thedeadgirlinthevacantlot

Phoenix investigative reporter Joya Bonner knew nothing about the world of sex traffickingamp;mdash;or the ugly status her city held in this filthy underground.

But then her 15 year-old honorary niece went missing in Phoenix. And a 13 year-old from her hometown in North Dakota disappeared. And there was that pitiful dead girl in the vacant lot. As Joya rushed in to helpamp;mdash;naive, scared, repulsed, frantic, but determinedamp;mdash;her world would never be the same again.

This is a work of fiction. The major characters are created from the author¿s imaginationamp;mdash;with the exception of Mike Lacey and Jim Larkin. They really did create a media empire that began with the New Times of Phoenix; they really were arrested in the dead of night by Sheriff Joe Arpaio¿s goons; they really did create Backpage.com that Congress calls an ¿online brothel," they really are currently awaiting trial on scores of charges they facilitated child sex-trafficking.

The story woven around these charactersamp;mdash;ripped from today's headlinesamp;mdash;will shock you to your core.