L. J. Sellers Presents The Other - A Psychological Suspense Thriller!

Chapter 1

Monday, October 8, 2:15 p.m., Mt. Angel Psychiatric Hospital

Logan stared through the caged fence. Like a prison yard, the tall metal barrier curved inward at the top, discouraging anyone from leaving. Today, he had permission—and an escort, of course.
His attendant Bruno unlocked the narrow iron door and held it open. “Let’s make this fast, okay? I’ve got an electro therapy to escort soon.”
Logan cringed. He’d had shock treatments, and they’d left him shaky, confused, and anxious. Instead of curing his depression, they made him doubt himself.
He eased toward the opening, eager to see the oak-filled meadow and hear the birds clustered in the trees. Dread filled his stomach too, and he wished he’d worn his comfort hoodie. Beyond the wall, anything could happen. The world was a chaotic, dangerous place filled with selfish unpredictable people. Yet he longed to be free of the walls. Free of the medications. Free of the doctors who thought he was crazy.
“Move it, Lowgie.” Bruno waved him on as though he were a recalcitrant pet. Recalcitrant. The sounds pleased him, and he repeated it a few times under his breath. Another great word he’d learned recently and hoped to use in his writing. Even thought he hated Bruno’s nickname for him, he ignored it. He’d learned that bullies got bored with taunts if they didn’t seem to cause harm.
Outside the fence, Logan blinked at the vastness of the sky and open space. What if he ran? Bruno would taser him, then he’d get moved to the high-security side of the institution and never see the outside world again. Logan started down the path toward the oak trees, inhaling the crisp fall air as though he’d been deprived of oxygen.
Behind him, a cell phone rang and Bruno answered, his voice fading as he slowed to argue with the caller. Logan picked up his pace, delighted by his moment alone, surrounded by the lovely quiet of the park-like setting.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught movement and spun toward it. For a moment, stillness. Then someone rushed between two trees. A boy, about thirteen. His face—glimpsed briefly—was hauntingly familiar. The intruder darted out again and Logan gasped. He was back! The boy with a face just like his own, only younger.
The Other, as Logan had come to think of him, disappeared behind a big oak.
A heavy silence pressed on his chest and he struggled to breathe. It was just another hallucination, he told himself. He’d had them before. But why now? And what did it mean? He couldn’t tell his counselor. She’d been alarmed the last time he mentioned the boy, and he didn’t want her to think he was insane.
Logan laughed bitterly. Dr. Carlson already did. That’s why he was here. No, he was here because his mother wanted him locked away. Recently, he’d heard attendants complain about losing their jobs when the hospital closed. The thought terrified him. Where would he end up? Would it be even worse?
Things could always get worse. His aunt’s expression echoed in his head. She’d tried to be a mother to him, but her negativity had shaded his perception of everything.
Logan turned back, his nature walk ruined. Depression hit him hard. Who knew when he would get another outing? The medication they kept shoving down his throat was obviously making him worse. But if he complained, Dr. Carlson would chide him for not adapting. She might even increase his dose.
How would he ever escape the vicious cycle and the walls that confined him?

Chapter 2

 Tuesday, October 9, 1:17 p.m., Portland, Oregon

Rox MacFarlane touched the left side of her forehead. “The pain is right here, and it’s so consistent I worry that I have a tumor.”
Her neurologist, an older woman with a silver-haired bun, shook her head. “That’s unlikely. No one has ever developed cancer from these treatments.”
The therapy, called transcranial magnetic stimulation, was over, thank goodness, but the side effects were getting worse. “My hearing loss isn’t improving either, and I think I had a mild seizure last week.”
The doctor’s eyes widened. “Tell me exactly what happened.”
The episode had been weird, and she still had trouble describing it. “My head suddenly felt strange, kind of tight and loose at the same time. So I sat down, feeling sort of paralyzed for a moment. Then I was fine. Except my head was fuzzy, as though I might have lost some time.”
“Oh boy.” Dr. Benton pulled her rolling computer over and began typing notes. “What were you doing at the time?”
“Changing a light bulb.”
“That sounds like a seizure. I’ll write you a prescription for medication that will prevent another one.” The neurologist squeezed her arm. “I’m sorry this is happening. Side effects from this treatment are rare. But I assure you, they’re temporary.”
“What about the headache?”
“Let’s give it another week and see if it goes away. If not, we’ll do a CT scan.”
Not good enough. Rox’s jaw tensed, but she let it go and stood to leave. “You’ll call in the prescription?”
“Of course.” The doctor looked as worried as she felt.
Rox headed out, wishing she’d never heard of the damn treatment. What had made her think sending hundreds of magnetic pulses into her brain was a good idea? Oh right, she’d wanted to know what it felt like to be normal.

