Valerie Belew

Undercover Valerie Belew

A 'Must Read' for anyone who has been touched by addiction. In the character of Vandy Blake, Ms. Belew captures the seduction, duplicity, and insanity of the drug addicted lifestyle. Undercover is also a compelling story of hope and recovery. Seldom has a novel been more effective than Undercover in blending a hard-edged vision of life with a warm-hearted belief in its goodness. It is obvious that author Valerie Belew has earned the real-world perspective through which she views the realm of addiction and obsession. In Ms. Belew's telling, the seeds of addictive behavior take hold early in the development of her protagonist Vandy Blake and play out in one form or another through every phase of her life. Of course, Vandy Blake is not alone in her obsessions. As the author observes, vampires seek victims, and victims also become vampires. The author traces the evolution of her character's obsessive life in three periods beginning with the Incubator of her childhood, high school and college years. A decade later she descends into a Ring of Fire where meth amphetamines and sexual addiction seem just the right fit for a high energy sales star-that is, until the final crash arrives. And, finally, as Vandy Blake fights through her own abuses to settle in as a respected addictions counselor, she must fight for the integrity of her Fragile Steel heart as she is drawn back toward the vortex of obsession that had inflamed her earlier life. Obsession, it seems, can be resisted but never vanquished.