The Leash Around Your Mind

The Leash Around Your Mind is a psychological thriller novel set in the sun-bleached neighborhoods and open desert of southern New Mexico, where a rescued dog becomes the quiet center of an unfolding nightmare. Luna appears harmless-timid, observant, and deeply bonded to her new owners-but her presence subtly alters the behavior of people and animals around her. Small concessions are made without thought. Boundaries soften. Decisions stop feeling like decisions at all.

As Luna's influence spreads, neighbors, law enforcement, and even trained professionals begin to lose clarity, memory, and will. Dogs form silent hierarchies. Humans rationalize actions they don't fully remember choosing. Violence erupts without obvious cause, leaving behind scenes that feel accidental, inevitable, and wrong. A homicide detective senses a pattern she can't quite grasp, while a woman close to Luna fights to resist a force that doesn't announce itself and never speaks.

The novel unfolds through multiple perspectives, layering domestic realism with creeping supernatural dread. There are no grand revelations or overt monsters-only pressure, repetition, and the slow erosion of autonomy. Control does not arrive through command or cruelty, but through comfort, routine, and the desire to please. What begins as a story about ownership and care becomes an examination of submission, dominance, and how easily power hides behind affection.

Blending psychological horror with grounded character study, The Leash Around Your Mind explores the fragility of free will and the unsettling possibility that obedience can feel like love. By the time the true nature of the threat becomes clear, the leash has already tightened-and most of the characters never realize when they first picked it up.

Jeff is an aerospace engineer born in 1962 and raised in Oklahoma, shaped by wide skies and mechanical curiosity. He lives and works in Las Cruces, New Mexico, where the desert provides space to think clearly. By profession, he solves complex technical problems; by nature, he questions systems, patterns, and authority when they stop making sense. Outside engineering, he rides motorcycles, plays bass guitar, and writes fiction and music with a dark, psychological edge. His creative work mirrors his technical mindset: precision matters, shortcuts don't, and structure only works when you understand why it exists.