She drove straight home, knowing the pharmacy would take hours to process her medication—which she might not even take. She hated new prescriptions, especially those that crossed the blood-brain barrier, because she never knew how her chemistry would react. As she pulled into the driveway of the duplex she shared with her stepdad, her work phone rang. Rox pulled it from her shoulder bag and glanced at the number. A landline and not one she’d seen before, so it was probably a new client. Good news. She was bored and ready to work again. “Karina Jones, how can I help you?” Rox shut off the engine and climbed from her car.
“You’re the extractor?” The woman’s voice was pleasant, but a little timid.
“Yes.” Rox headed toward her door, and Marty rushed from his side of the house. “What did the doc say?” Shorter than her six-foot frame by several inches, her stepdad wore his gray hair buzzed and his eyebrows bushy.
She gestured at Marty to be quiet, and he followed her inside. Rox put the new client on speaker and turned up the volume. “Who gave you my number?” Her work occasionally straddled the lines of legality, so she had to be careful. She ran her investigations under an assumed name and paid cash for the anonymous burner phone she used to conduct business.
“A friend named Sam Fenton,” the woman said. “He’s a sergeant with the Portland police.” Most of their clients were referred by officers she and Marty used to work with. Law enforcement people understood that sometimes citizens needed specialized help that cops couldn’t provide.
“What’s your name and situation?” Rox took the phone into the kitchen and set it on the table. Marty went to the fridge for a couple of microbrews.
“Shay Wilmont.” The woman sounded steadier now. “I’m worried about my nephew. He’s in a mental institution, and I need you to get him out.”
Rox glanced at Marty, who rolled his eyes.
She didn’t blame him. The idea seemed wild, even for her. “I’m sorry, but that’s not in the scope of what I do.”
“Why not?” A little defensive now. “I thought you rescued young people from oppressive or dangerous situations.”
“I do. But a mental institution—” Rox stopped. Some facilities were fine, but others were horrible, depending on who was in charge. “If your nephew is being abused, then report it to state authorities. I don’t think I can help you with this.”
“He shouldn’t be in there!” Shay Wilmont raised her voice, her timidity gone. “Logan’s not mentally ill, just autistic.”
The label slammed into her gut. She hated the term, preferring to think of herself and others with the condition as having non-typical neurological responses. Her heart went out to the boy. If her own quirks had been worse as a child, she could have suffered the same fate. “How does his condition manifest?”
“He gets stuck on certain words and repeats them, sometimes for minutes. And he’s obsessed with LED flashlights.”
Both seemed harmless enough, so something didn’t add up. “How did he get committed?”
A pause. “His mother claims he’s both violent and suicidal.”
A few people with spectrum disorder needed antipsychotic meds to keep them under control, but those cases were rare. Rox started to decline again, but the woman cut her off.
“I’ve never seen Logan hurt anyone, and until recently, I never heard him mention suicide. He’s spent way more time with me than with his mother, so I would know.”
Marty handed Rox a bottle of dark beer, shook his head, and mouthed Say no.
Rox was torn. A mental institution would be difficult, if not impossible, to extract someone from. But she wanted to help the poor boy. It was shameful to lock him up just because he made people uncomfortable. She’d made her own mother so jittery, Georgia had abandoned her family. The call of fame and fortune on Broadway had done its part too. “His mother has custody?”
“Yes, but Logan has lived with me since he was three.”
That was a little weird. “What age is Logan now?”
“Fifteen.
Old enough to speak for himself about where and how he wanted to live. “His full name?”
“Logan James Wilmont.”
That didn’t ring any bells, so the kid’s behavior had not likely made the news. But she would check him out anyway. “Where is he institutionalized?” The word tasted bitter in her mouth.
“The Mt. Angel campus of the state hospital.”
The old facility was thirty miles south and had been controversial off and on since its inception. Why couldn’t the kid have been in a small private hospital instead of a concrete fortress? But at least Mt. Angel wasn’t a new building with modern security. Still, Rox knew she had to decline. Instead, she heard herself say, “I’ll consider your case, but first I’d like to meet with you in person to get more information.” She never took a case over the phone. She needed to visually assess who she was dealing with.
Across from her, Marty shuddered and made aggressive hand gestures indicating she should backtrack. Rox ignored him. “Can you meet me today?”

~~~

The Other
