First published 2026
Gracie Boone leaves her comfortable small town for university, expecting nothing more challenging than dorm life and new classes. Instead, she finds a silent figure standing motionless outside her window each night, watching her from the darkness. No one else can see this presence. No one believes her reports. Her unease deepens when she uncovers evidence that suggests the police chief who raised her, the man she calls Dad, may have kidnapped her years ago. Gracie must investigate her own past while the mysterious watcher continues its nightly vigil. She cannot confront her father directly without destroying their bond or placing herself in immediate peril. The deeper she digs, the more she suspects that everything she knows about her identity stems from elaborate deception, that her entire existence has been built on lies.
Genres: mystery, horror, contemporary, adult-fiction, psychological-thriller, thriller-suspense
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, suspenseful, tension-filled, thought-provoking, unsettling
Tropes: gaslighting, hidden-past, mysterious-watcher, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Small Town, University, Dorm
Period: 21st-century, Contemporary
334 pages · Paperback · Eerie Pines Press
Content warnings: gaslighting, kidnapping