Review: Kidnapped by the Cartel by Karen D. Scioscia

A beautiful, young American woman was kidnapped and confined against her will in the putrid depths of Tijuana, Mexico. Drugged and tortured, she lived in constant fear for her life. Kidnapped by the Cartel opens the doors into the secret covens of Mexican Organized Crime, a terrifying place where many are lost forever. The slimy backstreets of Tijuana are graphically revealed as the disgusting, gruesome, and violent places they are known to be.

The U.S. State Department has warned against non-essential travel along the United States/Mexico border, especially in the violent cities of Ciudad Juarez and Tijuana. This novel gives a taste of what goes on behind the fence.

I received this book to give an honest review.
First let me say that I was really impressed with this book, though I have to give it 4 1/2 stars instead of a solid 5.
Even though this book is loosely based on actual events, but yet it felt so real. I loved how Steve and Diane never gave up even when Diane thought she would never see her daughter. While reading this book I can honestly say I really don't want to go to Mexico like I thought I would. The drug cartels run everything and it seems not to be safe for women.
In Kidnapped by the Cartel, a young woman named Amanda has a huge drug problem which gets her into far more trouble than she would ever imagine. She ends up of course kidnapped and her parents will  do everything they possibly can to get her back. While through out this whole ordeal of trying to find their daughter Steve and Diane seem to just drift further and further a part. I think something like this to me would want me to become closer to my husband no matter the problems. The storyline will keep you wanting to read more, and to find out if they will ever find Amanda or will she disappear into Mexico forever. Not only that you get to go through what Amanda was going through and thinking all while in the hands of those in Mexico. At times I wanted to shake Amanda and go 'You know what you are suppose to do, get off the stuff and try to get away.'
Now to why I am giving this book 4 1/2 stars I had questions as to what exactly was the point of Diane's two brothers? You got little snippets as to their lifestyle but it didn't seem to make much sense of why you would have them in the story. I understand that one of the brothers knew someone named Greg (bulldog) and he gives the father some hints as to where Amanda was or is, but other than that there is nothing else. It was like useless information that really did not play much of a part.
Now I am not sure if it was the copy I got, the formatting, or maybe even just the way the ebook was published. But it seemed as those every chapter started out like this example:  CHApTER 16
D
iane knew she had issues.
I mean really? Things like that should have been caught or unless that is how it was suppose to be written. And towards the end of the book about three to four different times in the middle of a paragraph you would get either the author's name or the title of the book. I found that super weird, just something that did annoy me after a while.
Also where the ending ended I felt a bit cheated. I would have liked to have learned what happened to Ice, did Amanda ever get off the stuff, did the Cartel ever come after her and her family. These are questions that I thought maybe could have been answered in the book.
Overall it was a wonderful read that I found myself engaged in the characters especially Amanda and the story kept having me turn the pages to see what would happen next.
This is a recommend read for those that enjoy true crime stories. There is reference to drugs and some sexual content but nothing that you have not seen on T.V. before.



My Rating: 4 stars

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