Richard Verry, writer

Author’s Notes

In the beginning

In the summer of 2016, a severe concussion robbed me of the vivid imagery I desired and suffered with my entire life. During those days, I had doctor’s appointments at least four days a week, sometimes more. We’ve all sat waiting in a doctor’s office to be seen, often well after the appointed time. You know what I mean. It’s aggravating and frequently tedious. I remember thinking that if my creativity didn’t return, I would never write again.

I was scared.

Nine months after my injury, a visit to my doctor’s office inspired me to write Avril’s story. Sitting in the doctor’s waiting room, a tiny spark of creativity returned with the following questions.

What might happen if the person on the other side of the check-in window sold your private, intimate, and personal information to a third party? And what if this third party was a front for a global human trafficking organization? And what if the third party did not know of their involvement with human trafficking and how the information they sold would be used?

It was just a spark, but precisely what I needed to return to writing. When I returned home, I began jotting down ideas and developing a plot outline. Within a week, I had formulated a storyline that made me eager to get started with the first draft. At the time, I had no idea how the story would end. That book was the start of the successful Consortium Series.

The rest is history.

Why this book series?

I must tell you. It concerns me to write these novels, but probably not for the reasons you may suspect. The concept of the story may seem so far out there that it couldn’t possibly be real. While it is a pure work of fiction, I hope and pray that the agency I write about, ‘The Consortium,’ does not exist. Yet, I fear that I am wrong. I honestly believe that they might be real.

Look at the evidence. Each year, thousands of missing persons disappear forever. No trace of them is ever found. No evidence shows what might have happened to them. And this is just in America. Similar numbers per capita exist in every developed country worldwide. Horrifically, most of the missing are children. Since I won’t write stories involving children, I will focus on writing for adult victims.

According to CBS researcher Tanita Gaither, published May 9, 2013, in Atlanta Updated, “Of the 900,000 reported missing persons each year in the U.S., 50,000 are over the age of 18.” 50,000?

50,000?

It seems to me that none of us is immune. Annually, fifty thousand adults in America… gone. Most are never found. The rate of missing person incidence is growing, from 150,000 in 1980 to over 900,000 each year. Those figures only include those reported missing in the U.S. They do not include those reported missing overseas. I can say with certainty that thousands more go missing, going unreported to authorities. I can’t even fathom the 850,000 being children under the age of 18. I’m appalled.

A ring of truth

While writing these stories, I started looking over my shoulder, wondering whether I was being watched and followed. Was there a ring of truth to my suspicions? I can’t tell you how many times I debated with myself whether to finish the story and then, again, to publish it. I may not fit their profile of acceptable prey, but I believe that if I get too close to the truth, they may want to remove me as a threat.

You may think I’m crazy, but I’m unable to control these feelings. They just happen, and I would be a fool to ignore them. I’ll be honest with you. I am scared, and perhaps you should be too.

It’s true. I fear that my stories may have more than a ring of truth to them. I wrote the story with the idea that the Consortium only culls a few hundred people a year out of the billions who live on the planet. Could I be understating the number? I hope I am mistaken.

I’m not saying that an organization like the Consortium is out there, snatching people for personal gain and satisfaction. I just raised the possibility that there may be such a global outfit.

My stories are purely fictional. I do not know of anyone or anyone’s family member who went missing, never to be found. However, I know it exists, and my creative mind fills in the blanks. I’ve researched cases only to discover the statistics I wrote about above. I know many people in my circle of friends and acquaintances who would qualify as victims of the Consortium. As I wrote earlier, the possibility scares me.

Avril’s story haunts me

Avril’s story continues to haunt me, insisting on being told, needing to be released from my thoughts into written form. An idea that consumed me, scratching to get out of my head the way a pet begs at the door. Anyone who has a dog or cat knows what I mean. Thank you, everyone, for putting up with me during all those months waiting for this installment of her story.

Not only is this series a work of fiction, but it may also raise awareness of the global threat of human trafficking. Perhaps someone you know disappeared, never to be heard from again. As I previously stated, I never stop looking over my shoulder for the possibility that what I write about could be real. If nothing else, awareness is key to protecting yourself and your loved ones, even if that awareness stems from a work of fiction.

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If you enjoy disturbing scenes, powerful villains, and determined heroes, you’ll love these tie-you-in-knots thrillers. They will enthrall and entertain you for hours.