Lilah Burton

The Swamp Surrounds Me

Jade is stuck in a rut. She’s in a sales job she hates and a relationship that is going nowhere. When Jade’s mother passes away unexpectedly, Jade inherits her grandparents’ home in the Florida swamps. In need of a break and a distraction from her mom’s passing, she travels to Florida to clean up the abandoned house. While there, she begins reading her aunt Lydia’s old diaries. Jade’s aunt died young, and Jade’s mother never liked to talk about what happened. But the more Jade learns about her aunt Lydia’s death, the more she suspects foul play was involved. Jade also feels Lydia’s presence lurking in the rundown walls of the house and feels a mystical pull to the swamp behind the house, just as Lydia did, according to her diaries.

Looking for an excuse to ignore her own growing problems, Jade focuses all her attention on figuring out what happened to her aunt. She narrows in on a suspect—Lydia’s power-hungry ex-boyfriend who still lives in town and is part of a hunting group many believe is a front for a secret society. As Jade’s trip is coming to end, her aunt Lydia’s spirit calls her to the swamp, where Jade embraces a new sense of power and decides to confront her prime suspect. But if Jade takes her new, unhinged side too far, she could uncover family secrets that were better left buried in the swamp. Or worse, her thirst for revenge could lead her to madness.