The Extractor Series

By L. J. Sellers

No matter how many books I read or movies I see, when it involves being in a psychiatric hospital, I immediately remember the song, Going Home, from the historical movie, Snake Pit. I always felt such sympathy for those who were there because they could not deal with the reality of their lives, yet still wanting and needing to go home as soon as possible. How much worse it would be, I thought, if they were there when they shouldn't have been!

Sellers presents a psychological thriller that is not only a page-turner, but a revelatory statement of the cultural view of somebody who may be different...

Rox knew that she shouldn't take this request for extraction...But she had heard what she could not accept-- Logan, 15, was in a psychiatric hospital, but was not mentally ill--he was autistic... Rox didn't even like the word, she preferred  non-typical neurological responses. And she quickly realized that she could have been in the same situation as Logan if things had not been different for her. Logan's situation hit her in the gut and she knew she would not refuse, even though Marty was there waving and mouthing "No...!"

Rox stalled by asking for her routine first meeting so that she could "meet" Logan's aunt, Shay Wilmont. Marty pointed out how difficult it would be to enter a supervised facility with guards and staff. Rox agreed but, she needed to do this. Her own efforts to "be normal" were over but had resulted in severe headaches and even a seizure...Marty even used that to question whether she could be prepared to handle something happening to her within the facility while trying to get Logan out... (which did happen!) Rox knew. however, she would never forgive herself if she didn't at least try...

Sellers presents a much more complicated Extraction in this third novel, which results in Rox being left and placed as a patient in the Hospital. But, even that, does not include the underlying secretive and psychological actions that are revealed in the final part of the book. This storyline is obviously the best of the three books as it expands into the psychological aspects of the characters beyond the young boy who is to be extracted...

It's the most dangerous, unpredictable and unforgettable... And the surprises continue to roll out up through and including the final ending! Quite an achievement that twists an ongoing series into an entirely different genre that is shocking to the reader. I was totally floored by this journey into another plot that is almost, if not more so, as compelling as the Extraction. Sellers writes she is excited about this book. I can certainly understand why! It is tantalizing, fascinating, and yet utterly within the realm of possibility--and that's why it's extraordinary... 

I'm certainly happy to have officially "read" this author, with a outstanding series that included brilliant ongoing characters, as well as minor characters that evolved as each book continued. What a delightful way to meet and become a fan for a new unread author! Sellers is like all great authors...you don't think about their writing because it becomes secondary to the storyline and characters... Let's just say, this writer became a personal favorite in just three books... So, do check out The Extractor Series and start with the first. You'll be happy to have a chance to get to know the characters before you meet The Other...  


GABixlerReviews

I was born in Santa Rosa, California—the third of six kids—but I’ve spent most of my life in Oregon. I grew up in Cave Junction, a small town in Southern Oregon. The day I turned 18, I packed my VW bug and moved to Eugene. Five years later, I graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in journalism.

I’ve always loved to write. I was one of those nerdy kids in school who liked to write reports—about Peru, ocean life, pollution, whatever—I loved researching and writing about everything. I also wrote some fiction as a kid and some short stories in college, but never took it seriously then.

After graduating, I moved to Phoenix (needing a dose of sunshine). The country was in recession too, and I knew people in Eugene with journalism degrees who were flipping burgers, so I had to leave to find work in my field. My first career position was with Arizona Senior World, and I loved it. My favorite assignments were the people profiles—old people doing amazing things. (I hope to be one of those people in 40 years or so). I’ve also written several profiles for Oregon Quarterly as a freelancer.

My stay in Phoenix was fairly short. I got married and had a baby, then felt compelled to move back to Eugene, Oregon where my family was. I’ve been here since, raising all kinds of kids and working full time, first as a food server, then as an writer/editor.

