Stricken: When Recovery Becomes a Curse (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9798869214720)

When night janitor Walter Reed suffers a devastating stroke that destroys his independence, losing everything seems like the worst fate possible. Then his estranged brother Arthur dies from an apparent stroke, leaving Walter a Gothic Victorian mansion worth millions-and unknowingly unleashing something ancient and malevolent that had been contained within the estate's walls.

For Walter's children Randy and Melissa, the inheritance offers salvation from crushing financial burdens: unpaid medical bills, rehabilitation costs reaching thousands of dollars, student loan debt, and single-parent struggles. Desperate for stability, they move their father into the estate, hoping the mansion's opulence might somehow aid his recovery.

But as the family settles into their new home, something sinister begins Walter's healing. A parasitic entity feeds on his vulnerability while restoring his damaged body, growing stronger with each passing day. The creature doesn't want just Walter-it's using his supernatural recovery as a gateway to claim his entire family, especially his innocent five-year-old granddaughter Chelsea.

Stricken blends medical drama with supernatural horror, following a family's desperate fight for survival against both financial desperation and an ancient evil that preys on their weakness. With his physical limitations making him the perfect vessel, Walter must find strength not in his mysteriously healing body, but in his love for his family-before the entity claims what it believes it's owed.

In this tale where stroke symptoms become supernatural possession and recovery becomes a race against pure evil, the greatest battle isn't against disability, but against losing one's soul entirely.