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Intervention #2
Vicious Cycle
When fifteen-year-old Lance Covington finds an abandoned baby in the backseat of a car, he knows she’s the newborn daughter of a meth addict he’s been trying to help. But when police arrest him for kidnapping, Lance is thrust into a criminal world of baby trafficking and drug abuse. His mother, Barbara, looks for help from Kent Harlan—the man whom she secretly, reluctantly loves and who once helped rescue her daughter from a mess of her own. Kent flies to her aid and begins the impossible work of getting Lance out of trouble, protecting a baby who has no home, and finding help for a teenage mother hiding behind her lies. In this latest novel of suspense and family loyalty, bestselling author Terri Blackstock offers a harrowing look at drug addiction, human trafficking, and the devastating choices that can change lives forever.
324 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
390 people are currently reading
1649 people want to read
About the author
Terri Blackstock
119books5,327followersTerri Blackstock is a New York Times best-seller, with over seven million books sold worldwide.. She has had over thirty years of success as a novelist.
Terri spent the first twelve years of her life traveling in a U.S. Air Force family. She lived in nine states and attended the first four years of school in The Netherlands. Because she was a perpetual “new kid,� her imagination became her closest friend. That, she believes, was the biggest factor in her becoming a novelist. She sold her first novel at the age of twenty-five, and has had a successful career ever since.
In 1994 Terri was writing romance novels under two pseudonyms for publishers such as HarperCollins, Harlequin, Dell and Silhouette, when a spiritual awakening prompted her to switch gears. At the time, she was reading more suspense than romance, and felt drawn to write thrillers about ordinary people in grave danger. Her newly awakened faith wove its way into the tapestry of her suspense novels, offering hope instead of despair. Her goal is to entertain with page-turning plots, while challenging her readers to think and grow. She hopes to remind them that they’re valued by God and that their trials have a purpose.
Terri spent the first twelve years of her life traveling in a U.S. Air Force family. She lived in nine states and attended the first four years of school in The Netherlands. Because she was a perpetual “new kid,� her imagination became her closest friend. That, she believes, was the biggest factor in her becoming a novelist. She sold her first novel at the age of twenty-five, and has had a successful career ever since.
In 1994 Terri was writing romance novels under two pseudonyms for publishers such as HarperCollins, Harlequin, Dell and Silhouette, when a spiritual awakening prompted her to switch gears. At the time, she was reading more suspense than romance, and felt drawn to write thrillers about ordinary people in grave danger. Her newly awakened faith wove its way into the tapestry of her suspense novels, offering hope instead of despair. Her goal is to entertain with page-turning plots, while challenging her readers to think and grow. She hopes to remind them that they’re valued by God and that their trials have a purpose.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 229 reviews
July 24, 2021
Book 2 in this wonderful series written by Terri Blackstock. Lance pregnant friend who is also a drug addict has her baby alone. Lost and not wanting to sell her baby she give it to Lance. A few hours later he is arrested for kidnapping. Lance mother Barbara calls her new love interest, Kent to help. What will happen? Will Lance go to jail, will they be able to help his friend and save a baby girl? I still love this series. This book focuses on drug addiction. With Lance sister Emily who got out of rehab in the book shows how hard it s to stay clean and this is the message of this book. Things always aren't perfect but with God in the center he will find a way out so you don't have to suffer. I can't recommend this series enough. A great thriller with a great message. I hope you read it soon!
Read
January 16, 2023Dnf at page 223
This book is just okay. If I finished it, I'd probably give it a 2½ to 3 star. But I just don't care to finish. It's not suspenseful and I'm not interested in the mom's pov or her romance with the detective guy. And Lance was annoying me cuz he never knows when to shut up 😂
This book is just okay. If I finished it, I'd probably give it a 2½ to 3 star. But I just don't care to finish. It's not suspenseful and I'm not interested in the mom's pov or her romance with the detective guy. And Lance was annoying me cuz he never knows when to shut up 😂
March 19, 2019
Vicious Cycle was such a great read!! I think it was even better than the first book. I felt for the characters and what they were going through. You could tell that Jordan wanted what was best for her daughter, but she had a difficult time getting past her addiction.
I loved how Lance was so heroic and helped Jordan. He was a great character. There were a few moments in this story when I didn't know what was going on and it was intense.
All in all, I recommend Vicious Cycle and look forward to reading the final book in this series.
*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention/review it on my blog. I was not required to give a positive review, only my honest opinion - which I've done. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own and I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.*
I loved how Lance was so heroic and helped Jordan. He was a great character. There were a few moments in this story when I didn't know what was going on and it was intense.
