In the woods of Oakridge, hikers are disappearing left and right―even more so than usual. After much careful deducing, Evan Novak is positive that the locations where the vanishings occur follow a pattern, but when he sets out one night to see for himself, he doesn't return from those woods. The last thing he does before seemingly blipping from existence is send a garbled voicemail to his best friend-his emergency contact. Day Jha wants to get through high school with minimal mayhem. From elementary school, he's been a wallflower, blending in with the crowd-and he prefers it that way. In a town like Oakridge, where strange things are the norm, Day prides himself on being truly mundane. But when his best friend goes missing, and his only lead is a voicemail with nary a voice, the beginning of his freshman year is made up of poking into the odd history of his small town and unearthing disconcerting instances from its places, its people, and even himself. Day wants to be a typical high schooler. He wants to be on the swim team, even if one of its co-captains has a big head. He wants to go out with the new girl, Artie. He wants to slip by as he had in middle school―but mostly, he wants to do all that with his best friend by his side. But where on Earth is Evan, and what really is lurking in those woods? There's only one thing to do: see for himself. They're just trees; it's not like the legends, the tales, the monsters that have always surrounded their town are real, right? BOOK 1 of the Monsters series

[MLM] Moving to another state to start anew was Ryan's best bet in leaving behind memories of a messy situation. But when Cash Durand tumbles into the backseat of his taxi, suddenly, Ryan's got another messy situation on his hands―this one might be worth sticking around for, though. Maybe even worth both of them acknowledging their individual pasts clinging to their present selves. ****** At the fresh age of twenty-five, Ryan decides to move out of his small (and homely) two-bedroom flat, opting for a new start, away from messy memories and messy situations. What he'll soon find is a messier situation; starting with the one-room flat in a rural Indiana town he can't remember the name of, where his wake-up calls are the shouts from the town common across the road, because of course, the one place he found was smack in the middle of the busiest street. A cabbie as a job seems like a step up from his bartending days back in Illinois, and, well, it's not great compared to his exercise science bachelor's degree gathering dust, but he's still proving to the world that he's found something all on his own. Then, a day after he got the job, Ryan comes face to face with a twenty-something beaten up by life, who has a fire burning constantly in the palms he curls into fists, dark shadows under his eyes, and who acts like Ryan should know him―like there is more to them than this moment, than who they are right now. Maybe to him; but to Ryan, he's just the cabbie driving the annoying guy to the ice rink or random bars. That's all there should be to them. Until the cycle of familiarity becomes the string joining them together, and the past tangles with the present--even states away. No one can steer clear of messy situations forever. SIGNIFICANT RANKINGS: #4 in realistic fiction on 1/10/2026