Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Extreme Vetting: A Thriller
    Extreme Vetting: A Thriller
    Extreme Vetting: A Thriller
    Ebook367 pages5 hours

    Extreme Vetting: A Thriller

    By Roxana Arama

    3.5/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    An immigration lawyer fights to keep her client from being deported and losing his family. But those who want him gone will stop at nothing—including murder.


    Seattle, Washington, 2019. Attorney and single mom Laura Holban is an immigrant herself, guiding clients through a Kafkaesque system of ever-changing rules, where overworked judges make life-shattering decisions in minutes. Laura’s newest client is Emilio Ramirez, who was arrested in front of his sons at their high school and thrown in detention.

    When Laura files for Emilio’s asylum, the world turns upside down. False criminal charges prevent his release, someone is following his family, and an ICE prosecutor threatens to revoke Laura’s US citizenship. None of it makes sense—until she uncovers a deadly conspiracy involving ICE, stolen data, and human trafficking.

    Now the man at the center of it all is coming after Laura and Emilio, who must find a way to survive—and keep their families safe.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOoligan Press
    Release dateFeb 7, 2023
    ISBN9781947845398
    Extreme Vetting: A Thriller
    Author

    Roxana Arama

    Roxana Arama is a Romanian American author with a master of fine arts in creative writing from Goddard College. She studied computer science in Bucharest, Romania, and moved to the United States to work in software development. Her short stories and essays have been published in several literary magazines. Extreme Vetting is her first novel. She lives in Seattle, Washington, with her family. Learn more at roxanaarama.com.

    Related to Extreme Vetting

    Related ebooks

    Thrillers For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Doubling Down On A Fraud

      Apr 28, 2022

      Doubling Down On A Fraud
      5 min read

    • Article

      ‘This Killing Machine’

      Jan 1, 2021

      DALTON COBLE DIDN’T KNOW HIS grandfather particularly well, but stories of Billie Wayne Coble have cast a shadow over his family since before he was born. In August 1989, Billie murdered his estranged wife’s parents and brother. The slayings shocked

      9 min read

    • Article

      Your Loved One Dies. The Prison Leaves a Voicemail.

      Jun 22, 2018

      Policies for notifying families about inmate deaths vary by state. Some say the process is often inhumane.

      6 min read

    • Article

      The Enforcer

      Apr 9, 2018

      The Enforcer
      12 min read

    • Article

      An Ocean Apart, Similar Stories: US Protests Hit Home In South Africa

      Jun 8, 2020

      George Floyd’s death has resonated around the world, particularly in South Africa, where Collins Khosa’s death renewed attention to police violence.

      5 min read

    • Article

      Your Local Jail May Be A House of Horrors

      Jul 29, 2020

      But you probably wouldn’t know it, since sheriffs rule them with little accountability. After one man's death in a notorious lockup, residents of a Missouri town fought back.

      16 min read

    • Article

      Some People Just Don't Matter Much

      May 8, 2019

      There are people who do not matter much. That's a painful truth, starkly at odds with our Jeffersonian creed and national mythology. But it is a truth, nevertheless, one frequently proven in actions if denied in words. In this country, by dint of rac

      2 min read

    • Article

      A Remote Chance

      Apr 24, 2018

      A Remote Chance
      4 min read

    • Article

      Cal Thomas: Justice Denied In Parkland Killings

      Oct 18, 2022

      If anyone ever was a better candidate for the death penalty it is Nikolas Cruz. Four years ago the then-20-year-old shot and killed 17 people, most of them students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. Cruz pleaded guilty to all

      2 min read

    • Article

      They Agreed to Meet Their Mother’s Killer. Then Tragedy Struck Again.

      Jul 21, 2020

      A Florida family opted for restorative justice over the death penalty for the man who murdered their mom. What happened next made them question the very meaning of justice.

