Sunday, September 16, 2012

Evil Still Walks theEarth

Evil Still Walks the Earth, September 16, 2012
By Micki Peluso (New York, USA)

This review is from: Lori's Song: The true story of an American woman held captive in Iran (Paperback)
Lori's Song by Lori Foroozandeh
The true story of an American woman held captive in Iran
Outskirts Press, Inc.

Lori begins her book telling of her abuse as an infant and subsequent adoption into a home with parents who love her. The two older sisters are jealous of her, and the sexual molestation from her older brother is ignored by their mother. Lori is not an easy child to raise and at 15, tells her parents she's getting married--which they must agree to, or she threatens to become pregnant. She marries Mike, who is five years older than she and who manages to impress her parents. The marriage last eight months

What is Lori to do? Join the Army of course--then get pregnant and marry her recruiter causing him to go AWOL. The best thing Lori has in her young life is her son Douglas. She goes through Army Boot Camp and continues a wild life of partying - even in the Army, managing to go AWOL with a girlfriend. They get caught by their own captain at a military party in a hotel. This book is not without irony and humor. She divorces her husband who cheats on her with her sister, only to have her life," plunge into Hell".

Lori marries her third husband, Mohammed Fooroozandeh, at 27, while attending college--ignoring his ex-wife's warning of his violence. She marries in a Muslim wedding ceremony and they live a wealthy life. Mohammed talks her into going to Iran, telling her it is modern now and nothing like its reputation. Dougie wisely decides to try living with his father for a while. When they arrive in Iran, Lori's nightmare begins

At first Tehran looks like any other big city; modern, beautiful and crowded, but Lori soon notes differences, especially in the way women are treated by husbands, fathers, and men in general. She wears typical female Muslim garb, covered from head to toe. Women can be executed for just looking at a man not their husband. Lori sees a man swinging by his neck in an execution, which her husband states is how it should be. She begins to see Mohammed for the man he really is. Lori gives readers an in-depth description of Muslim life and customs, but as she writes, while "she was adjusting to Iran, Iran wasn't adjusting to her".

Lori finds a job teaching young Iranian women but her joy in this is destroyed when one of her students is drowned by her father for being with a man. Mohammed begins abusing her; his mother hates her even though Lori acts as the mother's private nurse. Life just gets worse; Lori is beaten brutally by her husband and rumors abound that America will be attacked on 9/11/ 2001. How coincidental, Lori thinks, that they left right before the tragic event -- Or was it? She tries to call to warn her parents and her country, but can't get through to America. After 911, Mohammed wants to leave Iran for fear of repercussions, but before they get to the airport they are separated, handcuffed and blindfolded and arrested for allegedly stealing from business clients. Lori is in a truck with other men and women captives. She never sees Mohammed again.

Lori is chained to a girl named Faresh. The camp consists of prisoners of many nationalities, held by a radical Iranian religious group, who especially despise Americans. Lori is kicked in the head until unconscious, for asking for a phone. After her horrendous brutality and rape, plus starvation, Lori and the others are taken to another camp. This one is worse than the first and the rapes, beatings, and starvation even more inhumane and relentless. Lori and the other women are raped daily by at least 26 men, in ways too horrible to relate. The women are injected into their gums with heroin. Lori loses 70 pounds and has most of her teeth knocked out or broken. Her captivity is due to being "an American whore". Author Lori Fooozandeh writes of her escape with the help of Faresh's brother, and two men waiting outside the POW camp fence. She makes it to her Iranian home, but is turned away. Lori manages to return home to the United States. She's finally finds lasting true love and acceptance. Lori's goal in writing this extraordinary book is to educate people, especially women, on the perils of visiting or living in a terrorist country. She is also a strong advocate for bipolar depression and posttraumatic stress syndrome, both of which she struggles with on a daily basis. This book should be read by everyone as a reminder of "man's inhumanity to man," It's also a book teaching first-hand, the" terrors" of living with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress syndrome.

Reviewer: Micki Peluso, writer, journalist and author of . . . And the Whippoorwill Sang

7 comments:

  1. Extraordinary story, Lori. Good review Micki, I will check out the book after I finish with the six that are waiting. Lori, I'm sorry you had to go through such a hideous time. What kept you going?

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  2. This is an interesting story Lori - and thank you Micki for sharing it!!

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  3. WOW, I'm exhausted and I was only reading about Lori's story--not living it! Amazing story, Lori, and great review, Micki!

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  4. Thanks Deirdre, Raani and Sandra,

    It was a rough book to read and review--horrible things happened to poor Lori--I don't know how she managed. I think she's a survivor for sure.

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  5. You guys are so supportive. It's amazing what you can survive when placed in that position. I never thought about longterm plans it seemed like I lived minute to minute, hoping I would make it through that time period. I also had Faresh chained to me so I owed her some time and support. We couldn't talk to each other (although we managed to communicate and talk VERRRRYYY LITTLE). When things would get chaotic like if a girl was giving the guards a hard time or a person didn't want their family member being treated bad, we took advantage of these times to talk and try to fill in our backgrounds as much as we could while the guards were busy. The guards recognized our support of one another (facial grimaces or compassionate faces) and started raping us publicly which quickly quit those shows of support because we couldn't even look each other in the eyes after that. The rapes were bad enough but when they started doing them publicly it ruined all our self-esteem (or what little was left) I did want to lie down and just die by getting kicked to death or whatever they would choose, but something in my mind told me I had to hold on as long as Faresh, I owed that to her (for some strange reason I truly believed that). The last thing you thought of was home, I tried to concentrate on ANYTHING but home. The ants who were building their kingdom, where else could we squeeze water from besides our pants and shirts. Most of my thoughts were how I thought I would die, usually some disease from what we drank, or some condition from the bugs we ate. or worse a VD from all the guards that raped us, AMAZINGLY I never suffered from any of that. This is why I KNOW THERE IS A GOD, and when he spoke to me the night before we escaped. I didn't know what was going on, and someone tapped me on my shoulder and I quickly jerked around to see what guard was screwing with me now, and no one was there and Faresh was out at my side sleeping sitting up, then I heard a voice "Lori your going home", NOBODY WAS AROUND but I thought someone was teasing me but NOONE was there, and I didn't know we were going to escape the next night, and sure enough we were on our way home. So I KNOW THERE IS A GOD and he has a PLAN for me. IT MIGHT NOT BE SOME BIG WORLD ALTERING PLAN, but I'm a part of this world and obviously he wants to keep me around for some further purpose which I might never know. GOD BLESS and thank you for reading my book.
    My book is on the FREE KINDLE BORROW program now.
    Lori

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  6. My Dear Micki,

    After reading this book review, I don't know what to say. It Confirms all of the horror stories that I have heard happening, not only in Iran but in some other Islamic countries as well. I admire Lori for her braveness and her determination to not give up. As I read your review, I thought of the hell that she experienced and my heart hurt for her. I am so glad that she is now safe and back home. Her book will help many western women who are looking at the men from these countries through rose colored glasses. this is one book that I definitely want to read. I pray that Lori will continue to walk with God and continue to experience his wonderful healing.
    Ciao,
    Patricia

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  7. Micki,
    I left a comment on Goodreads but want to say here-BRAVO on another great review. I was deeply moved by your incredible gift for words and a review that told just enough!
    I am finally back in the group-we shall see how long it last and I am caught up! Now the darn captchas-when did you start them again?

    Hugs,
    Rosemary

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