Betrayed by Sam Morton

Betrayed by Sam Morton

From http://www.echelonpress.com/:

It’s an election year and Senator Ben “Pitchfork” Stevens from Texas made a campaign promise to stop illegal immigration. He virtually has. Problem is, people trying to cross the border keep disappearing. That’s a dilemma for 15-year-old Austin Pierce whose father is a political consultant involved with the senator and whose best friend, Rico Alvarez, happens to be in the United States illegally.

After Rico's family voluntarily deports, Austin discovers that Rico’s beautiful cousin Veronica helps people cross over illegally. He faces a decision: should he help his friends or help the FBI to stop the senator's evil ways?

Exciting. Suspenseful.

Morton's Betrayed is a truly phenomenal novel. Alhtough dealing with the controversial issue of illegal immigration, Morton deftly navigates the issue with grace. It's this grace that allows the novel to move fluidly from scene to scene.

He further reveals his ability to create a realistic story by weaving his own knowledge of unique topics through the pages. It is necessary, yes, for an author to have knowledge concerning his story before he writes, but the vastness of knowledge Morton relays in Betrayed is evident and greatly adds to the overall effect of the novel.

Besides his knowledge playing across the pages, Morton's characterization of his characters, especially the portrayal of Austin, Rico, and Veronica, brought the characters out of a 2D fictional realm and into the higher ranks of 3D characterization. This feat leaves Morton and Betrayed in the lands belonging to the upper-level authors.

Lastly, Morton takes a moment at the end of the novel to reveal the motivation behind the writing of Betrayed and the creation of the lead character, Austin Pierce - who was created in memory of a young boy named Austin Whetsell. His decision to honor Austin's life by writing this novel is a real inspiration.

Betrayed has rightfully earned the spot on my bookshelf next to other well-read and well-written novels. I'll anxiously watch out for more work from Morton in the future.

Listen to Sam Morton's interview on Blog Talk Radio, today from 12:00 Noon - 1:00 Pacific time. The interview will be archieved following it's completion.