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Minimal Distress: The Lazarus Trials | Book One
Not yet published
Expected 31 Jan 26The consent form said "minimal therapeutic distress." It lied.
Lila Mays thought she was lucky.
A prestigious research program. A full stipend. A chance to work with leading trauma psychologists. When Project Lazarus recruited her, it felt like the opportunity of a lifetime.
She was wrong.
The sessions grow longer. The questions more invasive. Students who complain disappear from the roster overnight—no goodbyes, no explanations, just empty chairs and scrubbed records.
When Lila discovers she's been flagged as a "priority subject" for something called Sub-B, she realizes the Project Lazarus isn't studying trauma. It's creating it.
Now she's trapped in a program that's already erased three students from existence. The deeper she digs, the more she uncovers about the powerful institutions funding the experiments—and how far they'll go to protect their research.
Some experiments don't end. They just find new subjects.
The Lazarus Book One
Lila Mays thought she was lucky.
A prestigious research program. A full stipend. A chance to work with leading trauma psychologists. When Project Lazarus recruited her, it felt like the opportunity of a lifetime.
She was wrong.
The sessions grow longer. The questions more invasive. Students who complain disappear from the roster overnight—no goodbyes, no explanations, just empty chairs and scrubbed records.
When Lila discovers she's been flagged as a "priority subject" for something called Sub-B, she realizes the Project Lazarus isn't studying trauma. It's creating it.
Now she's trapped in a program that's already erased three students from existence. The deeper she digs, the more she uncovers about the powerful institutions funding the experiments—and how far they'll go to protect their research.
Some experiments don't end. They just find new subjects.
The Lazarus Book One
165 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication January 31, 2026
About the author
Sloane Halden
3 booksSloane Halden writes psychological thrillers about ordinary people with dangerous secrets. Her stories blend slow-burn tension, buried pasts, and the kind of twists that make you rethink everything you have just read.
Fascinated by power, memory, and the lies people tell to survive, she often sets her books in closed worlds where institutions have long shadows and nobody is as safe as they seem.
When she is not writing, Sloane is usually reading true crime, scribbling in notebooks, or plotting her next story with a strong cup of coffee. She lives in Texas and is always working on the next thriller.
Fascinated by power, memory, and the lies people tell to survive, she often sets her books in closed worlds where institutions have long shadows and nobody is as safe as they seem.
When she is not writing, Sloane is usually reading true crime, scribbling in notebooks, or plotting her next story with a strong cup of coffee. She lives in Texas and is always working on the next thriller.
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Review of advance copy received from Author
Received this ARC from the author in exchange for a review.
if someone were doing a comparative book review, reading this alongside The Shadow of Numbers would make the hairs on your arm stand at attention and knot your stomach worse than a discarded fishing net.
Acceptance and coercion can be thinly veiled, wrapped up in the language of opportunity and special selection.
A group of college students are selected for a special project that will mean the difference to science and mental health care. at least that's what the narrative presented. They have choices. they can participate for only as long as they wish. They have been specifically selected by certain criteria fed into the algorithm.
However, as the process continues, choices and safety protocols seem to be ignored by those in charge, and there appears to be something underlying that is never addressed.
This was a real teeth clenching book. I appreciate the author in trusting me with it.
if someone were doing a comparative book review, reading this alongside The Shadow of Numbers would make the hairs on your arm stand at attention and knot your stomach worse than a discarded fishing net.
Acceptance and coercion can be thinly veiled, wrapped up in the language of opportunity and special selection.
A group of college students are selected for a special project that will mean the difference to science and mental health care. at least that's what the narrative presented. They have choices. they can participate for only as long as they wish. They have been specifically selected by certain criteria fed into the algorithm.
However, as the process continues, choices and safety protocols seem to be ignored by those in charge, and there appears to be something underlying that is never addressed.
This was a real teeth clenching book. I appreciate the author in trusting me with it.
Displaying 1 of 1 review