All in all, I recommend Vicious Cycle and look forward to reading the final book in this series.
*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention/review it on my blog. I was not required to give a positive review, only my honest opinion - which I've done. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own and I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.*
February 21, 2011
“Vicious Cycle� is what the name implies, the vicious cycle of sin and drugs and the characters trying desperately to break their chains to a silent, ravaging enemy.
I have long been a Terri Blackstock fan and am used to her style, so this one took me a bit by surprise-- in a good way. I kept expecting to find a dead body at the turn of the next page and was always surprised. So while that was unexpected, what I found is there didn’t need to be one to keep the story going. It moved at a swift pace, the challenges for the characters battling their drug addictions, the fear for baby Grace and the child traffickers, got nail biting.
I have never had any connection with drugs, I don’t understand the addiction and have never seen anyone “high�. I could feel it while reading. It gave me chills, it was nerve wracking how clear she painted the picture, the research is that powerful. You don’t need an explanation to know what the terms the characters use mean.
This book is good. I’m giving it five stars, not only for the emotional impact, but also for the story it communicates. It gives a whole new meaning to “vicious cycle� and I think your eyes will be opened a bit more after reading it.
This review is my honest opinion. Thanks to the publishers through CFBA for my copy to review.
I have long been a Terri Blackstock fan and am used to her style, so this one took me a bit by surprise-- in a good way. I kept expecting to find a dead body at the turn of the next page and was always surprised. So while that was unexpected, what I found is there didn’t need to be one to keep the story going. It moved at a swift pace, the challenges for the characters battling their drug addictions, the fear for baby Grace and the child traffickers, got nail biting.
I have never had any connection with drugs, I don’t understand the addiction and have never seen anyone “high�. I could feel it while reading. It gave me chills, it was nerve wracking how clear she painted the picture, the research is that powerful. You don’t need an explanation to know what the terms the characters use mean.
This book is good. I’m giving it five stars, not only for the emotional impact, but also for the story it communicates. It gives a whole new meaning to “vicious cycle� and I think your eyes will be opened a bit more after reading it.
This review is my honest opinion. Thanks to the publishers through CFBA for my copy to review.
March 19, 2020
I had read the first book in this series and followed it immediately with this book. I appreciate the author's effort to begin and end each book in the series as a stand-alone story. Yet, when I pick up the next volume, I get pulled back into the characters' lives. This book kept my interest and I listened to it every chance I had until I finished it. I like the clean writing, meaning no language that I prefer not to read and the element of faith woven throughout the story.
January 4, 2012
Jordan's mother has talked her into leaving the New Day rehabilitation center. Fifteen-year-old Jordan is an addict and about to be a mother. When Lance Covington decides to go try and talk her into coming back to New Day he gets into more trouble than he bargained for.
When he arrives at Jordan's home he finds that she has already had her baby(at home), she is high on drugs, and her mother and brother are getting ready to give Jordan's baby to a questionable looking couple. Jordan doesn't want to give her baby to them. She has already made plans to give her baby up for adoption to a Christian agency. Jordan locks herself in her room and climbs out the window. She stows her baby in Lance's car. When Lance drives away he is surprised to find the baby there.
Not knowing what to do and hoping that Jordan will come get her baby, he takes the baby to his home. In the meantime Jordan's mother and brother are furious with her and make her call the police and tell them that Lance has kidnapped her baby.
Not knowing what else to do Barbara Covington calls Kent from Atlanta to help her try and get Lance out of jail. Will they be able to talk Jordan into dropping the charges against Lance? Will Jordan be able to break the Vicious Cycle that has become her life and finally be able to do something for someone besides herself?
Vicious Cycle had me biting my nails! I seriously had to keep putting the book(my kindle) down to take a break from the intense suspense that permeates every page of the story. The second book in the Intervention series once again delves into drug addiction, but this time add human trafficking into the mix and it all adds up to one heart-pounding, intense read! I have to say that a couple of times I got frustrated with the characters. Just like in Intervention the characters seem to not want to do what they are told. Lance is told to stay home, he goes out. Barbara is told not to go looking for Jordan, she goes looking for Jordan. Emily is told to stay home away from her old drug stomping grounds, she goes right into the worst house of them all. As the reader I sat there wanting to yell at them "YOU WERE TOLD TO STAY HOME!" I know that those all add up to what makes the book a great read, but it sure gives me heart palpitations!
When he arrives at Jordan's home he finds that she has already had her baby(at home), she is high on drugs, and her mother and brother are getting ready to give Jordan's baby to a questionable looking couple. Jordan doesn't want to give her baby to them. She has already made plans to give her baby up for adoption to a Christian agency. Jordan locks herself in her room and climbs out the window. She stows her baby in Lance's car. When Lance drives away he is surprised to find the baby there.
