The Five-Book Escape That Became a Reckoning
- Phyllis Horne
- Sep 8
- 2 min read
What if the only way to save your life was to strip away everything that used to keep you safe—and discover what’s left when there’s nowhere to hide?
When I started writing Mia’s story three years ago, I thought I was telling a tale of escape—a leap into a new identity, a new life. But what emerged was something else entirely: a five-book journey of transformation that only begins when you’re forced to face everything you’ve avoided, denied, or buried deep enough to forget.
Three reasons why this story demanded five books:
1. Going from hunted to hunter takes time
Real transformation doesn't happen overnight. Mia begins as someone whose primary survival mechanism is forgetting—a skill she learned in childhood that serves her — until it doesn't. Her evolution from playing defense to offense in her own life required the space only a series could provide. Each book peels back another layer, revealing not just who Mia becomes, but who she always was underneath. Each book doesn't just reveal Mia's past—it raises the cost of her survival.
2. Some secrets can't be rushed
The mystery at the heart of Mia's past—her mother's death, her father's fate, and the truth about her own identity—unravels like a wire pulled slowly from a wall—tight, necessary, and dangerous. What seems like I was brought up by Susan with her daughter Jessica in Book 1 becomes something far more complex by Book 5. I needed every page to properly untangle the web of memory, trauma, and revelation. These secrets matter because they hold the key to whether Mia can ever stop running.
3. Found family forms slowly
While Mia loses everything familiar in her escape, she gains something unexpected: a chosen family of fellow survivors and supporters. From Leanne to Chiara to Kofi; from Jake to Claire to Robbi and Boudreaux, each person Mia helps vanish and each one who plays a support role in those vanishings leaves their mark on her evolution. Each one teaches her something she didn't know she needed. Their interconnected stories create a tapestry that could only be woven across multiple books.
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