One Child - Jeff Buick, Author

One Child – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat

“I had a dream last night,” Halima said, her eyes locked on her youngest sister. “Dreams are good,” her father said. “Do you remember what you dreamt?” “Yes, I do.” She licked her
cracked lips with a dry tongue. “I was someone important, I’m not sure
why, but people were talking about me. Many, many people. They had
pictures of me.” “You are important, Halima.” “No, father. Not just
to you. To hundreds of people. Maybe even thousands.” “How are such
things possible?” Kadir asked. She shrugged, her shoulders pressed into
his chest. “I don’t know. But they were talking about me. Saying
that I changed the world.” Kadir tilted his head so he could see her
eyes. They were shining with excitement. “You changed my world,
Halima. You made it so much better.” Her eyes dimmed and the smile
slowly fated. “Do dreams come true?” Kadir considered the words. They
were thoughtful words, and an important question to an eleven-year-old
girl. His answer was equally important. He was her world and what he
said and how he said it would help form the woman she would become.
“Yes, they do come true.”

Russell Matthews, a journalist on assignment for a major US television network, will soon step into one of the hottest spots in the world. He will be joining American soldiers
as they put their lives in jeopardy every day while trying to bring some
sort of peace to war-torn Afghanistan. The scenes that will unfold
before his eyes, and that he captures with his camera, are sights that
most of us only see in the movies. But this isn’t Hollywood. This is
real life, and real life has which has no preference as to who will die –
or how. Russell learns the hard way that while decisions can save
lives, they can also cost the lives of innocents.

Carson Grant is a Wall Street genius. His dreams are about to come true when he finds himself being promoted to the inner-circle of Platinus Investments by William Fleming, the firm’s
billionaire owner. The duties and responsibility that go with the job
are substantial – he will be making over a million a year. But what he
didn’t see coming with the promotion was finding out that Fleming
doesn’t always deal legally. And not just on the stock market. He taps
into Fleming’s email and discovers that something is planned for August
25^th, and he starts regretting his decision to accept the
job. As he dabbles even further into the forbidden emails, he discovers
something that really turns his stomach. Something that is of grave
concern to the soldiers fighting in Afghanistan.

Julie Lindstrom, owner of Details Matter, has been employed by Dimitri Volstov to handle security for the U2 concert in Moscow show of U2. What Julie doesn’t know is that there is a
team headed by an ex-CIA agent preparing to sabotage the show. William
Fleming is behind the sabotage, looking to ruin Volstov’s image.

Halima Hussein is the oldest of 3 daughters living with their father in a bombed out building in Afghanistan. Halima’s mother was killed by the Taliban, leaving her to care for her
father and younger sisters. When her father finds a way to save the
family, he makes the decision to sell Halima. The promise of money to
provide for his other daughters as well as giving Halima an opportunity
to go to school are too good to pass up. To save her family, Halima
agrees.

Through One Child, Jeff Buick brings all of these individuals together to create one of the most heart tugging books I’ve EVER read. He spares nothing and no-one as he
tells a story of war-torn Afghanistan. Parts of the book upset me
tremendously – but only because I knew that what he had described was
true. Other parts gave me a joyous feeling as the world came together
in a way I wish would be true. One Child showed how one child’s dream really can come true, even with disaster lurking so close by.

2010

391 Pages

Enthrill Entertainment, Inc.

ISBN# 978-0-9866199-0-8