ELARA

About the Book

“A haunting story of rescue, survival, and the moment a woman begins to remember who she was before the world renamed her.” Based on true events, Elara is the story of a woman rescued in Miami Beach after years of losing herself to survival, duty, and the belief that sacrifice was the only way to love her family. Told through the voice of Michael Evans, Elara follows one unforgettable night of rescue and the long road that follows, from Dr. Chen’s office in Florida to a safe house in Washington, D.C. Along the way, Elara begins to tell the truth about North Korea, China, America, and the quiet ways a person can disappear long before anyone notices. Created as part of a mother-daughter healing project for women and girls, Elara is accompanied by a 90-minute cinematic story experience featuring narration by Michael Evans, voices and music from Asian performing artists, and the emotional figure skating of Polina Korobova. Featuring voices and music by: Dia (Performing Artist, South Korea); Seunghee (Performing Artist, South Korea); Kim’s Note Family (Performing Artist, South Korea); Ruby (Performing Artist, Vietnam); and the emotional figure skating of Polina Korobova (Figure Skater, Ukraine). With contributions by Brian Fitzgibbons, a nationally renowned missing person investigator who has dedicated his life to finding and rescuing missing girls alongside Michael Evans through Kingsman, their charitable private security and intelligence contracting organization. With real-world guidance from Eunhee Park, North Korean defector and author of The Courage to Die, and Zhang Miaomiao, Voice Artist, China, this project grows from the mission that built a community of more than 3 million female subscribers through The REAL Matrix Reloaded: A Map for Escaping the Prison You Can’t See. FOR EVERY WOMAN WHO BECAME WHAT OTHERS NEEDED AND FORGOT WHO SHE WAS, ELARA IS THE ROAD BACK HOME.

About the Author

Michael Evans Michael Evans is an author, investigator, and founder of Kingsman, built from skills forged inside an international security and intelligence contracting company operating across six continents and serving government and corporate clients. After building that world, he redirected millions of dollars, along with the talents of investigators, special operations veterans, Navy SEALs, Marines, and intelligence professionals, toward one mission: finding, protecting, and rescuing girls and women the world too often leaves behind. Elara was not written from observation. It was written from the same world Michael has spent his life entering when girls and women have been hidden, harmed, or forgotten. The women behind stories like Elara’s are not concepts to him. They are daughters, sisters, survivors, friends, and human beings. His work has been featured in Forbes, Forbes Korea, Entrepreneur, LA Weekly, and numerous other publications. Since the release of The REAL Matrix Reloaded: A Map for Escaping the Prison You Can’t See, his YouTube audience has grown into an international community of over three million female subscribers and more than sixty million views. Elara exists because of people who stood beside him: Lisa Chang’s music, Polina Korobova’s skating, Dia’s production and performance, Zhang Miaomiao’s creative partnership, and collaborators across Asia, Europe, and the United States. Many came from countries taught to see one another as enemies. They chose love, art, truth, and protection instead. Michael often says his childhood did not raise him. It forged him in violence. His father destroyed the safety a child is supposed to inherit and became the predator Michael would spend his life hunting. From that wreckage, Michael chose to become the wolf other wolves fear. Elara is his promise to every girl at a crossroads: you are valuable beyond measure, and there is still a road home.