Title: The Search for Sasha Lockwood

Author: Thomas Grant Bruso

Publisher: NineStar Press

Release Date: 02/25/2025

Heat Level: 1 – No Sex

Pairing: Female/Female

Length: 10250

Genre: Paranormal, Genre/lit, paranormal, family-drama, new adult, lesbian, bisexual, camping trip, schoolfriends, disappearance, Bigfoot, police

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Description

Something is stalking the campgrounds at Pine Hill Creek.

Rumor has it that local folklore about the notorious Bigfoot is responsible for the mystery of a missing young woman.

When eighteen-year-old high school senior Sasha Lockwood vanishes without a trace while camping with her friends, fear and horror sequester a small community. Local and federal law enforcement officers begin an exhausting twenty-four-hour investigation of seventy acres of vast forest, looking for the victim.

The tight-knit community is in an uproar, horrified by these unexpected events. An unrelenting sheriff’s department and a media-savage system doggedly interrogate Sasha’s parents and close friends.

What happened the night Sasha Lockwood disappeared? Is it real or part of a cruel joke? Is Bigfoot responsible, or is something more sinister at play in the deep, dark woods?

Excerpt

The Search for Sasha Lockwood
Thomas Grant Bruso © 2025
All Rights Reserved

Journal thoughts
I’ve got a secret.

I can’t stop thinking about my best friend, Annie Monroe. We’ve been friends since forever. I don’t know what I’d do without Annie. She’s not only a friend, but a decent, caring person. She is beautiful, artistic, and somebody I don’t ever want to lose.

We went swimming in her parents’ inground pool today. We ordered pizza and had a few beers. Her parents were out of town. So, it was refreshing to be alone with Annie. Finally. Usually, we see each other at school, while passing in the hallways or after ninth period study hall, or by our cars in the parking lot. Rarely are we alone, which I’d prefer. I love hanging out with her. She makes me feel good. We laugh and smile when we’re around each other. She makes me feel safe. I admire her self-deprecating personality and wise-cracking jokes.

It’s as if time stops when we’re together. Annie introduced me to her shoe collection and the new painting she’s been working on since the beginning of the school year.

She’s so talented, and everything she creates shines like the gorgeous high heels and charm bracelets and that great big smile she wears every day.

Her new pastel and watercolor painting is of Lake Champlain where we used to sit every weekend by the water’s rocky edge. She unveiled the final product to me last weekend when she invited me for a picnic by the lake.

She also told me she loved me more than a friend.

Hearing the words over egg salad sandwiches and potato leek soup (her signature dish) hit me like a hot skillet on the back of the head.

I was floored, speechless, and thrilled—all at the same time. I knew how I felt about Annie. And being around a person for so long only heightens those emotions. But I never knew how Annie felt about us. We’d never done anything sexual together, not even kiss, obviously.

Years ago, I struggled with my sexuality and my feelings for girls, especially Annie. I wanted to make a move and kiss her or hold her hand and tell her I loved her. But I was naïve and scared because I was unaware of her thoughts—whether she liked me the way I liked her or not.

What if Annie wasn’t sympathetic? What if she wasn’t a lesbian? What if my open-hearted discussion about love and romance spiraled out of control and left egg on my face? I didn’t want to ruin a good thing with Annie. Our friendship meant everything to me, like life or death.

I always wondered or worried that she’d notice how I looked at her when we were together, sitting by the lake, or walking by each other in the hallways at school, or during one of our sleepovers.

Annie Monroe is a stunning beauty, an eye catcher for both sexes. I almost drown staring at her peaches and cream complexion and losing myself in her illuminating blue eyes.

There is a sunset glow about her when you’re in her company. Life feels less lonely, unhinged. At least, for me. Reality blurs and all my problems vanish when Annie opens her mouth to talk, or smile. The way she curls the feathery locks of her hair around her earlobe weakens my soul in a wonderful way.

So, when she told me she loved me, more than a friend, I cried happy tears.

We held hands for the first time in public, by the lapping water, in the gathering dusk.

It was magical. Our relationship was more than just…friends.

Love is a powerful thing.

The way Annie and I love is unmatched by all the other romantics walking around: fighting, cheating, and living a lie.

We are happy together.

Our secret is safe with us.

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NineStar Press | Books2Read

Meet the Author

Thomas Grant Bruso knew at an early age he wanted to be a writer. He has been a voracious reader of genre fiction since he was a kid.

His literary inspirations are Dean Koontz, Stephen King, Ellen Hart, Jim Grimsley, Karin Fossum, Sam J. Miller, Joyce Carol Oates, and John Connolly.

Bruso loves animals, book-reading, writing fiction, prefers Sudoku to crossword puzzles.

In another life, he was a freelance writer and wrote for magazines and newspapers. In college, he was a winner for the Hermon H. Doh Sonnet Competition. Now, he writes book reviews for his hometown newspaper, The Press Republican.