Stacy's Story

A young woman converts abject fear into unrelenting courage in order to survive.
What would you do if someone obliterated life as you know it and stole your future? Give up? Lie down and die? Fight back? Maim? Destroy? Even kill? How far would you go to save self? To reclaim your life? Your future?
Stacy Freeman grew up in Long Beach, CA, a coddled LA Valley girl. Hers was an idyllic world, absent of strife until she watched her twin sister succumb to a rare disease. Stacy vowed then and there to do everything she could to nurture and defend life. She became a nurse, married her soul mate, Cory, and set her sights on their future, dreaming of the day they would create life together by giving birth to a child.
But her life and dreams are radically altered when she accompanies her husband on a back-packing trip into the northern California wilderness. For five days she's imprisoned in a fire look-out tower, physically and psychologically traumatized by the mysterious Brock Tillotson. Forced into playing a deadly mind-game of chess.

"...the pages fly by. Blenkush's second thriller holds the reader in its terrifying, suspenseful grip from the first day the couple sets up their campsite all the way to the explosive climax. With Stacy, Blenkush has created a memorable protagonist who's appealingly courageous and strong-willed." ~ Kirkus Reviews

"Powerful and emotionally overwhelming. I cried at the end. An incredible story. I highly recommend it." ~ Melissa Brown Levine, Independent Professional Book Reviewers

"John Blenkush's novel Stacy's Story is a harrowing depiction of one woman's journey through hell on Earth. Stacy must push through the confusion and hurt to find if her love for life is enough to keep her going. What if it is not? Stacy's story brings to light many questions that are not for the faint of heart but also emphasizes that perhaps our hearts are not as faint as we may initially believe them to be." ~ Red City Reviews

5 Stars! This was a horrific story and told in Stacy's words, but it was also a story of survival and fighting back. The things done to her were beyond imagination and what makes it even scarier is the fact that things like that happen every time you open the newspaper. As I write this review we are in the middle of a Pandemic and the world seems to be going crazy, but like Stacy I am looking ahead to better times. ~ Linda Tonis Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team

"Gripping from start to end. Full of real-life emotion. Makes you wonder how you would survive these circumstances! Did not want to put down until I finished!" ~ Margaret T

"Thought this book was amazing. I am not into dark stories about kidnap etc. but as soon as I started to read, I just couldn't stop. Very sad, heroic, but with a very bright ending. Brilliant, and would recommend to others." ~ A.Niriain