Not knowing what to do and hoping that Jordan will come get her baby, he takes the baby to his home. In the meantime Jordan's mother and brother are furious with her and make her call the police and tell them that Lance has kidnapped her baby.
Not knowing what else to do Barbara Covington calls Kent from Atlanta to help her try and get Lance out of jail. Will they be able to talk Jordan into dropping the charges against Lance? Will Jordan be able to break the Vicious Cycle that has become her life and finally be able to do something for someone besides herself?
Vicious Cycle had me biting my nails! I seriously had to keep putting the book(my kindle) down to take a break from the intense suspense that permeates every page of the story. The second book in the Intervention series once again delves into drug addiction, but this time add human trafficking into the mix and it all adds up to one heart-pounding, intense read! I have to say that a couple of times I got frustrated with the characters. Just like in Intervention the characters seem to not want to do what they are told. Lance is told to stay home, he goes out. Barbara is told not to go looking for Jordan, she goes looking for Jordan. Emily is told to stay home away from her old drug stomping grounds, she goes right into the worst house of them all. As the reader I sat there wanting to yell at them "YOU WERE TOLD TO STAY HOME!" I know that those all add up to what makes the book a great read, but it sure gives me heart palpitations!
Read
May 20, 2012 Vicious Cycle by Terri Blackstock is an amazing sequel to Intervention, the first book in the intervention series. Sequels aren't always as good as the first, but this book is an exception!
I was immersed in the world of Barbara, Lance, and Emily Covington once again. I was reminded of my love for the characters, and who they were as people.
Blackstock is extremely good at character development. She created character's that weren't boring at all. Usually, after a first novel, character development goes down the drain. Not with this novel. Blackstock continued developing characters that stick in your mind for a long time after you close the book. Lance Covington, for example, is one of those characters that was continually being added to.
The book overall was amazing! I was not letdown in my expectations. I had very high expectations for this book, and Terri Blackstock delivered it with a smack down.
This book opened my eyes even more to the world we all live in. Again, I didn't want to accept our world but sadly, I had to. I had to realize our world is not so perfect and it is filled with evils that most of us can't even imagine.
Blackstock unveiled a wolf in sheep clothing with Vicious Cycle. I admire her work as an author, and as a Christian.
I was immersed in the world of Barbara, Lance, and Emily Covington once again. I was reminded of my love for the characters, and who they were as people.
Blackstock is extremely good at character development. She created character's that weren't boring at all. Usually, after a first novel, character development goes down the drain. Not with this novel. Blackstock continued developing characters that stick in your mind for a long time after you close the book. Lance Covington, for example, is one of those characters that was continually being added to.
The book overall was amazing! I was not letdown in my expectations. I had very high expectations for this book, and Terri Blackstock delivered it with a smack down.
This book opened my eyes even more to the world we all live in. Again, I didn't want to accept our world but sadly, I had to. I had to realize our world is not so perfect and it is filled with evils that most of us can't even imagine.
Blackstock unveiled a wolf in sheep clothing with Vicious Cycle. I admire her work as an author, and as a Christian.
March 30, 2011
Drugs can create a vicious cycle of use and abuse. This book will have your head spinning as you jump into the lives of Jordan, Lance, Emily, Barbara, and Kent!
While this is the second book in the series, I do not think you will find yourself missing out on the backstory. The author did a great job of weaving that into the story so you never feel like pieces aren't coming together. I do want to go back and read though!
I have never been so intimately close with someone who is actively doing drugs so I couldn't always readily identify with the thoughts going through the characters. However, I can see the pain and anguish that one goes through when dealing with someone who is an addict. This book could potentially give hope to someone who is an addict (even though this is a work of fiction!).
Thank you to and for providing this copy for review. I'll be passing along my copy to my friend Kandi!
While this is the second book in the series, I do not think you will find yourself missing out on the backstory. The author did a great job of weaving that into the story so you never feel like pieces aren't coming together. I do want to go back and read though!
I have never been so intimately close with someone who is actively doing drugs so I couldn't always readily identify with the thoughts going through the characters. However, I can see the pain and anguish that one goes through when dealing with someone who is an addict. This book could potentially give hope to someone who is an addict (even though this is a work of fiction!).
Thank you to and for providing this copy for review. I'll be passing along my copy to my friend Kandi!
