Sangay Glass's Blog - Posts Tagged "thriller"

People who know about my wild and crazy life have asked, "Is this a true story?" No, but the character Blue Jeans was inspired by very real people who were significant in the book's narrative.

Two men gave life to the character Blue Jeans. These two men are also near and dear to my heart. I dedicated the book to them as a tribute to their resilience and the impact they had on me. Their stories, though sad, carry a weight that is hard to ignore.

I met the first Blue Jeans when I was thirteen. I was a runaway living in an abandoned shack in the wetlands of Atlantic City, NJ. There, I became friends with a twenty-something bisexual hustler.

He tried to convince me to return home, but I was stubborn. His courage and humaneness, even in the face of his own struggles, are truly inspiring. The word magnanimous is used in the book to describe him. Although what he did for me seemed harsh at the time, it initiated a turning point in my life.

As a naive teenager, I was upset because he turned me in to the police. But he did it out of concern, not malice. He didn't want me to end up like him. There is no doubt that this amazing man saved my life. I don't need to go into detail about how I would've ended up as a young homeless girl on the streets.

I met the second Blue Jeans while working as an registered nurse in a psychiatric hospital. He was a patient who also happened to be a young hustler. It was during the AIDs epidemic. At the time, the state was dumping a lot of street people with HIV and AIDS there.

This man was in the end stages of life, looking for redemption. He wrote me beautiful, long letters describing a fantasy about what our lives could have been like if his life had been different. He was not just a patient, but a kind, smart, and funny individual. Our relationship, though always professional, was filled with my deep compassion for him, and his intelligence and humor made our interactions meaningful.

In his final moments, he specifically called for me. I was terrified because, in all my years, I was lucky enough to have never lost anyone I cared about. I held his hand. It was ice cold. He told me he loved me, and I could not deny him the comfort of knowing his feelings were returned. It still brings tears to my eyes.

Although these kind-hearted but broken men have passed, the character of Blue Jeans lives on in the novel KBJSS. His transformation and the happy ending he finally receives are a testament to the hope that can be found even in the darkest times. It's a reminder that no matter how bleak the situation may seem, there is always a possibility for a brighter future.

Kate, Blue Jeans, and a Single Shot

I'm doing a second Giveaway with Goodreads! I'm running a different promotion on my FB page for reviews. Happy Friday!

True power is being the last one in the room who isn't out of control. Now use that power to discover the transformative power of love in a bizarre world that will rip out your heart and replace it with all the feels.

Make sure to read the TWs for this sweet and spicy dark contemporary romantic thriller with a HEA.

It already has a 5 star review "What I would do to read this book for the first time again! Her writing style is top notch!" Ashly Jones

Don't forget to enter the Book Giveaway! The package will contain a few surprises beyond the book and mug. You won't be disappointed.

I'm also having a second giveaway! The book is free on KU. I'm offering tee shirts with the Blue Jeans Logo custom in your size to the first 5 reviewers. One has already been taken! Pictured below.

Kate, Blue Jeans, and a Single Shot

You'll love this simple read with a complex story that straps you in for a suspense laden, character driven, roller coaster ride.

I give out great boxed gifts, that include story-themed items, like a book corset, a sensory deprivation kit (with Bluetooth ear buds), and more!

To enter the giveaway on FB here is the link. GIVEAWAY HERE

Join the group "Psychological Thrillers Group", pick Kate, Blue Jeans, and a Single Shot and if I get enough hits the winner will be chosen from the entries.

Wait!

There are more ways to win! I'm also giving out Blue Jeans Logo tee shirts for written reviews on Goodreads and Amazon. You can email me when the review is up here or at sangayglass@gmail.com

This thriller will rip your heart out and replace it with all the feels. Read the TWs!

Kate, Blue Jeans, and a Single Shot

True power is being the last one in the room who hasn't lost control.

On the run from her abusive husband, Kate is learning how to rule the room and navigate her freedom from an unlikely source, a hustler and errand boy for a professional mistress.

There’s something undeniably captivating about morally grey characters—the ones who live in the shadows between right and wrong, between justice and vengeance.

The ones who don’t ask for redemption because they don’t believe they need it.

In the heart of the Adirondack wilderness, Candice and Randal are not heroes. They are not villains. They are survivors. But survival, in their world, comes with a price.

Candice: The Girl Who Won’t Be Prey

Candice isn’t your typical final girl. She doesn’t run. She doesn’t hide. She doesn’t beg for her life—she manipulates the game until the killers believe they’ve won.

Her detachment isn’t just a coping mechanism; it’s a weapon. She sees the world through a fractured lens—emotion at arm’s length, reality blurred, survival a calculation.

Is she a victim? Yes. Is she a monster? Maybe. But she’s not about to let anyone decide for her.

Does Candice want justice, or does she want revenge? And is there really a difference when nine women are buried in the dirt?

Randal: The Unreliable Ally

Randal isn’t a knight in shining armor—more like a wolf in borrowed sheep’s clothing. He’s a man with blood on his hands, with secrets buried deep, a man who may not even trust himself. And yet, in Candice’s world, he is the closest thing to safety.

He is calculating but protective, loyal but dangerous. He’s not here to save anyone. He’s here because he’s made his choice: Candice or nothing.

But when the line between protector and predator is so razor-thin, can Candice truly trust him?

