Fallout By: Ashley Nikole

Four months of torture in an undisclosed location.

Four months of silence.

Four months of praying she won’t lose her mind and give away secrets she’s fought so hard to keep.

 Avery Kent escapes with her life, but she is pursued deep into the heart of the British Columbia wilderness by the men who almost took her life—and shattered her mind. After wandering for two days in the mountains, she stumbles upon a cabin—but little does she know that the man inside is not the sheltering protector he claims to be.

Haunted by his past, former CAF soldier Dakota Fontaine is trying to mind his business and keep his head down when a woman stumbles onto his property and collapses, wearing only a hospital gown and a tattered sweater. As he nurses the battered woman back to health, he wonders at the way she talks in her sleep but won’t say a word when she’s awake. But Dakota knows better than most that the art of coercion isn’t always violent. Torture isn’t the only way to ferret out a person’s secrets, and he is confident of one thing; Avery Kent will confide in him, one way or another.

Just as Avery begins to trust Dakota, an unlikely encounter sends her fleeing back into the heart of the city where it all began. On the hunt to collect the stash of lethal evidence that will take down her attackers, once and for all, the flashbacks grow stronger, and her grip on reality continues to falter. Avery knows the chances of losing her mind before she can bring down her captors, are high—and deadly—and she’s not up to the challenge. But she’ll die trying.

Meena’s Reading Vibe: 🌙 Best read late at night when the house is quiet, a storm tapping against the windows, and only the glow of a single lamp or candle lighting the room. A warm blanket pulled tight, heart racing as secrets unravel, perfect for readers who crave intensity, suspense, and the kind of story that keeps you turning pages long past midnight.