Day by Day by Shaun Jeffrey

Fifteen-year-old Tina is living a life that is unfortunately all too common in today’s world. Her parents are divorced. She only sees her father occasionally. Her mother brings home a new boyfriend seemingly every other week and has no time for Tina. And then there’s her older sister, who Tina resents for getting to do all the things Tina isn’t allowed to.

Things start to change when Tina’s mother brings home her latest boyfriend, Trevor. Far from ignoring Tina, Trevor gives her little gifts and lets her “in” on jokes only the two of them share. Starved for attention and driven by her desire to be treated like an adult, Tina doesn’t sense the danger Trevor presents. By the time she realizes his true intentions, it may be too late.

Known mostly for his police procedurals and horror writing, Day by Day continues author Shaun Jeffrey’s slow branching out into new territory, something we first saw in Dead World. In many ways, however, Day by Day is actually the most horrific thing Jeffrey has written given its subject matter.

Told from Tina’s point of view, the story pulls no punches as it follows her disturbingly rapid descent from naive, wholesome, eager teenager into that of a jaded, strung out, and exploited lost soul. And unfortunately it’s all too easy to understand how youngsters in Tina’s situation can be lead down that dark path. For all the ghost stories and tales of boogeymen that get told at sleepovers and around camp fires, it’s disheartening to realize that the real monsters in the world are more likely to hide under the guise of trusted friends and family members.

Day by Day is available at Amazon US and Amazon UK, and the author has pledged a percentage of the profits will be donated to a children’s charity to help those affected by sexual exploitation.