Dead and Buried, Cydnie Trenholm

Dead and Buried (Book 2 of the By My Own Betrayal Series)

By Cydnie Trenholm

A young criminal informant died in the hospital after a disastrous encounter with a ring of hitmen; at least, that’s the story on FBI records. While authorities search for the fugitive assassins—the deceased’s own kin—Sadie emerges from the hospital with a new identity, scars that stretch far beneath the surface, and a single-minded resolve: she will share her faith in Jesus Christ with her beloved family. With an agonizing eternity hanging on the inevitable demise of each parent and sibling, Sadie must rely on her skills and insights as a trained killer-for-hire and find them before they disappear forever.

When a coded message linked to her childhood home surfaces, Agent James Way approaches Sadie to help decipher it. She accepts his offer, sacrificing her ability to pursue her family off the FBI radar and assuming a ‘normal’ life in exchange for confidential intel.

But putting her murderous past behind her isn’t as easy as changing her name; neither a ‘normal’ life nor her own presumed death can sever the ties to her blood-soaked history, especially the ties that insist she should have never left the hospital in the first place.

Dead and Buried is the second thrilling installment of the By My Own Betrayal series. Catch up on Sadie’s adventure with Book One, By My Own Betrayal.

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Content Warnings

Symptoms of ‘triggered’ post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health representation
Limited descriptions of gore and violence (PG-13)
No swearing (one use of “freaking” as an adjective)
No sexual content

More Details

Published February 2025 by:

Cydnie Trenholm Publishing

www.cydnietrenholm.com

ISBN (Ebook): 978-1-7773452-3-5

ISBN (Paperback): 978-1-7773452-2-8

No parts of this publication may be reproduced by any means (electronic, digital, mechanical, photocopying, recording, performance) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

Fairest Lord Jesus written by an unknown author; under public domain.

I Will Sing of My Redeemer written by Philip P. Bliss in 1876; under public domain.

Dead and Buried is a work of fiction. Although the novel is set in and references real places, all characters and events are purely fictitious and are in no way based upon real persons, either living or dead.

Tropes & Themes

Frequently-Asked-Questions:

How violent is it?

If it were a movie, it would be PG-13. This book follows in the footsteps of By My Own Betrayal in its topics of killing and death, though it focuses more on the movements of the act than literal gore. However, this book has more symbolism involving blood than the first one did. As such, there is a bit more description than the first, but it’s not graphic. There are mentions of blood pouring from wounds or covering a character’s hands, and there are a number of gunshots/explosions.

For what age range do you recommend this book?

This book is considered Young Adult/New Adult, meaning it is written with 16-25-year-olds in mind. This age range is based on the age of the main character (19) as well as some of the content (minimal violence, as well as topics of post-traumatic-stress disorder, anxiety, and depression; Dead and Buried dives more into the psychological struggles of the main character than By My Own Betrayal did). However, as its content is PG-13 equivalent, many 13-years-old readers have enjoyed this book, though they’ve noted this one feels “darker” than the first as well. This book has also been a hit with the ‘young-at-heart’ who enjoy upbeat, exciting action novels or mysteries.

I’ve read Christian books before that misrepresented mental health struggles. Is this one like that?

This book is well-researched and trauma-informed. One of the goals of this book was to represent the importance of healing, both physically and mentally. The main character doesn’t ‘pray her depression away’ (though she’d like to!), and her reactions within this book are drawn from the author’s research and personal experience with C-PTSD. Everyone’s experiences are different, and it would be impossible to give a single character every person’s particular ‘flavour’ of mental health, but this book strives to represent anxiety, depression, trauma, and/or chronic illness in a matter that encourages others in the love of Christ and helps people feel seen, not as a problem to be solved.

Dead and Buried (Book 2 of the By My Own Betrayal Series)

By Cydnie Trenholm

Available in Ebook and Paperback

Tropes & Themes

Frequently-Asked-Questions:

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