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Site 123
Why Read Site 123?
A skewed psychological romance spirals into survival horror when a weekend camping trip collides with obsession, bad luck, and a predator that knows the woods better than you do—two-legged and four.
Description
A Native American conservation officer on routine patrol finds a state park sliding toward chaos: missing cash at the gate, weapons where they shouldn’t be, and campers who don’t match their stories. After a fight with her boyfriend, Robin heads to the park with friends. Scott, convinced he can “win the weekend back,” follows—searching sites, pressing strangers, and unraveling.
As storms roll in and tempers fray, chance encounters turn into a chain reaction: a blue waste tank barreling downhill, a pizza joint stakeout in the rain, a late-night gate “inspection” that isn’t. By the time the sun is gone, the woods are speaking with teeth. In Site 123, modern friendships, jealousy, and desire grind against the blunt fact of survival—where checking in is easy, and getting out costs more than gas.
Teaser
Your spot is perfect: partial sun, power hook-ups, the creek just close enough to hear. Hike, fish, boat, flirt by the fire—until the wrong headlights pause by your pad, and your phone dies mid-text. Do you run? Do you hide? Or do you go looking, one more time, for the friend who said they’d be “right back”?
Excerpts (Curated Moments)
1) The Smurf Runs
A routine “partial dump” goes sideways—hoses pop, tempers flare, and a blue waste hauler breaks free, careening downhill toward an oblivious couple by their boat. Dark slapstick becomes omen: in these woods, small mistakes get loud fast.
2) Pizza in a Storm
Brian sprints through a deluge to his Monday refuge—beer, basketball, and too-cold air. When his friends finally materialize at three pulled-together tables, the room feels off, like everyone is waiting for the same name to be called.
3) Gatehouse at 3 A.M.
Mary, the volunteer, wakes to a smile in a DNR uniform and a pistol she didn’t see coming. Boxes get checked. The door gets locked. “Open the safe.” The park isn’t just trees and trails; it’s corridors, cameras, and leverage.
4) Convenience Store Grammar
SNACKS, BEER AND BAIT INSIDE. Missing comma; present threat. A petite clerk with a holstered pistol meets a “customer” who quietly flips the sign to CLOSED. Politeness does its dance with predation.
Themes & Triggers (Reader Advisory)
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Obsession, stalking, and coercion
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Violent encounters; survival situations
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Law-enforcement deception; weapons
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Dark humor amid rising dread
Fun Facts
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The park setting is inspired by a real Southern Indiana campground the author has visited repeatedly—first love at Site 123.
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The conservation-officer thread grew from field notes on routine checks that turn anything but routine after dark.
Published: April 1, 2024