Paralyzed by Alana Terry

Kennedy Stern has returned to campus after surviving an abduction, but old scars cut deep. Vivid flashbacks and terrifying dreams paralyze her, threatening to ruin her academic career and any chance she has at peace or happiness. This mental anguish, however, constitutes only a small fraction of her post-traumatic nightmare.

A partner in Kennedy’s kidnapping remains at large and will not stop until he has silenced her witness permanently. His violent resolve risks not only her life, but the safety of anyone who tries to help.

Kennedy must engage in a deadly battle of the mind as she struggles to stay alive. While fighting on two fronts — one psychological and one physical — the question isn’t whether she’ll come out of the war stronger in the end.

The question is whether she’ll come out of it at all.

Only .99 on Kindle

You can currently get the first novel in this series free on Kindle

About the Author:
When Alana isn't writing, it's likely that she's on the floor wrestling with her kids. Or playing outside with her kids. Or chauffeuring her kids. Or trying some random science experiment with her kids. But she's probably not cooking or cleaning.

Alana is a homeschooling mother of three who loves to write, hates to cook, and enjoys reading a good book almost as much as she enjoys writing one.

Alana won the Women of Faith writing contest for "The Beloved Daughter," her debut inspirational novel. She has also won awards from Readers' Favorite, IndieFab (Finalist), The Book Club Network, and Grace Awards.

My Thoughts:
One of the things I love about Alana' s books is her passion for addressing the tough issues. This girl doesn't back down. She talks about persecution, trafficking, teen pregnancy, abortion, and now post traumatic stress disorder. She bravely brings up questions that could make people uncomfortable or cause controversy. And she does it all through her invigorating storytelling.

This time she has Kennedy, a college student, from a previous novel, suffering from a case of PSTD. In the previous novel, Kennedy has witnessed and been involved in some pretty distressing experiences, including but not limited to kidnapping and violence, as a young girl  suffers because of someone else's bad choices. Now in the aftermath, Kennedy is struggling with her inadequacies, nightmares, real or imagined threats, and at times even breathing becomes a focused "chore". She has a series of anxiety and panic attacks in various places, yet struggles with sharing this with even her closest friends.

This is a fast paced book, that will keep you turning pages to discover whether Kennedy's fears are legitimate or not. Overall a great story, there were a couple of things I am still wondering about. Some of her fears were realistic, some were not. Kennedy never got any type of counseling to help her, and after the story ends, I am guessing she will definitely need some. Maybe the next book will bring that to light. I am sure it is difficult on an author to decide what all to include in the story depending on how detailed or how long she would like her book to end up. Kennedy also struggles with her faith, in regards to what she is experiencing. Is she praying enough? If so, why is she still struggling?

I think the author does a good job addressing the fact that life is not black and white. Even as Christians there are some grey areas that are difficult to discern and don't always work out the same for everyone. She gives lots of food for thought and questions at the back to help you decide how you might address a situation such as this if it were you or an acquaintance dealing with this kind of stress disorder. Honestly, in our society today, just watching the news could give you stress, much less experiencing what Kennedy went through. I was happy to see that she had a good support system in her Pastor and church family, especially since her parents were not close enough to be much help. 

I received this book from the author in exchange for my honest review. 

The first book is currently free on Amazon, so you could get the background before reading this one.