Lure of the Winding Road

Nathan wakes one morning to find his wife, Aoife, missing from their home. His children—Hailey and Vaughn—are frightened and confused, though in markedly different ways. Vaughn, worried and bewildered, clings to an underlying bravery that drives him forward. Hailey, meanwhile, seems to harbor a deeper guilt beneath her fear, her dread suggesting she knows more than she's willing to say. With their truck sabotaged and a cryptic note left behind, Nathan is forced to lead his children on foot into a dense and surreal forest, following the "winding road" outside their home. But the deeper they venture into the mysterious and otherworldly forest, the more fractured their reality becomes.

They encounter strange animals—a tiger that speaks in riddles, a rabbit that guides and misguides, a serpent that whispers truths, and a dragon that seems to sit in judgment. But are these creatures real, or are they manifestations of Nathan's unraveling mind? As the line between reality and hallucination blurs, Nathan must confront not just the loss of his wife, but the emotional damage he has inflicted on his family—damage even he can no longer deny.

Lure of the Winding Road is a literary suspense novel with psychological horror and magical realism. It explores themes of family trauma, guilt, mental illness, and inherited darkness. Though it stands alone, it is the first in a duology.