A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

While this is a work of fiction, there is also a storehouse of data both astonishing and disturbing that undergirds two aspects of this tale. First, current figures indicate that, worldwide, some forty-six million people are enslaved in some form of human trafficking. Those exploited victims are often female, and many of them are young. Second, technology has regrettably provided a kind of petri dish where this trafficking enterprise is grown and harvested. The “dark web” —that dirty underbelly of the Internet where these criminal activities flourish —is reported to enjoy some 2.5 million visitors every day.

As for the element of this story dealing with the dangers of a certain cultic practice, I believe there is evidence to support a genuine concern. Where do these various forms of evil come from? The reader is perfectly free to read this novel as entertainment and to dismiss the question. On the other hand, the reader may consider the thesis in this novel, that there exist two invisible yet life-impacting kingdoms, one of darkness and one of light. If that is true, then our choosing one rather than the other will necessarily have far-reaching, even staggering consequences.