Why We Love (and Fear) Morally Grey Characters

Morally grey characters challenge us. They make us question our own morality, force us to consider what we’d do in their place.

Candice and Randal exist in a world where survival isn’t about being good—it’s about being smart, ruthless, and willing to do whatever it takes.

They don’t fit into tidy boxes. They don’t care about being likable. But they are unforgettable.

So the question remains: How far would you go to survive? And more importantly—who would you become?

There is nothing more dangerous than a woman detached from her body and emotions.

Detachment isn’t just Candice’s coping mechanism—it’s her weapon.

In the brutal, shifting landscape of the Adirondacks, where killers think they’re in control, Candice’s ability to separate from pain, from fear, from the moment itself, is the one thing keeping her alive.

She doesn’t flinch. She doesn’t hesitate. She calculates.

Most people rely on fight or flight. Candice exists in something else entirely—a limbo between survival and surrender, where she can play the long game without getting lost in the weight of the moment.
Trauma didn’t just break her; it shaped her into something unpredictable, something unreadable.

And that makes her more dangerous than the predators hunting her.

Because she isn’t their prey. She’s hunting, too.

Survival in the wilderness is brutal.

Survival in the wilderness while being hunted by a serial killer?

That’s the kind of nightmare that should leave a person raw, terrified, and hyper-focused on staying alive.

But Candice? She trips over tree roots, gets stuck in her rain gear, names her kayak. She even delivers some of the most darkly comedic one-liners while actively outmaneuvering men who want her dead.

That’s the paradox of Candice.

Her physical antics—stumbling, slipping, getting tangled, or flat-out sabotaging herself. It all might seem like classic slapstick, but it's wrapped in the eerie detachment of someone who has spent her life walking a razor-thin edge between survival and surrender.

Her mind is calculating, always searching for an exit, but her body? Her body plays along with whatever chaos the wilderness and her own poor decisions throw at her.

Her humor is sharp, often self-deprecating, and almost always a defense mechanism.

When she lets out a deadpan “Well, that’s unfortunate” after realizing she’s stuck in deep water with a rogue kayak, or cracks a joke about her inability to properly portage said kayak, it’s not just funny—it’s a coping mechanism.

The humor isn’t just for the reader; it’s for her. It’s her way of staying in control when the world (and the killer stalking her) want nothing more than to take that control away.

Candice’s detachment doesn’t just make her fearless—it makes her unpredictable. While others would freeze in terror, she’s making offhanded quips, distracting her enemies, or pulling off some utterly ridiculous stunt that somehow, against all odds, works in her favor.

There’s a fine line between survivalist and wildcard, and Candice blurs that line with an almost reckless determination.

At the core of her dark humor is a simple truth: she refuses to let fear define her.

She’s spent too long as someone’s target, and if she’s going down, she’ll go down with a smirk, a sarcastic remark, and maybe a clumsy fall into the mud for good measure.

In the end, Candice isn’t just surviving—she’s flipping the script.

And if that means laughing in the face of danger while physically making a mess of things?

Well, she’ll take that over screaming any day.

Ledge Pond> A psychological Thriller > Sangay Glass> March 12, 2025

The wilderness in Ledge Pond isn’t just a setting—it’s a living, breathing force, shaping every decision, every challenge, and every moment of survival.

Deep in the Adirondacks, nature isn’t just a backdrop to Candice’s deadly game—it’s an entity with its own rules, its own moods, and its own brutal sense of justice. The wind howls warnings. The ice grips and bites. The dense forest conceals both threats and salvation. And the water? It remembers everything.

For Candice, the wilderness is both an ally and an adversary. It’s a weapon she can wield—hiding her, slowing her enemies, whispering truths only she understands. But it’s also a relentless force,
indifferent to human struggles, ready to swallow her whole if she miscalculates even once.

She isn’t just fighting a man—she’s fighting the land itself. And in a place where survival depends on instinct, deception, and sheer willpower, only those who respect the wilderness stand a chance of making it out alive.

Out here, the rules shift like the wind. And Candice knows—sometimes, nature is the deadliest predator of all.

Candice doesn’t live in a world of clear-cut heroes and villains. She’s surrounded by morally gray characters, people whose motivations shift like the wind through the Adirondack pines. Some are killers. Some are liars.
Some might just be the difference between life and death.

But how do you trust someone when you don’t even trust yourself?

Randal is a perfect example. He’s not a villain, but he’s no hero either. He’s done things. Bad things. And

Candice knows it. So why does she need him? Why does she want to believe in him, even when every instinct tells her to run?

Because sometimes, in a world where monsters exist, you don’t need a hero—you need someone just dangerous enough to stand beside you.

Would you trust a morally gray character if your life depended on it?

In thrillers, final confrontations aren’t just about the fight—they’re about the last word. That one line that cuts deeper than any knife, the one that reminds the villain exactly why they lost. It’s the verbal dagger that seals the moment in cinematic, spine-chilling glory.

Some go for cold and calculated:
"You should have buried me deeper."

Some go for ironic:
"Guess I wasn’t the easy target you thought."

Some, like Candice, lean into dark humor
"You should have pushed me three skateboards to the left."

A final girl, an anti-hero, or even a villain—whoever gets the last word wields the real power.

So, let’s hear it. If you were the last one standing in a thriller, what would YOUR victory one-liner be before delivering the final blow? Drop it in the comments!

Ledge Pond