But one day long ago, I was reading a particularly bad novel and tossed it to the floor, thinking I could write a better story than that. I had never considered writing fiction until that moment, but I felt challenged to see if I could actually do it. On August 7, 1989, I sat down to write my first novel. I used a Commodore computer, and it took about three months. The story was called Personal Justice, and it was about a woman who tracks down the pedophile who murders her child. (Jeffrey Dahmer was in the news then.)

It wasn’t a great story (because it lacked complexity) but I discovered I loved writing novels. I got absolutely hooked on the process and immediately started another. When I finished it, I sent the first three chapters to an agent, Al Zuckerman, president of Writers House. (What audacity!) Three months later he called me and said he couldn’t sell that story but that I had talent and that I should send him an outline of what I was working on then. And incredible moment of validation. He eventually represented that book (now The Baby Thief), but didn’t manage to sell it.

Still, his encouragement and faith is why I never gave up submitting my work, even though it took nearly 20 years to break through. (Lots of agents, novels, screenplays, close calls, and bad publishing experiences along the way.)

Meanwhile, I landed an editorial job at Pharmaceutical Executive magazine, where I learned more about drugs than I ever thought I would. It was a great job, and I learned to be an editor (as well as a writer). After seven years, they closed the Eugene office. While I looked for a new job, I wrote The Sex Club, the first in the Detective Jackson series. I feel very passionately about the subject matter, so it was a story I had to write, even knowing that it might never be published. At the time, I wasn’t sure if the Jackson character would end up being a series, but I made him likable, so I could bring him back if needed.

Then I spent two and a half years with an educational publisher. During that time, my job used up all my mental energy, and I didn’t write any new fiction. I discovered that I’m not really happy if I’m not writing a new story. But during that time, I self-published The Sex Club, which earned great reviews and reader support.

I was laid off again in March of 2008, one of the early casualties of the recession, and decided to make the most of the situation. I expanded my freelancing efforts, committed to putting my fiction career first, and finished writing Secrets to Die For, the second story featuring Detective Jackson. In October 2010, with four Jackson books and two standalones on the market, I quit freelancing to write full-time. In May 2012, Thomas & Mercer bought all nine of my backlist titles and two frontlist Jackson books. I now have twelve Jackson novels, five standalones, and three Agent Dallas stories featuring a young, female FBI agent who specializes in undercover work and infiltrating criminal groups.

Last year, I wrote three books in a new series about an ex-CIA agent called The Extractor, who rescues young people from oppressive situations. I also conducted my own real-life extraction in Costa Rica when I rescued my sick grandchildren from their mentally ill mother. I’m currently working on a movie script for that 18-day harrowing experience … and writing a new Jackson story.

Debut of New Series by L. J. Sellers Hooks Me Through Female Main Character!

Chapter 1

Roxanne MacFarlane watched on the monitor as three people approached the building. A bearded fifty-something man, a thin eager woman, and a pensive teenage girl. Damn! The reverend had come along. This could get sticky. Rox hoped she didn’t have to resort to kidnapping, but she would do whatever it took to help her client. Every case was personal for her.
The trio disappeared inside the building, so Rox glanced at the second monitor. The view of the lobby was a little distorted, but she could clearly see her partner—her stepdad, Marty, in a fake security uniform—scoot out from behind a small counter. He blocked the access door and gestured for the man in the black cloak to step aside for a weapons search. 
The reverend looked annoyed but complied.That was her cue. Time to put on the act. Grabbing the girl and dragging her out would be easier, but at forty years old, Rox was finally learning to pretend. After a deep breath, she bolted down the short hall, opened the door to the lobby, and stepped partway in. “Mia Bankston? You’re late for your appointment.” Rox focused on the girl, a slender fourteen-year-old.“ 
I am? I’m sorry.” Mia bit her lip and turned to her mother. The woman shrugged and glanced at the phony spiritual leader and polygamist she’d married. Reverend Jonah was arguing with the security guard, who had his hands under the cult leader’s robe. Nice touch, Marty.Rox stepped forward, holding the door open. 
“Let’s get this done right now, or we’ll have to reschedule. I have another appointment soon.”
