Cora's Mask
One woman was his downfall... Can another be his salvation?
Auden knows about ghosts. As a ranking member of the Lontine cartel - and a Ryder - he's haunted by them. But how can one escape blood ties?
Behind the mask lies brokenness as a government ultimatum spirals Auden down a labyrinth of fate and fear. The deck is cut and the cards are stacked, until an unexpected source breeds promise: a green-eyed girl called Daisy.
But with dreams fighting reality in the form of his mother, Cora, and his own demons threatening to choke out the last threads of goodness, will there be any Auden left? Or will becoming a Ryder destroy his chance at redemption, damning him forever to the horrors of "Cora's mask"?
288 pages
Published: March 9, 2022
Genre: Drama / Romance
Audience: 14+
Reviews
I have been in recovery for over 10 years now. Never have I ever read such a harrowing tale of drug abuse, sex trafficking, murder, theft, rape put in such dramatically real terms outside of the rooms. This book describes reality of living in a cartel life. It gives you an inside look of what really happens when you make a deal with the devil. But, there is redeeming grace in Jesus Christ. There are a lot of people in AA and survivors of the sex trade who don't know how to deal with the guilt of it all. They don't know how to survive and I think they would benefit from this novel. We read stories in the back of the book and it's nothing like this. The start of Cora's Mask is gut wrenching and a lot of scenes are hard to swallow. Life on Earth is hard. We are not immune from suffering. There is forgiveness if we can walk away from our past. The Princess of Everdeen said it so poignantly: "Walk not in the deeds of your past, Ryder. Step in the promise of your future."
Cora’s Mask is the story of one man’s search for freedom in a world designed for slavery of the soul and imprisonment of the mind. Auden Ryder is a young man who struggles with his place in the world and of the man he was destined to become from birth. Trapped inside his prison, he wrestles with the truth of the world of cartels, but also with the reality of grace, a concept that this main character knows nothing of but so desperately desires. Although I don't typically read this genre, I thoroughly enjoyed the storyline, the theme, and the shocking ending that rounded the book out perfectly!
Cora’s Mask is not for the faint of heart. The author portrays the horror, and I mean horror, of cartels, drugs, sex and violence without bogging the reader down with gratuitous details that make one want to skip through it. Even with that, though, you will get a clear and disturbing view of the awful life of people who find themselves in these situations. There is plenty of action and drama, with a story that left me uplifted, even though there will obviously be consequences to the decisions we make in life. Well done, BB Ace!
A very interesting read, to be sure. Word play (names of characters) made the read that much more interesting … even if discovering these after finishing the read. I might even say, mind-blowing.
Some difficult subjects, even taboo ones, are handled superbly, and do not detract from the story but support the development of the characters.
The main male character goes through some major life altering situations, leaving one wanting to find out more.