Mena's Plight

By: Moody L. Hammond

Narrated by: Ozzie Jacobs

Mena is happy with her lifestyle in Orlando, Florida since leaving home after high school graduation. She shares an apartment with a friend, Weija, whom she met on answering her advertisement for a roommate. They seem to get along very well. Mena works for a convenience store and gas station chain. Weija works for a sports bar franchise, plus bartending and food catering jobs parttime. Mena turned twenty-one this year.

Weija is older, but they both like a lot of the same things. On Friday nights they go out to their favorite club, Parades, where they enjoy line dancing. It’s where Mena met her boyfriend, Madez Perez, within the first six months out of high school and has been with him ever since. Sitting in her car Friday night, she dreams of Madez and his henchmen carrying out an attack on a gang of pill-pushers in his territory and she is frightened. In the pass, she’d told him she had a dream about him attacking one of his men, and he got angry and beat her. He’d threatened to kill her if she told anyone.

Mena lives with Weija during the week—Monday through Thursday—and weekends—Friday through Sunday—she stays with her boyfriend, Madez. He is more than twice her age. He takes her out for dinner on occasion and out of the country. She believes he helps her live a better life. In time, she discovers he is a drug boss in the underbelly of society, but she thinks he’s good to her, when she stays on his good side and does what he says.

Mena tells Weija about her latest dinner date with Madez on Sunday and she decides to have her boyfriend, Cecil, take her to see what’s going on at the Eatonville supper club.

On Sunday evening, Mena goes with Madez for dinner at his regular eat-out place in Eatonville. He hasn’t said what’s special about the occasion, but he is very attentive to her. She loves him deeply and is mesmerized by his attention inside the club. When she senses someone rush up behind her, before she can see what is happening, she’s attacked....

©2025 Moody L. Hammond (P)2025 Mary Gould

Intense, Haunting

Mena enjoys her new life in Orlando with her roommate Weija, spending weekends line dancing at their favorite club, where she first met her older boyfriend, Madez. Though she tries to believe their relationship is solid, her disturbing dreams and the memories of his past violence leave her increasingly unsettled. As the nightmares intensify, she begins to understand that the danger tied to Madez’s world may be far closer than she’s willing to face. That truth erupts on a Sunday evening in Eatonville, when—just as she relaxes into Madez’s unusually tender attention—someone rushes up behind her and attacks before she can even turn around.

Author Moody L. Hammond delivers a gripping mystery thriller that fearlessly explores the harrowing realities of domestic violence, volatile men, and the dangerous power imbalance in older–man, younger–woman relationships. With sharp pacing and a tense, atmospheric style, he immerses the reader in a world ruled by a ruthless drug boss, where every decision pulls the characters deeper into danger. His cast is fully realized—complex, vulnerable, and painfully believable—intensifying the impact of their terrifying circumstances. The suspense is relentless, keeping you on the edge of your chair as the fear of attack, betrayal, and inescapable danger tightens around them. The dialogue captures Mena’s power struggles, fear, and inexperience, while her haunting nightmares add a compelling psychological layer to her entanglement.

Narrator Ozzie Jacobs delivers a captivating performance, expertly conveying the shifting levels of fear and intimidation that shape Mena’s world. Her tonal inflections, deliberate pauses, and steady cadence heighten the tension, amplifying every moment of dread Mena experiences. By giving each character a distinct presence and bringing every situation vividly to life, she sustains an unbroken thread of suspense throughout. Her immersive delivery keeps the listener fully engaged from start to finish.

Listening to this audiobook at bedtime was a mistake—its seamless blend of gripping storytelling and immersive narration stirred a haunting intensity that followed me straight into my dreams.

There were no issues with the quality or production of this audiobook.