February 27, 2024
I devoured this book amongst many emotions. The vicious cycle of drug abuse and the baby/human trafficking this book highlighted is so heartbreaking. Just the opening pages of the book made me want to cry and get angry over a few pages. However, I kept in mind that this has to have a happy ending. The book jacket does this description justice.
September 17, 2021
My first Terri Blackstock - a very exciting and fast paced page turner.
Light on the romance, heavy on the suspense, with a hopeful message about God giving us a way out when we face temptations.
This was the second book in a series and I enjoyed it without having read the first book - it gave enough backstory to make sense without giving away major 'whodunit' plot points of the the previous book.
Light on the romance, heavy on the suspense, with a hopeful message about God giving us a way out when we face temptations.
This was the second book in a series and I enjoyed it without having read the first book - it gave enough backstory to make sense without giving away major 'whodunit' plot points of the the previous book.
October 15, 2011
Vicious Cycle was more than just a story about addiction. It was a story about faith, and learning to trust God. It was about overcoming temptation and believing that God can restore what the locusts have eaten. It showed how God can create beauty from the ashes of our lives. I've worked in a rehab before and on a variety of levels with drug addicted parents and teens. This story was an accurate reflection of some of the horrors I've seen working with people in similar situations.
What I loved about this story was that it also showed how hard it is to deal with drug addiction for everyone involved. Not just the addict, but the family, the friends, even innocent bystanders. Loving people who are addicted (especially to meth) can be such a catch 22. You want to help but the addicted person need to want to be helped for it to make a difference. There is a fine line that often blurs between tough love and enabling.
Addiction is a complex issue. There is hope and anger, and an overabundance of fear that families deal with as they try to support their recovering family member. Blackstock did a fantastic job of showing that. And talk about awesome pacing. This was a page turner from the beginning. The story kept building. The plot kept thickening. The danger kept increasing. And I kept reading. I had to know what would happen. This author pulled no punches, making this one riveting story with a lot of substance to it. Wonderful read! I highly recommend it.
What I loved about this story was that it also showed how hard it is to deal with drug addiction for everyone involved. Not just the addict, but the family, the friends, even innocent bystanders. Loving people who are addicted (especially to meth) can be such a catch 22. You want to help but the addicted person need to want to be helped for it to make a difference. There is a fine line that often blurs between tough love and enabling.
Addiction is a complex issue. There is hope and anger, and an overabundance of fear that families deal with as they try to support their recovering family member. Blackstock did a fantastic job of showing that. And talk about awesome pacing. This was a page turner from the beginning. The story kept building. The plot kept thickening. The danger kept increasing. And I kept reading. I had to know what would happen. This author pulled no punches, making this one riveting story with a lot of substance to it. Wonderful read! I highly recommend it.
July 18, 2018
As a former nursing director of labor and delivery, nursery, postpartum and NICU there were a couple things in the book that made me crazy. There is NO WAY a NICU would allow a stranger to come in a nursery and touch a baby much less hold it and feed it. There is NO WAY a baby would be discharged to a teenage drug addicted mother. DCFS and the courts would have been involved. If the baby was not discharged to the adoptive parents it would have been discharged to foster care. There is also a huge HIPAA violation in regards to a nurse taking a patient in hopes of introducing the mother to an adoptive family. None of this is plausible.
May 23, 2017
Another real and honest look into the life involving drugs and the path of destruction they leave. Terri Blackstock knows just how to tell the worst stories in the best way. She is real; yet entertaining. Vicious Cycle is suspenseful in a “can’t put it down� way! I highly recommend this book, as well as the rest of this series. This is an easy 5 Boundless Star book.
February 27, 2025
What an emotional roller coaster! Plenty of suspense-I was literally trying not to bite my nails while I read this one!
November 4, 2017
Great book...she got me on this one. I didn't get the whodunit until almost the end!! we'll written love the characters and story. such an awesome writer...she inspired me!
November 3, 2017
Great read (well, listen really). The audio book was well done. The story rings true for anyone whose life has been touched by addiction.
May 6, 2011
Title: VICIOUS CYCLE
Author: Terri Blackstock
Publisher: Zondervan
March 2011
ISBN: 978-0-310-3314-3
Genre: Inspirational/suspense
Fifteen year old Lance Covington was just trying to help a school mate. Jordan is a pregnant junkie who ran away from a drug treatment center just before her baby was due. When Lance gets to Jordan’s house, he discovers a wild house. Jordan has just delivered a newborn baby girl and learns that her mother ‘sold� the baby to a couple for $40,000. Jordan had planned to give the baby up for adoption, but through an agency, so she hides the baby in a car—the car Lance “borrowed� from his sister—hoping Lance will help.