      24 min read

    • Article

      An American Prosecutor

      Oct 15, 2021

      An American Prosecutor
      14 min read

    • Article

      Gunned Down In Prayer

      Jul 1, 2021

      Gunned Down In Prayer
      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Extreme Vetting

    3.5/5

    9 ratings3 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      Extreme Vetting by Roxana Arama is both an excellent thriller and an insightful glimpse at our (completely messed up) immigration system from a human rather than a statistical or ideological perspective.I think Arama found a nice middle ground of presenting the plight of many immigrants, regardless of status, while keeping the plot going at a crisp pace. At the same time that readers are becoming invested in the individual characters they are also understanding those same individual obstacles as obstacles (often made up by the government to maintain a white supremacist society) that are being forced on large groups of hard-working people. These are human beings first, not some nationality, ethnicity, or religion.I would recommend this to readers who like compelling stories that can also make them see actual issues from, perhaps, a new perspective.Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
    • 4/5
      The fictional story centers around an immigrant family living in Seattle, Washington. Both parents immigrated illegally from countries in Central America, and they have two children born in the US. They get ensnared in the legal system in the US when a crime boss in Guatemala believes that the father might have incriminating evidence on him, and so he seeks to have the father deported back to his original country. The father is being defended by a defense lawyer, who is also an immigrant, but in this case an immigrant from a European country.The author clearly knows, and cares, a lot about the subject. She describes it from the viewpoint of immigration defense lawyers, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) officials, and the immigrants families and their reasons for fleeing from their home countries. She describes practical problems with the judicial system that is expected to rapidly resolve cases of undocumented workers, and also describes corruption within the system.The story is well told most of the time. I think the main problem is the author’s attempt to pack so much factual information about the immigration issue into the fictional story. Works of fiction often provide the author with the opportunity to educate the reader about a subject that the author cares a lot about. A lot of readers must appreciate this or else such books would be unpopular. In the case of this book, the subject is undocumented immigrants in the United States and the judicial and police methods currently being used to deport, or in rare cases grant asylum, to the immigrants. The issue is very important today, and this is one effective way of discussing it. However, it could be more convincing if she would sometimes present the nonfictional material separately, but in parallel, with the fictional story. Doing this would allow her to show that the problems and corruption are real, and not just invented or exaggerated for a good story. It would also relieve the fictional characters of the burden of supplying information through their words or actions. This could improve the storytelling. It is still a good story.
    • 4/5

      This was quite a difficult book to read as the degrading treatment of undocumented immigrants to the USA seems all too realistic, based on the news coverage of the last few years.

      Taking it as a work of fiction, which I hope it is, it was quite a compelling read, if a little slow to get started. The poorly paid and overworked immigration attorney, Laura, was a totally believable character. The fear of the undocumented immigrants was palpable. The corruption of the evil prosecutor was shocking. The ending was surprising and quite startling, given the overall pace of the book.

      It is a book worth reading, but don't expect it to raise your spirits.