“ I’d like to wait for my husband.” The mother’s voice was soft and uncertain.“ I just need Mia to sign.” Rox paused, then projected her voice. “If she wants her money today.” She had lured the girl and her mother—who rarely left the polygamist’s home—with a letter about a phony inheritance.
“Go ahead,” the self-appointed reverend said. “I’ll be right behind you.” He was pulling ID from his wallet.Greed had overruled his usual control and caution.The girl stepped past Rox and through the opening. Rox quickly followed and shut the door behind her, locking the mother out. Rox grabbed Mia’s arm and steered her down the hall. She had rented the small building for a week just for this assignment.
“ What about my mother?” The girl seemed surprised but not alarmed.
So far so good. Ideally Mia’s actions should be voluntary. “Your great-aunt left the money specifically to you. I just need a signature so I can release the funds.” Rox kept moving. She’d done her best to disguise herself with a wig and oversize reading glasses, but she still wanted minimal exposure. During her time at the CIA, they’d never let her do fieldwork, but she’d learned a lot from the operatives anyway.
Behind them the mother screeched, “Why is this door locked?”
The girl stopped.
Damn! Two more steps. Rox gave a small shrug. “Don’t worry, it’s just stuck. Happens every day, but I don’t have time to deal with it right now.” She tugged on Mia’s arm. “Come get your money.”
For a moment, the girl hesitated, her eyes wary.
Rox gave her another charming smile. She was dressed in her only lawyer-looking clothes, a navy skirt and jacket, and she knew she had a trustworthy face. One of the reasons they’d hired her at the CIA—that, and her analytical skills.
Mia shrugged and moved forward. Rox opened the door at the end of the hall, and they entered the room where her client waited.
The girl let out a shocked cry. “Dad?” She stepped forward, confusion and joy playing out on her innocent face. “I thought you were dead!”
“ No, honey. No . . . I’m . . .”
They ran toward each other and embraced in a tight hug.
Rox smiled. This was why she did this work—to reunite people with their families.
The man and his daughter stepped apart and started crying. Tears of joy had always confused Rox. Why did people cry when they were supposed to be happy? It wasn’t logical. But she’d become used to not being able to read people correctly. Except for Marty, whom she’d had a lifetime to figure out.
Rox took a photo of the two, then stepped out of the room to give the family some privacy. Her part was done. Now it was up to her client to convince his daughter to go with him—rather than stay in the polygamous cult and end up as a child bride for a man who already had six wives and fourteen children he controlled with an iron fist. Mia’s father had joint custody, which had been established at birth with his name on the certificate, and never altered in court. But Mia’s mother had taken the girl and gone into hiding.
Rox was careful about custody issues and had done her homework. At fourteen, the girl was free to choose who she wanted to live with. Her client had hired her to find the girl, then get her out. He hadn’t trusted the legal system to help because he had a criminal drug record. But he’d turned his life around and started a business that was doing well enough to afford her twenty-thousand-dollar fee. The second half was being held by a bank that would release it when she showed them the photo. She’d learned early not to trust people to follow through with the final payment, or as she liked to think of it, her success bonus. Her very first client had stiffed her once she had her son back, giving a sob story instead.
Rox left through the back of the building to avoid drama in the lobby with the reverend. Her client would do the same. Marty had probably already escorted Jonah from the building. Her stepdad was an ex-cop and could take care of himself, but she called him anyway. “Are you out?”
“Yep. That bastard came at me when he realized the girl wasn’t coming back, but I hit a few of his pain centers, and he decided to cooperate. I’ll be at the meet-up spot in five minutes.”
She walked a few blocks to her car, then drove another three to join Marty, who was already in his own car. They usually took both in case circumstances called for it. He got out, gave her a high five, then burst out laughing. “I dig the adrenaline rush of messing with assholes to rescue someone in need.”
“ Me too. See you at home.”
Marty gave her a mock salute and drove off. She’d loved seeing him in uniform when she was a kid and followed him into law enforcement as an adult. But the department had stuck her in tech support after a year on the street. She’d been disappointed but not surprised. The way her brain worked, with its atypical neurologics made her a great data cruncher. But after six years spent cyber hunting addicts and thieves, she’d gotten bored and joined the CIA. Hoping for fieldwork, she’d ended up as an analyst again. After her sister, Jolene, died, Rox had left the agency and started an investigation firm. Now she was her own operative and doing pretty well. With any luck, the treatments she was about to start—a new form of magnetic brain therapy—would make her even better.