Lance doesn’t know what to do when he finds the baby in the car. He knows it needs help, but is afraid to tell his mother. When his mother gets home from work and learns his secret, she yells at him, but agrees to take the baby to the hospital. But they’re barely out of the driveway when the police arrive and arrest Lance for kidnapping the baby.
Suddenly Lance and his mother, Barbara, find themselves in the midst of the criminal world of baby trafficking and drug abuse. As Barbara struggles to help her son, she must turn to Kent Harland, and they begin the impossible work of getting Lance out of trouble, protecting the homeless baby, and helping a teenage mother hiding behind lies.
Terri Blackstock is a prolific, best selling author, and VICIOUS CYCLE is the latest spell-binding release by her. I love Ms. Blackstock’s suspense novels and this one was no different.
Terrifyingly realistic, I felt for Lance, a clueless teenage boy, who didn’t know how to handle what was thrown at him, an innocent by-stander. And for Barbara—a woman about my age, who was being asked to handle so much more than she bargained for. If you like suspense, you will love VICIOUS CYCLE. Pick up your copy today. $14.99. 324 pages.
March 21, 2012
What a great story, albeit a disturbing one!! This book gets at least 7 or 8 stars.
As I said, it is also a very disturbing story of drug addiction among teenagers plus the trafficking of babies born to drug-addicted young pregnant women. The young woman in this story, Jordan, is a 15-year-old meth addict whose mother and half brother are also addicts. Together, Jordan's mother and brother have arranged to sell the baby to traffickers for $40,000. But when the baby is born, Jordan does not want to give her up, and her mother and brother can see that $40,000 slipping away.
There is plenty of action in this book as Jordan fights for her baby along with the help of her friend, Lance Covington, also 15, and his mother and sister, Emily. Emily has just been released from a one-year addiction treatment program, and she, too, faces a long road back from her own addiction.
Fortunately, the story ends happily, although all of the people involved still have a long way to go as they struggle to overcome their addictions.
I highly recommend this book to everyone. Once I started it, I could not put it down.
As I said, it is also a very disturbing story of drug addiction among teenagers plus the trafficking of babies born to drug-addicted young pregnant women. The young woman in this story, Jordan, is a 15-year-old meth addict whose mother and half brother are also addicts. Together, Jordan's mother and brother have arranged to sell the baby to traffickers for $40,000. But when the baby is born, Jordan does not want to give her up, and her mother and brother can see that $40,000 slipping away.
There is plenty of action in this book as Jordan fights for her baby along with the help of her friend, Lance Covington, also 15, and his mother and sister, Emily. Emily has just been released from a one-year addiction treatment program, and she, too, faces a long road back from her own addiction.
Fortunately, the story ends happily, although all of the people involved still have a long way to go as they struggle to overcome their addictions.
I highly recommend this book to everyone. Once I started it, I could not put it down.
October 22, 2016
Intense. Riveting. Heart-breaking. Blackstock delivers another breathtaking suspense that exposes the gritty underbelly of American society. This is the second book in the Intervention series. You don't need to have read the first book in order to enjoy this one but there is carryover of both characters and setting so you'll feel more of an impact if you read Intervention first.
We're back in the middle of the Covington family's lives -- one year has passed since we met them in the first book. Lance steals some of the limelight in Vicious Cycle and I have to say I just love that kid. He was a great sidekick in Intervention and even better in this one. He's an interesting mix of naïve kid and worldly teen and good intentions lead him straight into the kind of danger that's hard to fathom.
The story is told from multiple points of view so we get to bask in the glory of Barbara and Kent's developing romance as well as touch base with nineteen-year-old Emily. A fast-paced plot with plenty of twists and turns and a solid faith thread make this a read-in-one-sitting kind of read.
We're back in the middle of the Covington family's lives -- one year has passed since we met them in the first book. Lance steals some of the limelight in Vicious Cycle and I have to say I just love that kid. He was a great sidekick in Intervention and even better in this one. He's an interesting mix of naïve kid and worldly teen and good intentions lead him straight into the kind of danger that's hard to fathom.
The story is told from multiple points of view so we get to bask in the glory of Barbara and Kent's developing romance as well as touch base with nineteen-year-old Emily. A fast-paced plot with plenty of twists and turns and a solid faith thread make this a read-in-one-sitting kind of read.
January 27, 2015
If you liked the first book in this series, Intervention, you'll like this one too which actually delves a little deeper even into the vicious cycle of addiction. Barbara, Lance, Kent & Emily all reappear again. Even though this is part of a series, it stands entirely alone. I couldn't stop turning the pages to find out what would happen.
