The syntax was simplistic. The plot was a tad far-fetched. The characters were silly and one dimensional. The two saving graces of the book: the theme of human trafficking and the descriptions of life in Pakistan. ( )

THE BRACELET begins with Abby, a UN aid worker witnessing what she believes to be a murder on her last night of training in Geneva. As Abby arrives in Pakistan to begin her UN work at the vaccination clinic, she finds that she can't get the woman who dies or the bracelet she was wearing out of her mind or her dreams. Abby ends up taking the UN job after two upheavals in her life. First, her job at a hospital in New Orleans is gone when Hurricane Katrina destroys the hospital. Then she starts a new life in Boston and when the man she expects to marry dumps her in an email, she believes the best thing for her is to focus on those with bigger problems than hers. She has no idea how big the problems she will face in Pakistan will be. Once there, Abby tries to focus on her work at the clinic, but after learning about the horrors of human trafficking and meeting with the victims, she begins to wonder if the woman who died in Geneva was one of the many unnamed victims.

With the murder of the young woman happening at the beginning of the book, you are instantly drawn in to the story. I was intrigued by the setting, the characters, and their individual stories. Once Abby arrives in Pakistan, the fast pace of the story kept me turning the pages all the way to the end.

The characters were well developed and I was able to create pictures of them in my mind,especially Nick the NY Times journalist, Najeela, the local UN worker, Hana, the housekeeper and Imtiaz, the sleezy uncle of Najeela. Each of the characters were essential to the story and the author doesn't bog the story down with unnecessary details or people to make it confusing.

Unfortunately, this story tells the horrors of human trafficking and the cases can be tough to read. But, the author takes care to share their realities with dignity and empathy. It is clear the author knows the ins and outs of this world-wide problem. I have to admit that I was pretty ignorant to the extent of human trafficking. Living in the privileged world makes these issues and the people suffering, invisible to us. You will want to learn more about this horrific crime after reading this novel.

Even though I figured out the connection between the murder in Geneva, Abby, and Pakistan, it didn't hasten my journey through the story and the chase to find the bad guys. I was intent on seeing them all brought to justice. Unfortunately, the reality is that there are millions suffering unimaginable horrors for years and it is likely that while I was reading this book, another child or woman was sold to a man that will continue the horror. Like the book said, the women who are in these situations believe there are not enough tears in her eyes or prayers to save her. I would like to believe that, through this book and the telling of their stories, we can begin to save them. ( )

The Good:
This book highlights the horrors of human trafficking. Fast paced. Humorous.

The Bad:
Predictable romance. (Boy meets girl. Boy and girl immediately dislike each other. Until suddenly...they're in love!) Clueless protagonist. Unrealistic. Simple.

See more here:http://therelentlessreader.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-bracelet-by-roberta-gately.html ( )

This book is about an American nurse who goes on assignment for the UN in Pakistan, witnessing a probable murder in Geneva on her way there that leaves her disturbed. Once in Pakistan, she meets a journalist who is investigating human trafficking in the area, gets involved helping some of the victims, and eventually the connection to the Geneva murder is revealed.

The topic is interesting and the writing style is pleasant, but my biggest complaint about this book is that many of the plot details are implausible and while they serve to neatly tie the story up the way the author wanted to, they leave the reader frustrated and disbelieving. For example, the chance of someone witnessing a murder while jogging in the business district of Geneva, and then subsequently ending up in a house with the murderer's fiancée in Pakistan is virtually nil. And the chance of the murderer letting her go when he has the chance to kill her, under the pretense that the fire would kill her is ridiculous, since she was already out of harm's way and just had to keep walking away from it and would be perfectly fine. And then to top it all off, the chance of the helicopter then blowing up and killing the murderer is hard to swallow since in reality, the helicopter would have flown away from the fire, not directly above it, and thus would never have been affected. All these details were just so unlikely that the whole book felt false and unconvincing.

Being a pragmatic person, this left me with a great sense of disappointment and frustration. So while the story had a lot of potential, it fell short for me on execution. ( )

The cover of this book is so far removed from the topic it truly causes confusion. Every time I saw it I expected the book to be historical fiction. Additionally the woman depicted wearing the bracelet is of the wrong ethnicity. This has been pointed out quite a few times by other reviewers but I feel it's important; people often pick a book up due to its cover art and for a cover to be so disparate from its story does it a disservice.

Abby is a nurse who makes a habit of running away from life's difficulties. Her current difficulty has her running into a UN vaccination program in Pakistan to escape the loss of her job and the defection of her boyfriend. There she meets a brash Pulitzer Prize winner journalist ostensibly there to write a piece on the American aide worker - her. Nick rubs her the wrong way from the start and she doesn't trust him. He also has ulterior motives for being in the country - he is investigating human trafficking. A devastating world wide problem that Abby was totally ignorant of.

Prior to Abby's arrival in Peshawar she witnessed the fall of woman from a building in Geneva. Was it a murder? The only thing she knows for sure is that the woman was wearing a stunning gemstone bracelet. Abby remembers the bracelet in her nightmares (btw - she describes the bracelet in these passages referring to rubies, sapphires, diamonds and one large garnet. The photo on the cover shows a stunning cuff bracelet but from what I can see there isn't a sapphire to be seen. Rubies, diamonds and emeralds, yes - but no sapphires, nor a large garnet. Just sayin'.)
These nightmares plague her but no one believes her.

In Pakistan she meets her co-worker at the UN offices, Najeela. She is a very self centered woman who is only concerned with shopping, her fiance about whom her parents do not know and wouldn't approve and treating the less fortunate like dirt. She also meets the housekeeper Hana who ignores Abby.

This could have been a powerful book. It delves into one of the most haunting and urgent topics in today's world. And a topic that is largely ignored on a global level. According to the statistics in the book global trafficking is a 3 billion dollar a year business which is probably why it continues. Money talks as we all know. But this book places it in the midst of a middling romance story, the bracelet being a facile prop to tie it all up in a nice big bow. None of the characters are well developed; Abby takes a job in PAKISTAN and has NO IDEA of the conditions in the country?! Seriously?! Could she really be THAT stupid? Anyone who just watches a half hour of nightly news would know the conditions in the country.

The passages that detail the travails of the women - children really - who were trafficked are horrifying and not easy to read. It was the only part of the book with any depth at all. And even there Ms. Gately in attempts to lighten the story diminished her storytellers. It was a shame and unnecessary. Once the stories were told the book went back to being all superficial. I just wanted so much more from it. ( )