Debra Shelton

Escaping the Darkness: Journey to Freedom Debra Shelton

Photo journalist, Jean Pierre Fontaine knows human trafficking comes in many forms. It was his piece on the kadogos (child soldiers) of Uganda that won him a Pulitzer Prize. Now determined to expose the ruthless use of slave labor in the mines of the DRC, Jean Pierre ventures into the Virunga Mountains, where he is taken captive by the ruthless commander of God's Unified Coalition Army. Alone and unaware of what has happened to her husband, Betta Fontaine is forced to return to the nightmare of her former life when human rights war criminal, Cyrus Munianeza kidnaps her children to bait her into returning to him. Realizing it is up to her to save them, Betta puts herself back into the hands of a monster and hopes she can survive. The eruption of Mt. Nyiragongo brings humanitarian aid worker, Xavier Mwena and his team back near his former Rwandan home and into a nightmare that could cost him his life or reunite him with those he thought dead. The vast expanses and the jungles of the African interior challenge Jean Pierre, Betta, and Xavier as each fights a race against time and evil.