𝙎𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙜𝙤, 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙬𝙤 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣 𝙨𝙞𝙭 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙝𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧. 𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙨 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡 𝙒𝙤𝙡𝙛 𝘾𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙙, 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝘾𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙙, 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙪𝙩, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙠𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙡𝙚. 𝙎𝙪𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙭𝙩 𝙚𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙝𝙨 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣, 𝙨𝙤 𝙢𝙮 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙨 𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙖 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝. 𝙎𝙪𝙗𝙨𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙡𝙮, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙚𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙣, 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙉𝙚𝙭𝙩 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙋𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙒𝙤𝙡𝙛 𝘾𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙪𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙞𝙣 𝘼𝙪𝙜𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝘿𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 18, 2025. 𝙄 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨.

The Castle, my first attempt at writing a thriller, tells the story of Maggie, a park ranger who suffers from depression and PTSD, the after effects of a rape and other personal tragedies. The reader follows Maggie through her anger, despair, and recovery, a journey she travels while working in the maginificent Montezuma Castle National Park in Arizona’s Verde Valley.

I fashioned Maggie’s character after researching rape survivors, noting the characteristics that bind them together. According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, rape victims are overwhelmingly young women, though of course older females, children, and males can be victims of the crime, as well.

Maggie served in the the military where women have a high risk of sexual violence. They are most likely to be sexually harassed—which is defined as an act that does not involve physical contact—by someone in their chain of command. This behavior easily escalates into sexual assault and rape. Sadly, when these acts are reported, it’s the victim who suffers. Peers no longer want to work with them, fearing they too will be accused of sexual violence. Often, after divulging these attacks, victims are discharged from the service under less than honorable circumstances, while their attackers are rarely punished.

The fact that Maggie is also of Native American descent further ups her chances of being raped. Statistics show that 1 in 3 American Indian and Alaska Native women will be raped at some point in their lives.

Sarah Deer, a professor at the University of Kansas and author of The Beginning and End of Rape: Confronting Sexual Violence in Native America said, “Native women have told me that what you do when you raise a daughter in this environment is you prepare her for what to do when she’s raped – not if, but when.”

According to RAINN, “Nearly every minute someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted. Every nine minutes, that someone is a child.” And yet, these crimes are rarely reported. One reason is the fact that many victims feel shame after their attack, as if they deserved the violence that was perpetrated against them. Perhaps the attack was caused by the clothes they were wearing, something they said, or because they’d been drinking. This, in turn, makes 80% of victims remain silent, so they have no closure, carrying the guilt and shame like a backpack stitched to their skin, which subsequently allows the rapists to go free to attack again.

So, what can we do? First, let’s stop blaming the victims. Let’s encourage them to come forward and report the crimes, then provide them with rape counseling advocates so they can recover from the trauma. Next, let’s do away with demeaning verbiage like slut and whore and bitch, words that firmly identify women as “less than” in regard to men. We must agree that jokes about sexual assault and rape are never funny nor acceptable. And, finally, let’s teach sex education in every school, so we can arm our young people with the facts and the fundamental principals of consent.

Rape is a cruel and messy crime, one with lifelong ramifications. It’s also a massively expensive problem. According to a report by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, the approximately 28 million rape survivors in the country will cost the U.S. more than $4 trillion dollars over their lifetimes, money spent on health care, criminal justice response, lost productivity, and other expenses.

Clearly, rape is crime we can’t afford, both in regard to the financial expense, as well as the horrific personal toll. We need to do a better job.

We need to start now.

THE CASTLE

ANNE MONTGOMERY

Suspense/Thriller

Next Chapter Publishing

Ancient ruins. Haunted memories. A ruthless predator. Can Maggie survive the ghosts of her past – and the monster hiding in plain sight?

When she returns to her job as a National Park Ranger at “The Castle”—a Native American pueblo carved into an Arizona cliff—Maggie hopes the comfort of familiar ground will help her heal. Battling trauma and the grief of unimaginable loss, Maggie’s days are carefully measured, her life held together by the thinnest of threads.

But strange things are happening at the park. A mysterious child appears and vanishes without a trace. And a predator watches her every move, planning his attack.

With the help of friends, fellow survivors, and the land itself, Maggie begins to reclaim her strength. But the danger is closer than she knows, and soon Maggie will have to face a deadly threat… and her deepest fears.

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Bookstores, libraries, and other booksellers can order copies directly from the Ingram Catalog.

Praise for The Castle

“A deftly written and riveting read from cover to cover, “The Castle” effectively showcases author Anne Montgomery’s genuine mastery of the Romantic Suspense genre.” – Midwest Book Review

“A slow burn thriller, mixed in with a touch of mystical realism…A true five-star experience!” – Sara Steven Chick Lit Central

“A beautifully considered, sumptuous novel from a skilled storyteller.” – SaraRose Auburn Writing & Reviews

“This is a novel about good rage, about channeling the injustices of the world around us and fighting to do some good with both words and deeds. Lucky for readers, it was penned by a maestra like Anne Montgomery, so that we got a tense, powerful novel in the bargain too.” – Jennifer deBie-Rosie Amber Book Reviews

“Ms. Montgomery manipulates uncomfortable subjects and dark suspense into a gripping tale with hints of romance and humor carefully guiding readers on an informative journey of survival and self-discovery.“ Tonya Mathenia InD’tale Magazine

“Soul-stirring. A brilliant book…Truly a masterpiece.” – Anu Menon Thought is Free Book Blog

“I was gripped from start to end.” – Katherine Hayward Pérez Just Katherine Blog

“Ms. Montgomery has an almost magical talent to draw the reader into the worlds she creates through her words. Her characters are interesting, vulnerable and strong. While describing the locations in which her books are set, she weaves history with vivid images, immersing the reader in a hard-to-put-down story full of history, beauty and mystery.” – Margaret Millmore Author