April 15, 2016
So good! :)
I really enjoyed this book! Wish I had the time to write a good review for it...
Very excited to see what book 3 is like!
I really enjoyed this book! Wish I had the time to write a good review for it...
Very excited to see what book 3 is like!
March 28, 2019
It got to be too much, I wasn't able to finish.
December 12, 2019
This summary/review may have been copied for other sources and is used only as a reminder of what the book was about for my personal interest. Any personal notations are for my recollection only.
**
Fifteen year old Lance Covington was just trying to help a school mate. Jordan is a pregnant junkie who ran away from a drug treatment center just before her baby was due. When Lance gets to Jordan’s house, he discovers a wild house. Jordan has just delivered a newborn baby girl and learns that her mother ‘sold� the baby to a couple for $40,000. Jordan had planned to give the baby up for adoption, but through an agency, so she hides the baby in a car—the car Lance “borrowed� from his sister—hoping Lance will help.
Lance doesn’t know what to do when he finds the baby in the car. He knows it needs help, but is afraid to tell his mother. When his mother gets home from work and learns his secret, she yells at him, but agrees to take the baby to the hospital. But they’re barely out of the driveway when the police arrive and arrest Lance for kidnapping the baby.
Suddenly Lance and his mother, Barbara, find themselves in the midst of the criminal world of baby trafficking and drug abuse. As Barbara struggles to help her son, she must turn to Kent Harland (cop from previous book), and they begin the impossible work of getting Lance out of trouble, protecting the homeless baby, and helping a teenage mother hiding behind lies.
Terri Blackstock is a prolific, best selling author, and VICIOUS CYCLE is the latest spell-binding release by her. I love Ms. Blackstock’s suspense novels and this one was no different.
Terrifyingly realistic, I felt for Lance, a clueless teenage boy, who didn’t know how to handle what was thrown at him, an innocent by-stander. And for Barbara—a woman about my age, who was being asked to handle so much more than she bargained for.
**
Jordan's mother has talked her into leaving the New Day rehabilitation center. Fifteen-year-old Jordan is an addict and about to be a mother. When Lance Covington decides to go try and talk her into coming back to New Day he gets into more trouble than he bargained for.
When he arrives at Jordan's home he finds that she has already had her baby(at home), she is high on drugs, and her mother and brother are getting ready to give Jordan's baby to a questionable looking couple. Jordan doesn't want to give her baby to them. She has already made plans to give her baby up for adoption to a Christian agency. Jordan locks herself in her room and climbs out the window. She stows her baby in Lance's car. When Lance drives away he is surprised to find the baby there.
Not knowing what to do and hoping that Jordan will come get her baby, he takes the baby to his home. In the meantime Jordan's mother and brother are furious with her and make her call the police and tell them that Lance has kidnapped her baby.
Not knowing what else to do Barbara Covington calls Kent from Atlanta to help her try and get Lance out of jail. Will they be able to talk Jordan into dropping the charges against Lance? Will Jordan be able to break the Vicious Cycle that has become her life and finally be able to do something for someone besides herself?
Vicious Cycle has intense suspense that permeates every page of the story. The second book in the Intervention series once again delves into drug addiction, but this time add human trafficking into the mix and it all adds up to one heart-pounding, intense read! Just like in Intervention the characters seem to not want to do what they are told. Lance is told to stay home, he goes out. Barbara is told not to go looking for Jordan, she goes looking for Jordan. Emily is told to stay home away from her old drug stomping grounds, she goes right into the worst house of them all.
**
Fifteen year old Lance Covington was just trying to help a school mate. Jordan is a pregnant junkie who ran away from a drug treatment center just before her baby was due. When Lance gets to Jordan’s house, he discovers a wild house. Jordan has just delivered a newborn baby girl and learns that her mother ‘sold� the baby to a couple for $40,000. Jordan had planned to give the baby up for adoption, but through an agency, so she hides the baby in a car—the car Lance “borrowed� from his sister—hoping Lance will help.
Lance doesn’t know what to do when he finds the baby in the car. He knows it needs help, but is afraid to tell his mother. When his mother gets home from work and learns his secret, she yells at him, but agrees to take the baby to the hospital. But they’re barely out of the driveway when the police arrive and arrest Lance for kidnapping the baby.
Suddenly Lance and his mother, Barbara, find themselves in the midst of the criminal world of baby trafficking and drug abuse. As Barbara struggles to help her son, she must turn to Kent Harland (cop from previous book), and they begin the impossible work of getting Lance out of trouble, protecting the homeless baby, and helping a teenage mother hiding behind lies.
