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Traffik Games
TRAFFIK GAMES - the latest book by Carol K. Howell and Sheila Hollihan-Elliot
A smart Texas ex-pat, an international supermodel, and bored spa friends take on the London Metropolitan Police in an exciting suspenseful romp when they accidentally encounter a case of human trafficking of teenage girls. They scheme and struggle to rescue the girls, bring justice to their obscenely rich abusers, and discover whether, despite everything, romance can flourish.
Also included –
Sample Book Club Questions
NGO’s to contact for activism
Upcoming Books from Palm Beach Press
A smart Texas ex-pat, an international supermodel, and bored spa friends take on the London Metropolitan Police in an exciting suspenseful romp when they accidentally encounter a case of human trafficking of teenage girls. They scheme and struggle to rescue the girls, bring justice to their obscenely rich abusers, and discover whether, despite everything, romance can flourish.
Also included –
Sample Book Club Questions
NGO’s to contact for activism
Upcoming Books from Palm Beach Press
186 pages, Hardcover
Published July 20, 2022
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September 24, 2022I shall say up front that this is not an objective, unbiased review. Carol Howell is not only one of my dearest friends, but a writer I deeply admire. For decades, I have eagerly awaited the publication of each luminous, witty, profoundly ethical story. Carol’s fiction has appeared in Epoch, New Orleans Review, Story Quarterly, North American Review, Crazyhorse, as well as Syracuse University’s literary magazine, Salt Hill. Carol’s powerful Holocaust novella, “The Empty Bowl,” was awarded first prize in the annual Pushcart competition. Traffic Games is her first published novel.
Traffic Games, written jointly with Sheila Hollihan-Elliot, is a departure from Carol’s earlier fiction. Rooted in Jewish tradition, Carol’s stories were often magic realism, blurring the lines between realistic depiction of Jewish family life and folkloric fantasy. Traffik Games, in contrast, is a fast-moving thriller, what Carol calls “a beach read with ideas.” Together, a group of wealthy, middle-aged women bring to justice a powerful villain—a satanic Arab business tycoon without an iota of morality or compassion. Traffic Games has what Virginia Woolf called “a palpable design” on the reader—calling attention to the the horrors of modern-day slavery. At the end is the book is a list of organizations fighting to end human trafficking.
The protagonist, Celeste, is a divorced American, living in London. At the outset, she and her wealthy expatriate friends long for for a meaningful activity or cause. Wandering away from a lavish party, hosted by Sheik Muhktar Farouqi, Celeste explores the art treasures that adorn the magnificent house. Hearing cries of pain, she witnesses the Sheik’s wife, Begum, savagely beating a young, pregnant girl. Impulsively, Celeste spirits Najima out of the mansion and brings her home.
Through Flora, her Arabic-speaking housekeeper, Celeste learns that, besides fifteen-year-old Najima, the Sheik and his son Tariq keep three other Jadali girls (Jadal is an imaginary Arab country) as slaves. All four are beaten, starved, and sexually violated by the sheik and his son. Aided by Flora and her female friends, Celeste dedicates herself to liberating them.
When Celeste informs the London police that the Jadali family are human traffickers, they ridicule her. Seeking more evidence, Celeste returns to Farouq home on the pretext of retrieving a jacket. She comes away convinced that Tariq is engaged, not merely in human trafficking, but in international malfeasance. Flora’s chauffeur husband, Benny, with his mates, watch the Farouq house. He sees a young girl fall to the street. Tariq has thrown Fadeelah off a balcony, thinking she has overheard him trying to sell Sarin gas to terrorists. Knowing that Tariq will attempt to kill the injured adolescent, Celeste, with the help of her friends and servants, spirits Fadeelah out of her hospital room. Childless Celeste, now with two adopted daughters, takes joy in teaching them English and encouraging them to be self-confident young women. But they cannot be happy, knowing that two young friends are still slaves.
Through her persistence, Celeste finally meets (and falls in love with) a police detective, who believes her story about slavery in the heart of London. Before meeting Celeste, Keene had been tracking Tariq’s corrupt international business deals. The novel ends on a joyful note. Tariq is sentenced to prison. Since Muslin condemnation of “dishonored” women prevent their returning home, the four Jadali teenagers find in Celeste a loving adoptive mother.