Successful missions were essential. She’d failed to rescue Jolene when her sister was in a cult-like multiple marriage. Rox had taken an overseas CIA assignment instead, and Jo had been murdered by the cult leader while she was gone. Rox would never forgive herself. But she was doing her best to make up for it.
Twenty minutes later, she parked at the bank as her work cell phone rang. Assuming it was her current client, she picked up. “Is everything all right?”
“No. Is this Karina Jones?” The woman’s voice was tentative and stressed.
Jones was the code name she used with clients. Another one already! “Yes. Who is this?”
“My name is Jenny Carson. My husband, Dave, and I need your help.”
“Who referred you to me?”
“Detective Scott Monroe.”
Rox didn’t know Monroe personally, but she knew of him. She and Marty had put out the word about her services among certain law enforcement people with the understanding they would pass it along to others they could trust. Only her first circle of close friends knew she conducted extractions. Beyond that, clients knew her fake name and paid in cash deposits, including some that went directly into a bank account.
“What kind of help do you need?”
“ Our daughter joined that charity cult, Sister Love, and we haven’t seen her in months. We’re worried sick.” The woman choked back a sob.
Another extraction so soon? Rox didn’t feel ready. And she was supposed to start her therapy tomorrow. But the woman sounded so desperate. Plus, the group mentioned was local, so she wouldn’t have to travel. “What specifically are you worried about?” A rescue target had to be at risk for her to take the case.
“ We think the leader is keeping her captive. Other girls work in their soup kitchen, but Emma doesn’t, and we haven’t seen her since she joined.” The mother burst into tears.
This grief she understood. “Have you been to the police?” Of course they had.
“ They won’t help us. Emma is eighteen, and she joined Sister Love willingly.” Jenny Carson had to stop and take a deep breath. “After we didn’t see her at the soup kitchen, we asked the police to check on her. But even if they knew where the cult members lived, they can’t go in there without a search warrant, and they say we don’t have a real reason to think anything is wrong.”
Rox understood the legal limitations officers faced. “Do you have any evidence that your daughter is being abused or restrained?”
A telling pause. This time, Dave Carson spoke, and she realized they were on speaker phone. “No, but they prey on vulnerable girls. We think the leader trolls online for conversations about suicide.”
A flash of rage burned in Rox’s chest. This was a new low. “That’s deplorable. Do you know his name?”
“ Yes.” Mr. Carson was still doing the talking. “We called the state office where charities have to register, and it was founded by Deacon Blackstone and Margo Preston.”
Deacon? She hoped that was his name and not his religious title. The other person, Margo, might not even exist. “How did he contact your daughter?”
“ Online.” Mrs. Carson was still fighting for control of her emotions. “Our girl was in a car accident, and her best friend died.” Another sob. “Emma was devastated, and she joined the group out of guilt. I’m afraid he’ll ruin her life.”
Rox knew she would take their case. “Okay, I’ll meet with you, but I have conditions. Such as, you can never tell anyone where my office is or discuss the details of my services—unless you’re sending me someone who needs my help. Did Detective Monroe mention my fee?”
“ He said you were expensive, but money is no object.”
Good to know. “I’ll need ten thousand in cash up front. Bring it with you when we meet. If the case has unexpected expenses, we’ll discuss them at the time. If I’m successful, I get another ten grand. Are you fine with that?” Rox sometimes reduced her fee for clients who couldn’t afford her rate, so she had to get full payment from those who could.
“ Of course. We just want our daughter back.”
“ Come to my office tomorrow morning at ten. Bring photos of your daughter, a large one and a wallet size. I’ll text you directions and instructions later today.” At the moment, she was still in Salem, fifty miles south, and had to pick up her payment from the bank, drive back home to Portland, and wrap up the details of her current case.
It was unusual to have another extraction so quickly. She often went months without a call and had to supplement her income with other investigative work. But she itched to get started. After six years as a cop and ten with the CIA, she loved the thrill of the chase, even when it was all on paper. Plus Deacon Blackstone seemed like a dirtbag predator, and she couldn’t wait to extract Emma from his clutches.

