Scared

Fifteen years after surviving abduction, Michael Wright has built the life he once feared he would never have. He is a psychologist, a husband, and the devoted father of a two-year-old son. But every night, the past returns in dreams where Daniel disappears-and Michael awakens more convinced that history is waiting to repeat itself.

His marriage to Gayle is already straining beneath his fear when a volatile new patient enters his practice. Benji Kenny lives for danger: racing cars, jumping from airplanes, climbing mountains, and pushing everyone around him beyond their limits. His fianc©e, Liz, wants Michael to help determine whether their relationship can survive. Instead, one disastrous session leaves Benji humiliated, enraged, and looking for someone to blame.

Michael soon realizes the confrontation did not end when Benji walked out of his office. A terrifying encounter leaves him shaken, and glimpses of the former patient in unexpected places convince him he is being watched. Yet with no proof, a failing marriage, and a lifetime of trauma behind him, Michael cannot persuade the people closest to him that the danger is real.

Justin Wright is facing fears of his own. His wife, Mandy, is once again battling cancer, forcing the family to confront the possibility of losing the woman who has held them together through every tragedy. At the same time, Justin is treating Conrad, a young man whose terror of death has imprisoned him inside a life ruled by panic, superstition, and avoidance. Helping Conrad confront mortality becomes painfully personal as Justin struggles to remain hopeful about Mandy's future.

As illness, obsession, betrayal, and revenge close in, Michael's worst instincts begin to look less like paranoia and more like warning signs. Benji knows exactly where Michael is most vulnerable: his family, his reputation, and the son he would do anything to protect. And once revenge takes hold, no amount of professional training can prepare Michael for the mind games ahead.

Scared is the fourth book in the Justin Wright Suspense Series, a dark and emotionally charged psychological thriller about trauma, fear, illness, fractured relationships, and the danger of underestimating a wounded ego. Rob Kaufman blends family drama with escalating suspense to show how fear can protect us, control us, or lead us directly into the threat we are desperate to escape.

For the strongest reading experience, begin with Altered, Book 1 of the Justin Wright Suspense Series.