    Book preview

    Extreme Vetting - Roxana Arama

    Ěcbook_preview_excerpt.html}nIDIzI(H#QR*IYi fňT<,z;hd13ȤJ "3nnc̝?nΞW^2~۟mhO~_oKlַ_MYvś7/?dӋ]!|v˞vpٻPkd[uI>}bk:4n|ng{廋o=}ɃG|7ߞxr /N!ۺ*7e-CjϖWmP /f}뚮.M} mͯ{bM]my5v,<8>lxחOׇ֭=>/pqߖUYz_/]og[e pז"UjgaYƷQ"ud}kS+xAgV29%}[voO}Oٿ[t[|>ŀ˖OKw.{S.[P&Թ]Iٜr |վ{0Zdn\Gi]}gQ5oL5ʹ1]wy[nS|g3/AI 媄goRw.-?uٟ=U` ~x:\@4ee~Hg\ߠ2^]=ή6mYU_We)GPʕ~MCW]y堨+[ gN?}ͣ%g<ƞ5ŋgN;9)g|'2~һ7foqeϠcvݫ9B~7&Ÿy&oQdI+ L/q+}Duk /-CK;Ǹ$ 2]0N~5:Jqt%eǥ7Z-[zynA%۹.';GCP}VC.y9s.׼/8&~^ء_:?!)RcAi<Lw F(ŧCWOgp CF Sg]A3i=@/M*"[|^oj} ZPx"|:c^ػ{\^"\Xފk]Di W!=(ᐭ+!H8יt|+7H7hfr3>/9%|o~w__/yKܿ5w;$"~p?A w;]r~x9?A w;|v9Agwqw|v9AgwY~݄]50/]dLa*0P6*orݾjcʢ%MA &i|eq$吹Pq cv$P YBoB)46E0&drEAb$bMZٴ+V-蟄 fr`9.dTst T:^_V|erwɭA)|uPڇƏMt'5ѣ\]"] 1c&H<.!ɖBa@Eߊ`I飕P#.BS!82g\ *6#:4U|X.^h})iQNSvi֡3cwP;͖- MWζ!)>nסǂ4]#aASoH"AQ%L# #\|3EdI{1h}kdŦ[щKG!CI '~z\dn+6RyiKC8[DP!Gv"ܔF![v'9-1amw,fHI-o0N12T$y=]843E_՗.:5SJWDtP'& ;FaKJT Z)ī#ՐH;wCm9B=)}2lew^8NV0&3LCW‹U“w,&XGM,&Y{rÀEDhu(,}^F\;zs_`ަ{ꇳYcG:c\FL5͒I,|I?%xȰ:\&u |ob:. $aUO_XeF|X*3@qh"$AXJ`ZwJ[P 2TuR0̒+ŗRi0?q`9" s' kQ$"9sAaեrݣنȲ%Œ3k^*AdO/S L(I$z7f/K]V_ TKx!ҧ2k}o0FS[DN^ *|^Pû(`v%g&~ :,+M3j#Գ+I$IB8(v]H>q^] XQ| ekcE-x2_F;RP5k<膲 \)a.DaD2~YXg"DH_fVyZȐ X uJXΖeB#SQvӑ̻NJ jHȘ R+_Lvƕ nxo۲VF!#I~`xcvG o,Yyì+ef4خax*gBKG#ZmN#1QnMKdyf n %[¡1YL.2ט [6*Ʀ%@:k"# gT-ϏwIuybJUe%::zՈǎM%;E)w:Rd_C1\(tF}Ti\}{:Uu)Oqci\G:v{`Nj $ɞN#GRAi…[΂"{@09-sAOj ړ*v_Y㤂} 'xi5Fow3+" /ؗ+`8 gل,\;fCY`l3 f|n. L;M֊+Vb.ՔH O\鱛Le0*U!O,"QÌK+p0ş<1QWw/KȞ尖 ^ٗF"5\BFpԹy 5 hW)z^ '-G:OB8 1%$25A AjPp6}O %  ?A\kuB@:vX0o+CVB h6-h- GPh88f.u~'ʟQ~)nBԇLG6FͥS~0ĈpP.yJN@p%Lܙ-,[.~QkԈ@Vd Wu1:򅵜xgTV=+K"ul,3uKX*ݘlh먗 xT~e՞Yg|R0u`'=%4sn (.x3# ڔpN؎--3iBQ$Q݉;0_/Ri ZWⰶԀ|-'̉TMoIx,- >l+McќW"ڤhk _S+8܊xlʵmPd/0]3AS+H|@I. ˫X:^AbԘ1i )( `ὕ:byk7Mmz,8G<zq 0ɒbL SbH'T,Z% |1D(2AEXrf 0 D_'uR6X5ȢʥGmy }!^=nRZ =c:*N.