Silence

Marissa Jewel once lived her life in choreography-every breath measured, every gesture deliberate, every moment onstage a negotiation between control and surrender. But when a fractured cult turns 1997 Los Angeles into a violent ritual, the Arab nightclub dancer who survived their first attempt to claim her is forced back into a world where movement can mean life or death. Silence can mean inaction, acceptance, determination or defiance. And choices have consequences. The Purists want to cleanse her. The Faithful want to judge her. The Lost want to break her. And all of them fear the dancer she has become. As Detective Toni Blades fights to keep her alive, Marissa is drawn back to the ruins of the Tangier, the stage where her life was nearly extinguished. There, amid ash and memory, she discovers that the stillness she once used to steady her body has transformed into something far more powerful-a warrior's center, a fighter's breath, the poised moment before the next strike. When the Circle unites under a hidden architect, Marissa must confront the choreography of violence that shaped her and step into a role she never sought: not victim, not symbol, but a woman who has learned to turn silence into strength, and stillness into a blade. Continuing Marissa's story that began with my novella "Playback", Silence is a psychological noir thriller that moves with the rhythm of trauma and resilience, tracing the evolution of a dancer who refuses to let the world dictate her steps. In the end, Marissa discovers that survival is its own dance-and she alone chooses the final movement.

Pagina's: 198, Paperback, Independently published