Blog Tour: Slave Stealers by Timothy Ballard

Slave Stealers by Timothy Ballard

Book Description:

Follow two abolitionists who fought one of the most shockingly persistent evils of the world:  human trafficking and sexual exploitation of slaves. Told in alternating chapters from perspectives spanning more than a century apart, read the riveting 19th century first-hand account of Harriet Jacobs and the modern-day eyewitness account of Timothy Ballard.

Harriet Jacobs was an African-American, born into slavery in North Carolina in 1813. She thwarted the sexual advances of her master for years until she escaped and hid in the attic crawl space of her grandmother’s house for seven years before escaping north to freedom. She published an autobiography of her life, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, which was one of the first open discussions about sexual abuse endured by slave women. She was an active abolitionist, associated with Frederick Douglass, and, during the Civil War, used her celebrity to raise money for black refugees. After the war, she worked to improve the conditions of newly-freed slaves.

As a former Special Agent for the Department of Homeland Security who has seen the horrors and carnage of war, Timothy Ballard founded a modern-day “underground railroad” which has rescued hundreds of children from being fully enslaved, abused, or trafficked in third-world countries. His story includes the rescue and his eventual adoption of two young siblings—Mia and Marky, who were born in Haiti.

Section 2 features the lives of five abolitionists, a mix of heroes from past to present, who call us to action and teach us life lessons based on their own experiences: Harriet Tubman—The “Conductor”; Abraham Lincoln—the “Great Emancipator”; Little Mia—the sister who saved her little brother; Guesno Mardy—the Haitian father who lost his son to slave traders; and Harriet Jacobs—a teacher for us all.

Andrea's Review:

I learned about Operation Underground Railroad a few years ago when I heard Timothy Ballard speak at a women's conference. I didn't realize that modern day slavery was going on, and my eyes were definitely opened. It's shocking and heartbreaking!

Since then I've tried to be educated and do what I can to help. When I heard about Slave Stealers I couldn't resist agreeing to review it. Non-fiction isn't my genre of choice, but this is such an important topic.

Not being a football fan, I'd never heard of Mike Tomlin, the writer of the forward, but I was immediately impressed by him. His passion for good and his faith really drew me to him. It was a great way to start this book.

The format of alternating chapters between past and present-day slave accounts was engaging. It was difficult content, but I learned so much. I'm not sure why certain aspects of our history have been largely left in the past, but I think it's so important for books like these to bring them to light. Change is very difficult without learning from our past. I really admire Timothy Ballard and his organization for all of the good they are doing around the world rescuing so many children enslaved in sex trafficking.

I highly recommend Slave Stealers. It deals with a very difficult subject, but is such a worthwhile read.

Rorie's Review:

It's not often that a non-fiction book hits me as hard as this one did. I've heard a little bit here and there about Timothy Ballard and his organization, and have always thought he was pretty amazing to do what he does, but this book is just...wow...I don't often post on my personal social media pages about books I read, but this is one that I will recommend that everyone reads.

Having recently read "Women of the Blue and Gray," I was a bit familiar with Harriet Jacobs' story, but Timothy goes more in depth into her story in this book. The book focuses on her story (and other key players in the fight against slavery back in the 1800's) for one chapter and then the next chapter focuses on a modern-day slave rescue story.

Harriet was an amazing woman, and did so much for so many people, even though she went through so much horror in her life. The modern-day stories that are shared in this book are also heartbreaking and hit closer to home, because these things are still happening today, right under our noses. As I was reading, I couldn't even begin to imagine how hard it would be for these undercover operatives to have to pretend to be such sick, twisted, degraded human beings. But I'm so glad that they do it, because they get the blessings of rescuing some of these people who have been forced into such an awful lifestyle.

I'm glad I had the opportunity to read Slave Stealers and look forward to sharing this book and Operation Underground Railroad with anyone who will listen to me talk about it.





Title: Slave Stealers
Author: Timothy Ballard
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Published: September 2018
ISBN: 162972484X
Source: We received copies from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Purchase: Amazon | Deseret Book