The STOPLight

Book Review: The Love Factor

The Love Factor is a riveting story of a young girl caught in prostitution and her long road to recovery through faith in Jesus Christ and with the assistance of people who cared about her, such as Al Palmquist, a Minneapolis police officer. The story is fictional in the sense that it is based on actual circumstances in the lives of four different girls.

From the first paragraph, Palmquist captivates the reader with his innocent, uninitiated perspective as he describes meeting Kimberly for the first time. He gives the reader a glimpse of the homelife that influenced her to run away, then describes the tactics used by her first pimp to psychologically enslave her.

The reader's spirit soars when Kim is brought to the warm Christian love of a safe house, then plummets when she is abducted by another pimp and subjected to prostitution once again. Seven years pass with no word from her. During this time Palmquist sets up his ministry, Midwest Challenge, a group of Christian halfway houses for street kids. Then, on a tip from another prostitute, he travels to New York City in search of Kimberly.

The book concludes with sound advice to both parents and teens to help them avoid a similar tragedy in their lives and families. It is an excellent book for parents to give to their teenagers, because it spells out the dangers of running away from home, and shows how much of a difference they can make in the lives of an at-risk peer simply by caring.

In 2002 our organization changed its name to Adults Saving Kids. Prior to that we were called A-STOP (Alliance for Speaking Truths On Prostitution), STOP (Speaking Truths On Prostitution), or Grassroots Ministry Alliance.