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Jenna Ancelet has spent the last five years in prison for a crime she did not commit. But she knows who a trusted friend. How could she have been so naive?

In her little red journal, she has maniacally hammered out the details of how the real killer got away with murder. And now that she’s released from prison, only one thing consumes Vengeance.

Jenna brings her proof to an unlikely ally. Together, they develop a vindictive plan to dispose of the killer. As Jenna prepares for confrontation, little does she know that the intricacies of synchronicity are hard at work around her. As she moves closer and closer to retribution, seemingly unrelated events are culminating in a cat and mouse frenzy, tangling her in a web of lies and deceit that are robbing her of her original purpose. Or are they?

Meanwhile the real killer, having relocated overseas, seems to have it all—a new look, a new husband, a new life. But the paranoia of being discovered still lingers, and the memories that smolder inside the killer serve only to haunt, to fester, to erupt in a cataclysmic assault on the psyche.

While the murderer is involved in a deep cognitive dive with a new therapist, the demons of a previous life come knocking… all at the same time. They stalk, they prey, eventually colliding in an unfathomable display of destiny.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Born Charles (Chuck) Royce Hargett, Royce’s own life experience reminds him that the characters in this trilogy inhabit a world he knows all too well—where superficiality meets authenticity, where shadow meets light. For example, he’s written double-platinum, Dove Award nominated, #1 songs for the Christian music industry, then began drowning his demons in alcohol and drugs (sober now since 2006).

He’s worked as creative director for entertainment’s most iconic business magazine, eventually opening his own ad agency in NYC, then left it all behind to start a small southern bakery in his hometown. Most recently he’s studied mental health diagnosis and counseling in a master’s degree program, then wrote his debut thriller series Naïve, three novels where the protagonist may or may not be a sociopath. Currently he’s a freelance creative director residing in Nashville with his partner of 5 years, who used to love him unconditionally. Then he read Naïve. Now he sleeps with one eye open.

With The Naïve Series, Royce has created a world where entertainment, fashion and publishing collide with criminal justice, mental health and modern corruption to entwine readers in a cascading trilogy of three novels, immersing them in a multi-continent, decade-long tale of murder, betrayal, corporate scandal and revenge.

EXISTING TITLES IN THIS

Naive

Transparency

Sync

236 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 5, 2021

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7 people want to read

About the author

Charles Royce

4 books4 followers
Charles Royce, born Charles (Chuck) Royce Hargett in Vicksburg, MS, grew up on the banks of the Mississippi River. From childhood, he was an avid reader, devouring hundreds of books through elementary school and well in high school. He wrote his first "novel" at age 10:

"Ever since I was little, I can remember writing. I wrote my first book when I was ten. Well, 'book' is a bit of an overstatement. It’s roughly 20 pages about a little girl with cancer, with the title “In Other Words, You’re Dying” in huge adolescent cursive on the front cover. I don’t remember what was happening at the time, but clearly I was trying to work through something. I devoured hundreds of books as a child and well into high school. Essays were always my favorite test-taking form. Creative writing courses in college led to me being fashion editor of our university newspaper. In the early nineties, I wrote a lost episode of “Friends,” thinking that somehow NBC would pick it up, and I could play Chandler’s long lost brother when it hit the small screen. I also wrote an original script about a struggling record company called “Off The Record,” a vehicle for Kirstie Alley because I couldn’t bear thinking that “Cheers” would never return." —Charles Royce

From there, much like the characters in his current and upcoming novels, being comfortable in the inherent duality of the human experience has enhanced his life. He describes it like this:

"My own life experience reminds me that the characters in my novel Naive inhabit a world I know all too well—where superficiality meets authenticity, where shadow meets light. For example, I’ve written double-platinum, Dove Award nominated, number-one songs for the Christian music industry, then I began drowning my demons in alcohol and drugs (I’ve been sober now since 2006). I’ve worked as creative director for an major entertainment publication in LA, even opened an advertising agency in NYC, then I gave it all up to open a small southern bakery in my hometown. Most recently I’ve studied mental health diagnosis and counseling in a master’s degree program, then I wrote Naïve, a novel where the protagonist may or may not be a psychopath. Currently I am a freelance creative director residing in Nashville with my partner of 5 years, who used to love me unconditionally. Then he read Naïve. Now he sleeps with one eye open."

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