Terri Blackstock is a prolific, best selling author, and VICIOUS CYCLE is the latest spell-binding release by her. I love Ms. Blackstock’s suspense novels and this one was no different.
Terrifyingly realistic, I felt for Lance, a clueless teenage boy, who didn’t know how to handle what was thrown at him, an innocent by-stander. And for Barbara—a woman about my age, who was being asked to handle so much more than she bargained for.
**
Jordan's mother has talked her into leaving the New Day rehabilitation center. Fifteen-year-old Jordan is an addict and about to be a mother. When Lance Covington decides to go try and talk her into coming back to New Day he gets into more trouble than he bargained for.
When he arrives at Jordan's home he finds that she has already had her baby(at home), she is high on drugs, and her mother and brother are getting ready to give Jordan's baby to a questionable looking couple. Jordan doesn't want to give her baby to them. She has already made plans to give her baby up for adoption to a Christian agency. Jordan locks herself in her room and climbs out the window. She stows her baby in Lance's car. When Lance drives away he is surprised to find the baby there.
Not knowing what to do and hoping that Jordan will come get her baby, he takes the baby to his home. In the meantime Jordan's mother and brother are furious with her and make her call the police and tell them that Lance has kidnapped her baby.
Not knowing what else to do Barbara Covington calls Kent from Atlanta to help her try and get Lance out of jail. Will they be able to talk Jordan into dropping the charges against Lance? Will Jordan be able to break the Vicious Cycle that has become her life and finally be able to do something for someone besides herself?
Vicious Cycle has intense suspense that permeates every page of the story. The second book in the Intervention series once again delves into drug addiction, but this time add human trafficking into the mix and it all adds up to one heart-pounding, intense read! Just like in Intervention the characters seem to not want to do what they are told. Lance is told to stay home, he goes out. Barbara is told not to go looking for Jordan, she goes looking for Jordan. Emily is told to stay home away from her old drug stomping grounds, she goes right into the worst house of them all.
January 16, 2018
Blackstock’s “Intervention Series� was born out of her own daughter’s struggle with drug addiction. She is writing, therefore, out of real life experience and not some imagined scenario concocted while watching TV .
One of the issues involved with drug addiction that Blackstock hits head on, is the criminal world that crashes down upon the lives of addicts. The vile and ruthless intent of the malefactors involved is monumental from human trafficking to torture and beyond.
While the series begins with Barbara Covington’s daughter, Emily and her drug addiction, this book pulls 15 year old Lance Covington, her son, into the world of kidnapping, abuse, and the drug culture’s strongholds.
Blackstock writes a compelling mystery that won’t let you rest. Not only that, she has researched her material so well that there are no trite moments for filler. Her characters bleed and laugh and leap off the page into your heart.
I appreciate the Christian perspective that Blackstock brings to this issue, and the sharp contract between evil’s intent to destroy and Christ’s power to heal and save. I especially appreciate this perspective because she has lived through it and she not simply guessing. She knows.
One of the issues involved with drug addiction that Blackstock hits head on, is the criminal world that crashes down upon the lives of addicts. The vile and ruthless intent of the malefactors involved is monumental from human trafficking to torture and beyond.
While the series begins with Barbara Covington’s daughter, Emily and her drug addiction, this book pulls 15 year old Lance Covington, her son, into the world of kidnapping, abuse, and the drug culture’s strongholds.
Blackstock writes a compelling mystery that won’t let you rest. Not only that, she has researched her material so well that there are no trite moments for filler. Her characters bleed and laugh and leap off the page into your heart.
I appreciate the Christian perspective that Blackstock brings to this issue, and the sharp contract between evil’s intent to destroy and Christ’s power to heal and save. I especially appreciate this perspective because she has lived through it and she not simply guessing. She knows.
June 29, 2022
3.5 This was a good story but felt like a YA fiction. It was more of a love story than an action packed, page turning, thriller.
The story is very important. It shows a very basic side of child trafficking. How groups take advantage of drug addicts having babies and how powerful money is when you need your next fix.
The book also sheds light on what recovering addicts go thru when they get out of rehab and enter the real world. How hard the temptations are and how it will be a struggle daily to stay clean.
I always love how Blackstock adds the perfect amount of Jesus, church, and Bible verses into the storyline. It's the perfect amount to show how much God loves us and how he accepts us no matter what out past is if we accept his gift of salvation. He's always there to save us from ourselves and that was the biggest takeaway of all. That God is with us through the good, bad and ugly. And if we accept and acknowledge he is there he will save us!
The story is very important. It shows a very basic side of child trafficking. How groups take advantage of drug addicts having babies and how powerful money is when you need your next fix.