~~~

Guilt Game:

The Extractor Series

By L. J. Sellers

Anybody who is a reader and browses books anywhere and everywhere, recognizes the name of L. J. Sellers. Given the liberty I gave to myself to not accept new review requests, I took the opportunity to select a book from this prolific writer. I'm certainly glad I did! I read the first book and immediately went out and downloaded the next two...

The main reason is Roxanne MacFarlane,* known as the Extractor. She works to find and bring back children from places that might be called cults, or by one parent taking the child away from the other...any time that a child needs to be returned home... Rox is a former cop and CIA agent, but she left both because she was placed in positions where they most needed her skills... And that was not out in the field. You see, Rox was born with neurological damage to her brain... which resulted mainly in being good with details, numbers, analysis, which she'd been doing effectively and efficiently for both agencies...

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But when her step-sister was killed due to being in a cult, Rox was so botheredthat she felt she had to do something to change this world where children are stolen--for whatever reasons. Rox's step-Dad, Marty,* was crushed by his daughter's death, although he had always treated both girls as his own. Now, Marty, who was also a cop, provides the muscle when an extraction is to be made...

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I have always been alarmed by the about of human trafficking, which now is used to cover many types of abductions for various reasons... Teens, especially, are being targeted and at risk by many types of predators... But, make no mistake, money is always the major part of the equation. That's why the book begins with an extraction that is being made. The wife has told her child that her father is dead...Rox takes actions which often are beyond the limits of the local law enforcement. In fact, many of Rox's cases are based upon referrals from local police. She creates scenarios, based upon investigative research of where the child is located and devises the method for extraction...

But one of the most interesting parts of the story is that a new medical procedure has been developed, which, if it works, allows changes to Rox's brain that brings back emotions, awareness, and changed interpersonal relationships. Many of the limitations Rox began with, are now being changed and it is so fascinating to watch her own reactions, as well as those around her. This is a personal connection for me, and it is inspirational to consider how and when this type of change could be made to, say, individuals affected by some forms of autism... Kudos to Sellers for creating this unique character and to allow readers to watch as Rox becomes...different...

Emma was old enough to leave her home to join Sister Love. Her parents had come to seek assistance to bring their daughter home, believing it was a cult. Sister Love ran a kitchen to feed veterans and others needing meals, which was a good thing... But, their daughter was not ever there working... Where was she?

Emma had been driving when there was an accident in which her best friend had died. That friend's parents had blamed Emma...Indeed, Emma blamed herself and had thought of suicide, but realized that there might be some redemption for her if she were to help others in need...

The Guilt Game, as the book is named, is correct. The leaders of this group purposely chose young adults who had, in some way, caused major grief to somebody they loved. This particular cult was led by one man...and without any professional expertise, he counseled each girl, yes, they were all girls, how they could free themselves of their guilt... And when you have a willing participant, who blames herself and accepts the guilt, many prefer to be exactly where they are, even though they might get into situations they are not ready for; e.g., sexual promiscuity.

The importance of the storyline is dominant; although, the action and suspense that arises out of this agreement to extract somebody from a potentially dangerous place is tense, edgy, and a page-turner as readers move further and further into the case, where Rox and Marty are trying to extract Emma...and get her out...in time...

I read the book in one sitting and, as I said, immediately got the next two books. I was immediately hooked on the characters, the underlying story plots, and the thriller-like escapades Rox, especially, gets into... I loved it and highly recommend it to romantic suspense, action thriller and books that respond to things happening in today's world... Do check it out! 


GABixlerReviews

L.J. Sellers writes the bestselling Detective Jackson mystery/thriller series—a four-time winner of the Readers Favorite Awards.  She also pens the high-octane Agent Dallas series, The Extractor books, and provocative standalone thrillers. Her 23 novels have been highly praised by reviewers, and she’s one of the highest-rated crime fiction authors on Amazon.

L.J. resides in Eugene, Oregon where many of her novels are set, and she’s an award-winning journalist who earned the Grand Neal. When not plotting murders, she enjoys standup comedy, cycling, and zip-lining. She’s also been known to jump out of airplanes.

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*After reading all three books, I selected Jennifer Garner as the female star I would recommend to play Rox! And Robert Redford as Marty...