Greg Book Review - Cry Silent Tears - The True Story of the Horrific Childhood of a Mute Little Boy

I don't know how to describe my feelings while reading this book.

Horrified.

Shocked.

Weak.

The need to be physically sick.

This is a book about a young boy, Joe Peters, who lost his father at the age of 5 and went to live with his mother and half-brothers. They abused him physically, mentally, and sexually for over 10 years before Joe finally escaped.

But he never really escaped.

The power of his mother over him led him to believe that one day she would turn around and love him rather than beat him or keep him chained in the basement with little food or water. The scenes of sexual abuse by his brothers and mother's boyfriend, his unwilling involvement with child pornography and prostitution, and the way his mother lied to authorities about his abuse made me literally sick to my stomach and I wanted to retch.

I don't know if Joe every grew out of his abuse but he didn't pass it on when he married and had children of his own. He now fights to give voice to children in situations like his and against the horrors of child pornography. His website can be found here.

Please do everything you can to fight pornography, especially child pornography. It is a vile and perverted lifestyle that demeans and devalues all members of the human family. Please do everything you can to stop and prevent child abuse and domestic violence. No human being deserves to be treated like that and there are options for those that have suffered at the hands of an abuser.

One thumb up for the important and sensitive topic it brings to the forefront and one thumb down as I have never had a book make me feel so down and sick.