Stolen: The True Story of a Sex Trafficking Survivor
by Katariina Rosenblatt PhD, Cecil Murphey
At a glance
About the Author
Katariina Rosenblatt PhD, Cecil Murphey1 book reviewed
LuvemBooks Verdict
Best for
Readers motivated by both personal empathy and practical concern — survivors, anti-trafficking advocates, faith community members, educators, and professionals working with law enforcement or nonprofits — who want a survivor-authored testimony grounded in lived experience and active advocacy.
Worth it if
The faith framework central to Rosenblatt's testimony resonates with you, or you are looking for a first-person account that bridges survivor experience, credentialed scholarship, and real-world anti-trafficking work.
Skip if
You are seeking a secular, policy-focused, or clinically comprehensive survey of sex trafficking — this memoir is personal testimony first, and should be paired with other resources for a fuller analytical picture.
What readers & critics say
At Christianbook.com, Stolen holds a 4.5-out-of-5-star rating across reader reviews, reflecting strong reception within its core readership. Book blogger Beverly Lynn T. (beverlylynnt.wordpress.com) describes it as "a warning, a celebration of survival, and a beacon of hope that will inspire," noting the book's three distinct sections moving from personal story through to advocacy.
Sources: Christianbook.com, Beverly Lynn T. (beverlylynnt.wordpress.com)Ask LuvemBooks
Was this helpful?
- Is it worth reading?
- For readers drawn to survivor memoirs that carry genuine institutional authority, Stolen is a compelling choice. Rosenblatt's combination of lived experience, a PhD in conflict analysis and resolution, and active work with the FBI and Homeland Security means the book operates on multiple registers simultaneously — visceral personal testimony and informed advocacy in a single narrative. The co-authorship with Cecil Murphey ensures the story is shaped with craft and accessibility. The key caveat is the book's explicit Christian framework; readers who prefer secular memoir or policy-focused nonfiction should go in knowing that faith is woven throughout, not tucked into an epilogue.
- Similar books
- Readers who connect with Stolen's combination of survival memoir and broader social reckoning will find strong company in several similarly resonant books. Tara Westover's Educated traces a survivor's path from an abusive, isolated childhood to credentialed scholarship — a structural parallel to Rosenblatt's own trajectory. Eddie Jaku's The Happiest Man on Earth shares Stolen's insistence on framing an extreme survivor experience as a testament to hope rather than victimhood alone. Glennon Doyle's Untamed, while operating in a very different register, resonates with readers drawn to memoir rooted in faith, personal transformation, and advocacy. Beyond the catalogue, Yeonmi Park's In Order to Live and Nujood Ali's I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced offer further survivor perspectives on exploitation and resilience from different global contexts.
- Who should read this?
- Stolen is well suited to four overlapping audiences: survivors seeking to see their own experiences reflected in a documented, authoritative account; advocates and anti-trafficking professionals who want a first-person perspective grounded in law-enforcement collaboration; educators and parents seeking to understand the domestic scale of the crisis; and faith community members looking for substantive engagement with a serious social issue. The publisher explicitly positions it for readers motivated by both personal empathy and practical concern. Readers who prefer secular memoir or comprehensive policy analysis will find it valuable but should pair it with other resources.
- What are the main themes?
- The central themes of Stolen are survival and agency — the memoir is structured around Rosenblatt's repeated escapes, positioning her as a survivor who persisted rather than a passive victim. Alongside that personal arc, the book engages with the documented domestic scale of sex trafficking, making explicit that this is not a problem confined to other countries or communities. Faith and redemption form a third major thread: Rosenblatt's Christian testimony is woven throughout, and the publisher frames the book as a celebration of survival rooted in the promise she encountered at a Billy Graham crusade. A fourth theme is the passage from victimhood to advocacy — the narrative arc ends not with escape alone but with Rosenblatt's subsequent career collaborating with the FBI, Homeland Security, and her own nonprofit.
- How strong is the Christian content?
- The Christian framework is central and consistent throughout Stolen, not a brief epilogue or optional layer. Revell, the publisher, is a Christian imprint, and the book's sense of hope is explicitly rooted in Rosenblatt's spiritual experience — including a promise she heard at a Billy Graham crusade. For readers within faith communities, this will deepen the emotional and thematic resonance. For secular readers, it is worth knowing that the theological through-line shapes the narrative's tone and conclusion rather than appearing only in isolated passages.
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Age & Reading Level
Recommended age
Ages 16+
Reading level
Adult
Content to know about
Best for: Adults / mature 16+ — detailed firsthand accounts of child sex trafficking, exploitation, and abuse.
Skip if you are looking for a secular, policy-focused, or clinically comprehensive treatment of sex trafficking rather than a faith-grounded personal testimony.
Editorial Review
Stolen is a memoir co-authored by Katariina Rosenblatt, PhD, and Cecil Murphey that recounts Rosenblatt's firsthand experience of being recruited into sex trafficking as a child — and escaping more than once. Published by Revell in 2014, it functions simultaneously as a personal testimony, a sobering look at a widespread domestic crisis, and a message of survival and faith. Rosenblatt's subsequent work with the FBI, Homeland Security, and her own nonprofit organization, There Is Hope For Me, Inc., gives the account a dimension that extends well beyond the page.
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