The book also sheds light on what recovering addicts go thru when they get out of rehab and enter the real world. How hard the temptations are and how it will be a struggle daily to stay clean.
I always love how Blackstock adds the perfect amount of Jesus, church, and Bible verses into the storyline. It's the perfect amount to show how much God loves us and how he accepts us no matter what out past is if we accept his gift of salvation. He's always there to save us from ourselves and that was the biggest takeaway of all. That God is with us through the good, bad and ugly. And if we accept and acknowledge he is there he will save us!
November 29, 2019
The Covington family is ready for things to go back to normal. They know nothing could be as before Emily checked into her year long rehab program, but shes determined to stick to her sobriety and theres reason why they cant settle for a similar normal. Then Lance finds a baby in the back seat of his car, and is soon arrested for kidnapping. He knows the baby's mother didnt mean to get him in trouble and that it was the drugs talking, so hes willing to do all he can to help her. When everything he tries is self sabotaged by her hes ready to give up, but what if hes already in too deep?
I don't think they really needed this book. They left intervention at a place where you didnt really have any questions. Yes it's nice to know what happened to Kent and Barbara, and knowing Emily was still fighting her sobriety was a bonus, but each book could also be taken as a stand alone book.
I don't think they really needed this book. They left intervention at a place where you didnt really have any questions. Yes it's nice to know what happened to Kent and Barbara, and knowing Emily was still fighting her sobriety was a bonus, but each book could also be taken as a stand alone book.
June 25, 2024
good read, VERY DIFFICULT subject matter 🙁. Some of the last chapters are hard to read but…�
Terri has been a favorite author of mine for years. This is not one of my favorites.
The subject matter is very difficult to write about and much more difficult to break the cycle. Addiction runs in my family and my brothers and I have made a lifetime commitment to not take drugs or alcohol. Our Dad was killed by a drunk driver. He died homeless and, from what I understand, he became a believer before his death. I’m adopted and met my family in my 30s and Dad was killed 11years before God put me back in their lives. My mom and 2 brothers are an active in my life now!!
Terri has been a favorite author of mine for years. This is not one of my favorites.
The subject matter is very difficult to write about and much more difficult to break the cycle. Addiction runs in my family and my brothers and I have made a lifetime commitment to not take drugs or alcohol. Our Dad was killed by a drunk driver. He died homeless and, from what I understand, he became a believer before his death. I’m adopted and met my family in my 30s and Dad was killed 11years before God put me back in their lives. My mom and 2 brothers are an active in my life now!!
December 18, 2017
The world of drugs is a cruel place. Self takes the place of God.
Characters are relatable, the plot realistic-sad to say.
As an adoptive parent of eight, I related. As a parent of teens who've gone through drug-related problems, I get it.
This story struck home on different levels. Children and drugs are a bad mix.
The greatest books are one that leaves an impression. Vicious Cycles does. The characters will live in my memory for a long time. Why? Because they are so much like some I know outside of fiction. Fantastic book. I look forward to the next one in this series.
Characters are relatable, the plot realistic-sad to say.
As an adoptive parent of eight, I related. As a parent of teens who've gone through drug-related problems, I get it.
This story struck home on different levels. Children and drugs are a bad mix.
The greatest books are one that leaves an impression. Vicious Cycles does. The characters will live in my memory for a long time. Why? Because they are so much like some I know outside of fiction. Fantastic book. I look forward to the next one in this series.
July 16, 2020
So good ... a wonderful followup in the series. I love how the book is entirely different but centers around the same family and a girl that is in treatment with Emily.
I love getting to know Jordan and her crazy meth addicted family ... as she struggled with life and life choices.
Looking forward to Barbara and Detective Kent's relationship in the final book ... and what else is to come for this family.
Lance is a strong determined young man and Emily has an amazing future ahead of her if she can stay focused on her sobriety and her faith.
I love getting to know Jordan and her crazy meth addicted family ... as she struggled with life and life choices.
Looking forward to Barbara and Detective Kent's relationship in the final book ... and what else is to come for this family.
Lance is a strong determined young man and Emily has an amazing future ahead of her if she can stay focused on her sobriety and her faith.
May 17, 2021
Good read- part of a series so it does help to have read the first book. It is refreshing to have characters that are not slamming F-you's and jumping into bed with someone they barely know. Call me old fashioned- that's ok. The story line is slightly unbelievable but I try not to focus on how I think most people should act. It is considered a Christian book but I do not feel like the message is shoved in your face constantly. I enjoyed it, but I can see that it would not be everyone's "piece of cake".
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