This would not be an honest review if I did not express my discomfort with the novel’s depiction of Muslims: e.g., Tariq dangles the prospect of a paradise with "seventy-two virgins" to entice a suicide bomber to buy poison gas. In Traffik Games, however, male characters aren’t important. What I most loved about the novel was its celebration of female bonding. Celeste and her female friends share such a powerful bond that, united, they can defeat any evil. My favorite character is Willow, a celebrity super-model and the wife of Celeste’s ex-husband, Neil. Despite the potential for awkwardness, the two women are friends. To deflect attention from Fadeelah’s rescue, Willow stages a press-conference outside the hospital. At the end of Traffik Games, an unbreakable circle of female love has expanded to include, not only the four Jadali teenagers, but Najima’s beautiful new baby.
Whoopee! Palm Beach Press will publish BOTH Carol Howell’s GLORIOUS novels, Skyclad on Bourbon Street and The Unbelievable Tale. I have read the manuscripts and can’t wait for the books! Both novels, I hope and anticipate, will find the large audience they richly deserve.
Traffic Games, written jointly with Sheila Hollihan-Elliot, is a departure from Carol’s earlier fiction. Rooted in Jewish tradition, Carol’s stories were often magic realism, blurring the lines between realistic depiction of Jewish family life and folkloric fantasy. Traffik Games, in contrast, is a fast-moving thriller, what Carol calls “a beach read with ideas.” Together, a group of wealthy, middle-aged women bring to justice a powerful villain—a satanic Arab business tycoon without an iota of morality or compassion. Traffic Games has what Virginia Woolf called “a palpable design” on the reader—calling attention to the the horrors of modern-day slavery. At the end is the book is a list of organizations fighting to end human trafficking.
The protagonist, Celeste, is a divorced American, living in London. At the outset, she and her wealthy expatriate friends long for for a meaningful activity or cause. Wandering away from a lavish party, hosted by Sheik Muhktar Farouqi, Celeste explores the art treasures that adorn the magnificent house. Hearing cries of pain, she witnesses the Sheik’s wife, Begum, savagely beating a young, pregnant girl. Impulsively, Celeste spirits Najima out of the mansion and brings her home.
Through Flora, her Arabic-speaking housekeeper, Celeste learns that, besides fifteen-year-old Najima, the Sheik and his son Tariq keep three other Jadali girls (Jadal is an imaginary Arab country) as slaves. All four are beaten, starved, and sexually violated by the sheik and his son. Aided by Flora and her female friends, Celeste dedicates herself to liberating them.
When Celeste informs the London police that the Jadali family are human traffickers, they ridicule her. Seeking more evidence, Celeste returns to Farouq home on the pretext of retrieving a jacket. She comes away convinced that Tariq is engaged, not merely in human trafficking, but in international malfeasance. Flora’s chauffeur husband, Benny, with his mates, watch the Farouq house. He sees a young girl fall to the street. Tariq has thrown Fadeelah off a balcony, thinking she has overheard him trying to sell Sarin gas to terrorists. Knowing that Tariq will attempt to kill the injured adolescent, Celeste, with the help of her friends and servants, spirits Fadeelah out of her hospital room. Childless Celeste, now with two adopted daughters, takes joy in teaching them English and encouraging them to be self-confident young women. But they cannot be happy, knowing that two young friends are still slaves.
Through her persistence, Celeste finally meets (and falls in love with) a police detective, who believes her story about slavery in the heart of London. Before meeting Celeste, Keene had been tracking Tariq’s corrupt international business deals. The novel ends on a joyful note. Tariq is sentenced to prison. Since Muslin condemnation of “dishonored” women prevent their returning home, the four Jadali teenagers find in Celeste a loving adoptive mother.
This would not be an honest review if I did not express my discomfort with the novel’s depiction of Muslims: e.g., Tariq dangles the prospect of a paradise with "seventy-two virgins" to entice a suicide bomber to buy poison gas. In Traffik Games, however, male characters aren’t important. What I most loved about the novel was its celebration of female bonding. Celeste and her female friends share such a powerful bond that, united, they can defeat any evil. My favorite character is Willow, a celebrity super-model and the wife of Celeste’s ex-husband, Neil. Despite the potential for awkwardness, the two women are friends. To deflect attention from Fadeelah’s rescue, Willow stages a press-conference outside the hospital. At the end of Traffik Games, an unbreakable circle of female love has expanded to include, not only the four Jadali teenagers, but Najima’s beautiful new baby.
Whoopee! Palm Beach Press will publish BOTH Carol Howell’s GLORIOUS novels, Skyclad on Bourbon Street and The Unbelievable Tale. I have read the manuscripts and can’t wait for the books! Both novels, I hope and anticipate, will find the large audience they richly deserve.
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