at first I was intrigued and I enjoyed the POV of a journalist. The story was not easy to read and might be upsetting to more sensitive readers.
I’m not sure when I started to lose interest. Maybe more about Saul would have kept my interest, because he was the best character in the book by far. The characters other than Saul and Dorothy just seemed one dimensional.
The book certainly picked up for the last 20% or so, which was pleasantly surprising. I thought that instead of hearing someone tell Lisa previous events, I wish we had been able to “see” them happen. And at one point near the end the book got unnecessarily preachy, and I didn’t enjoy that. It wasn’t that I disagreed, it just had no place in the book and seemed thrown in to show racial sensitivity.
If you are looking for a good story this book might be for you.

Never Broken, by Lori Duffy Foster, is a fast paced suspense that gives us a glimpse into human trafficking and slavery in the United States and the destruction that it causes. The flow of the writing kept me hooked and the main characters were well fleshed out and interesting. Even the ending wrapped the whole story up nicely, including all sorts of details that are often missing at the end of most novels.
Saul has no clue where he’s been being held or for how long. All he knows is that he's been a slave, forced to work in absolutely inhumane conditions. On the night he escapes he's lucky enough to hide in journalist Lisa Jamison's car.
She's ready to help him especially after he mentions that he was enslaved with missing person: Chandra Bower.
It's been 7 years since Chandra disappeared while on her way to the store and her family has refused to give up hope. Lisa has continued to follow any leads even after her editor ordered her to give up the search. Now, Saul tells her that Chandra is being held captive by the same monsters that had held him.
Lisa is in but she must be extra careful with who she trusts.

NetGalley ARC Educator 550974

Trigger warnings: slavery, human trafficking and sweatshops

This book will take you on an emotional and mental journey. I had not read the book prior to this one but intend to do so. This novel is a stand-alone, one sitting read. Expect shocking moments and heartfelt ones as well. An amazing story.

Lisa Jamison takes no prisoners. The investigative reporter and protagonist of Lori Duffy Foster’s second novel seems to find the worst of humankind and will stop at nothing to bring them to justice.

This incredible novel begins with Lisa encountering a man so physically broken, she isn’t sure he will live. What he reveals to her is horrific and almost beyond belief: he’s was kidnapped held as a slave in an underground sweatshop run by white supremacists for over ten years. And, he’s not the only one. Lisa investigates and realizes his story is true. As she helps the man, Saul Jenkins, to heal, she not only puts her own life in danger but also that of her daughter and her best friend.

This novel is truly un-putdownable, with each chapter compelling you to read the next.
Beautifully written, dramatic, and exciting to the end.

Never Broken by Lori Duffy Foster is a mystery/suspense novel. It's the second book from the Lisa Jamison series.

In this novel, reporter Lisa Jamison puts herself in a risky situation once more. After finding a bloodied stranger in her car and listening to his story she had no other choice but to get involved. What was supposed to be a quiet investigation turned quickly into a cat and mouse chase. The closer she was getting many of her friends were getting hurt. By the end, her only hope was to survive like the previous time.

It's an incredible book. It began with a bit of a shocking scene and a very interesting revelation. The plot is captivating filled with so much suspense it had me holding my breath several times. The progress of the story is steady with lots of information. There are so many characters here that are all very likable. You need to pay attention all the time if you don't want to miss anything important. The criminal subject that the author touched here was slavery which after so many years is still
happening. There were a few scenes that were a bit sensitive and kind of gruesome. If you get triggered by abusive scenes be careful.

I was lucky enough to have read the first book as well so I can safely say that this series is from those that are getting better with each book. I loved this one and I will rate it with 5 stars.

Parts of this novel reminded me of Twelve Years a Slave, the movie in which Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York in the 1840s, is kidnapped, sold into slavery in the South, and subjected to an owner’s cruelty, with one scene depicting Solomon hung from a tree, his feet barely touching the ground. In Duffy’s novel, Saul Jenkins, a black bartender, is kidnapped and enslaved for years in a contemporary upstate New York sweatshop by a white supremacy group that wants to bring back slavery.

Duffy’s novel is the second of her series about pretty investigative reporter Lisa Jameison, now 33, and the plot focuses on her helping Saul after he escapes from the underground sweatshop where workers on sewing machines are imprisoned, badly mistreated, and often referred to as “slaves.” The novel has many more characters, including Lisa’s daughter Bridget; Bridget’s boyfriend Ben; developer Bert Trammel; Joe, Lisa’s editor; Fred, Lisa’s reporter colleague, who is having problems with his wife and is assigned as Lisa’s partner as she searches for the sweatshop; Toren, Lisa’s friend (once briefly her boyfriend) a handsome doctor who works for hospice and treats Saul; and undercover FBI agent Patrick Flanigan. There are car chases, interviews with scary characters, and life-threatening situations. Lisa’s interesting backstory is sketched in but suggests material for a future novel (a prequel), while toward the end, events that are not fully dramatized but summarized could be material for a sequel.

There is a lot to absorb in this dramatic novel, and I think Duffy, herself a former crime reporter, did a lot of research for it. An author’s note at the end telling about the actual sweatshops that newspaper stories say still exist, especially in California and upstate New York, would have been a great final touch.