Kidnap Survivor Shares Story of Triumph in 'Scarred: A Memoir'

HOUSTON, TX--(Marketwire - Jan 11, 2012) - Author George Molho documents his experience as a 7-year-old kidnap victim and how it shaped the man he would become in his new book, "Scarred: A Memoir," (www.georgemolho.com).

In 1978, Molho was taken to Greece from his home in Houston by his father, a man with a brutal temper, an obsessive need for control and a sadistic desire to inflict pain. No one, not even his mother, believed him when he anticipated his father's plan to spirit him away and tried to warn them, Molho writes.

"My mother thought I was being paranoid when I shared my worries with her. She took me to a psychologist, who said I was making up the story because I was upset that my parents weren't living together anymore," he says.

Molho recounts the horrors he experienced held prisoner on an isolated mountain alone with his father, who repeatedly told him the pain he inflicted -- leaving him to hang from a basement ceiling for hours, denying food, beating him -- was "love." Molho survived by holding onto memories of the very different love he'd known from his mother and the lessons instilled by his grandmother, a Holocaust survivor.

He escaped a year later, but the effects of his experience would haunt him as a man. Molho's narrative intertwines childhood memories with his adult experiences, including divorce, and how he finally set free the ghosts of his past.

"With my story, I hope to raise awareness about the epidemic of kidnapping and abuse -- there are 145,000 children kidnapped every year," Molho says. "I also hope to empower, educate and energize the 40 million-plus people who have been affected by childhood trauma."

Free Press Houston reviewer Andrea Afra wrote of "Scarred": "This will be known as the book that set the literary genre of memoir free. Scarred reads like fiction while shattering the facade of make-believe... Molho becomes the victor of his past and his triumph is contagious."

About George Molho

George Molho worked as a health-care consultant for 15 years before becoming a writer and public speaker, addressing domestic abuse, child abduction, and recovering from trauma. He lives in Houston, where he has volunteered as a board member for several Texas charities and agencies that assist children and the elderly.