Defending Everly (Mountain Mercenaries Book 5)

By Susan Stoker

Defending Everly is Susan Stoker’s book in her Mountain Mercenaries series. This one tells the tale of Everly Adams, a SWAT officer looking for her 15-year-old half-sister who disappeared without a trace.

Everly teams up with former Coast Guard first responder Kannon “Ball” Black, a member of the Mountain Mercenaries.

Human trafficking. The pitfalls of social media. Trust. Three important topics that were brought to the forefront with Susan Stoker’s Defending Everly.

The book talks about how human traffickers have managed to use social media as a tool to lure their victims into prostitution and slavery. For me, this was Susan Stoker’s way of reminding her readers, especially us who follow her on social media, to be aware. Be aware of the dangers that this 20th-century phenomenon hides in the guise of modern technology. Be aware that, as much as social media can be a bridge to the outside world, it can also be everything that is wrong with the world we live in. 

I am not saying that social media is not all bad—it isn’t, BUT it is up to us to know better, to make sure that it is used for good intentions. To educate, yes. To exchange ideas and get to know others, yes and yes. To discover a world not usually available to us. All these, we can do with social media, for as long as we do it for our good, and for the betterment of others. 

To use social media for misinformation, for bullying? To use it to make someone else’s life miserable? To steal, to propagate criminal activity? Not!

It is up to us, those who know better, to also make sure that kids, our kids, know to distinguish between social media and real life. Spend time with them. Let them experience the wonders of playing in the dirt, of burying their noses in the pages of books as we do with Susan Stoker’s stories. 

Let kids know that more than social media, life is best lived seeing the world with their eyes, their hearts, and their minds. 

Susan Stoker, you are once again spot-on! And of course, Stella Bloom, as usual, made listening to Everly and Kannon’s story a pleasure!