=lf%;nիaE|4PGԍMI5p3=׏@0p)J=A 7jc} bw$F6՚asK9A, /YaTAi")1vp$s17_O9im83%M2E@$.q/#;_RƜ$9fQGl5$/7s^4 6ߧJ* ^a 3#@J1m 4/֚WV4i:L.Pzvf}"Wj|fpVZrN\$׬ez믤͕TS2iL:h6Rɯ)+֧B};]]#A *7eoEEّNҠg E+IYֶeJ )VQkx`Ie6[[,}*X vtKB2ne_!L_lN^Z-;^+_4mkazЏ*+Fe&65<# ꈦk\N:@j^3d`&1Z8PcM{S#reT>՞I!DzZ\##DVc0nzxԧwEzwc91+Dm;(0@Ar K]zS-2mVvT&#XwVIZ.Yͭmץ~m`˱8hBM]lڍO/sf>E j fm҈! !MH70nr鷰digV;l\A$ƳDkRi]y0m;W5řJoeS]QQ~7uWB:dcwc* *ChcKfadXψ31mNO̥J.H3e)Pm/;u/*C’sgd֎xEk/z c9>A >^IHZO'~-z9-2 ^k\U刳$raUy[o!RlCx b'l*IJu㮇2N|Y%ҁ~|*TLEeWÝˁƔ=vdѕyKv0"2rag}lg Q!S&/}-D Ez jY[Z]R&gMڑ}LH#H3S$(F1΍&'@)RaiٻjXhC&stR8Fjop2V[YOge}:16?iR kcŽi} Ξ'i6 N.堧g gLFZFG7} {k_ܮF]6 Kxtl%)ً%tt ucU.+PYURpOoJ,އxM) 'xD&E2Dž*w=Xϲ\B7:JXsSɽ{'St?**J쬛}:ALf"H] OK[3]WftJW=iUY>%JL36\E3Iǵ1;v[Ba9%)ْڜ8-(ƥvя= 5h }Ǔb ni/[6[ن:+ktC:t,ظL|EN-B[ H3ÑFq] >hH)Q$ѦFH>U".. ZRW7YZOTUvZwINQm 1{ kküY\Vŗ.I 9*k3u/ڰXX 4-!Xhg`4v n,N6h*8MJ=[bDfC%dGSRlN2K x~gtZ'W߭+Vk/L#+R~2:»q&uIXk=us%.^r3.jٹ;ej%S>żBj WUG6T0Fn ]a:RE;ХAgik++x A,N>)]N=t/_bqR`e4Iʋō#|rwC@8Y1~ 8ԼH ]r>;(ū8mCV>=T,z5|$w{nY?ep [ͧDF`$YK=gӵvpQw cc?uke!Y[.WAPCo3WN8]J@Ӹ/tsfI\+q"jI*kfݨ#H4[bLΘ0bD u K+[-kixZBgEԚ<4WR}#rw"?U_m/:%Ԙ6 2/gnv63Zt \"N8vjFyBUVPmGc HNldIrSX>MwEGT T1͘N!J$ RJ\ܶMScJ%xĬ4kXJ! oBjeYY3rZrvLMZW2zQs}|ne v',flu0J-HoVo]0+RK0cb'{뿴Z-[~m ̖z-}Ŝ< VusRϔ<ݒiA(V,FWn/;F5/q[dE%*Q̔n{$1IyeCi"yȴܔ0CMt[]g pk^{x~t]&XūIOv`{f,E0csʚ1ΦPV}9Ùy(U1`U|W>:}5`KWd%3y KMXsl ܕEAKˉH(OJPS\#`֕-ܗm-◜r0Y1WqUbvzrø BoH awߗb& ~G =oqlhbJ%{V.uw3~dCȚQa?T@1u+eA٩zIɀ6>6*otu u -ҜhVdl/lВ^{c̗f/VlPJ%Nqkp;/|KҮ|ΡJiW$C/[jHჅ/DhĔ!N!Z'Ao~>̞xO<ΟΞ=Evw>=?{vKLٽ'%/t-YSW( X %ڻWF Zo㉞*+f*#/dFWn]}$7=`!haC\sPʇkoU2r\DmizB\ɽGCD6Y{Kp2TԵvaLyhX/,X[wҏw;& AM9|ZZż{K*,C˽?X S ť0lɹNqA)g3Slha$Vm'b,'[%]'mkU^ íV#x41 &퓽=:D)c5A=<6Z7lɵ#N01 Xx1OD# r ͆p@D LгU.kh`:^SQ@Gg1KjU'H::wfH3ЖeCk%Sz>A!`Kv 8NMsDٸui"uB *uv2۟5"m2/OaUj%L "K aFb{voM<.S4c" WhP{nF3M)HͲ?V~c;"Ar;]¯S\1SQL` `)ÏlӹD:AS)M%n>VCh=~IQD`y4[Ʋp*1ua@?Rm z2 5Y,j| (1:8(gi8rFI>RR5Bp|4Rt)6?LJcez׶Ǭ=oFǚn{Ċ̨)M3B599*My{~'i%Qa~VYB\+yrV]Z~ܪaQ;{͂Υjrdl@t?xtXZ6`*ZZ9iR{R£担7K-UHNytzHw+G=GJT8٪^QE%t#:lw:kep$AdYvN &wD:p9XCk9D#nCsS(xı>yH 'MSH5{Em:Jl|Ќݫ s-{rvӄ5t+ Yӂ布8t)7w;$V5:ݥsy8k[R#uV9V}ki󿜑 fĒ6a3qv7xJÚA 喍A(κFפETJ&ZrJ '~1Dm+lYGuǘxyɑ
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1