A Girl Named Striker: Call of the Wilderness

340 pages, (print edition), 99,190 words. Contemporary fiction, suspense, drama, wilderness survival, dog story.The story of a girl stranded in the wilderness who is befriended by a dog escapee from a dog fighting ring.From Chapter 1: …. Surviving without her dad was something she didn’t know if she could do or not, but she had a sickening feeling she was about to find out. She’d been able to survive for days at time without him. Thing was, she always knew he would be coming back, bringing her books and supplies. Sometimes he even brought her back a toy of sorts.As she looked down at her dad’s broken body, she didn’t bother saying anything or bursting into tears. She knew her dad was beyond listening to her fears and pleadings. If she cried and went to pieces, it would only make his dying regrets worse. He was using every ounce of his strength to tell her what she was supposed to do after he was gone. You hear me, Striker? he wheezed out. You hear me? I hear you, she assured him as she watched red blood trickling through what was once pink foam. Each word he said brought more blood up with it. Be careful. There’re mean devils out there. Trust nobody, he repeated what he’d told her often. Trust nobody. They’re all out to get you, he heaved out in a coarse whisper. I know it for a fact, he managed to add in a breathless plea.Her dad had always been protective. He made sure no one could find the little cabin he had built. He’d chosen the place, made sure it was hidden miles back in the rugged National Forest. I won’t trust anybody, she assured him. His words of warning had sunk in long before now. She believed there was pure evil beyond the mountains surrounding their cabin.