Perilous

In the desert there's nowhere to run.

Emma Cauthen wakes up in a dilapidated motel room in the middle of the Sonoran Desert, her feet and hands chained. She suspects that she's been drugged and abducted, her worst fears confirmed when one of her captors visits, a man with a rough mask over his head whom she comes to know as "Rucksack."

But he is not acting alone. Emma discovers that she is a victim of a human trafficking operation, and that she's not the only one being held captive. Her friend Tori is somewhere nearby, and there might be others as well.

To make matters worse, the clock is ticking. It seems that the men behind the operation are preparing to move the girls on from the hotel to whatever horrifying ultimate destination awaits them.

Emma must find a way to escape before it's too late, but she won't leave her friend behind. She will have to overcome the deadly obstacles of the fierce heat, a remote location, and the venomous creatures that lurk around the property. Survival is a long shot, but underestimating Emma might be the worst mistake the abductors could ever make.

Jimmy Gear is a starving Master's student who started way too late to pursue his goal of being an English professor. He lives in Missouri.