About the book:
After scattering her mother's ashes in Vietnam, photojournalist Xandra Carrick comes home to New York to rebuild her life and career. When she experiences supernatural visions that reveal atrocities perpetrated by American soldiers during the Vietnam War, she finds herself entangled in a forty-year-old conspiracy that could bring the nation into political turmoil. Launching headlong into a quest to learn the truth from her father, Peter Carrick, a Pulitzer Prize Laureate who served as an embedded photographer during the war, Xandra confronts him about a dark secret he has kept--one that has devastated their family.
Her investigations lead her to her departed mother's journal, which tell of love, spiritual awakening, and surviving the fall of Saigon.
Pursued across the continent, Xandra comes face-to-face with powerful forces that will stop at nothing to prevent her from revealing the truth. But not before government agencies arrest her for murder, domestic terrorism and an assassination attempt on the newly elected president of the United States.
Darkroom is a riveting tale of suspense that tears the covers off the human struggle for truth in a world imprisoned by lies.
Her investigations lead her to her departed mother's journal, which tell of love, spiritual awakening, and surviving the fall of Saigon.
Pursued across the continent, Xandra comes face-to-face with powerful forces that will stop at nothing to prevent her from revealing the truth. But not before government agencies arrest her for murder, domestic terrorism and an assassination attempt on the newly elected president of the United States.
Darkroom is a riveting tale of suspense that tears the covers off the human struggle for truth in a world imprisoned by lies.
My take on this book:
While Xandra Carrick isn't a Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist like her dad Peter she still hasn't done to bad for herself. At the age of 27 she has won several awards and holds a great job with the New York Times. After she and her father take a trip to Vietnam to spread her mother's ashes, she comes back to New York but soon realizes something isn't quite right when she starts to develop she sees much more in the scenes than there should be, glimpses of death. What is going on and why is Xandra having these visions? When she decides to get answers she will uncover more than she could have ever imagined.
The author did an amazing job of capturing my attention from the beginning. The author effortlessly transitions from past to present to allow us a true picture of what is going on. Mr. Graham's attention to detail easily brought the scenes to life making me feel as if I was right in the midst of the story. I found that seeing things thru the eyes of several characters added a realistic element to the story, and the use of Xandra's mother's diary entries added another layer as well. Overall a fast paced story, with several twists that provides a satisfying ending.
If your a fan of fast paced, suspense filled stories that will keep you on the edge of your seat, then your going to love "Darkroom" by Joshua Graham. This is the first book that I have read by Mr. Graham and I am hooked! I will certainly be reading more of his work.
About Joshua Graham:
WINNER OF 2011 INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARDS, Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble #1 bestselling author Joshua Graham’s novel BEYOND JUSTICE is taking the world by storm, one reader at a time. Many of his readers blame him for sleepless nights, arriving to work late, neglected dishes and family members, and not allowing them to put the book down.
Suspense Magazine listed BEYOND JUSTICE in its BEST OF 2010, alongside titles by Scott Turrow, Ted Dekker, Steven James and Brad Thor.
His short story THE DOOR’S OPEN won the HarperCollins Authonomy Competition (Christmas 2010.)
Publishers Weekly described BEYOND JUSTICE as: “A riveting legal thriller…breaking new ground with a vengeance…demonically entertaining and surprisingly inspiring.”
Joshua Graham grew up in Brooklyn, NY where he lived for the better part of 30 years. He holds a Bachelor and Master’s Degree and went on to earn his doctorate from Johns Hopkins University. During his time in Maryland, he taught as a professor at Shepherd College (WV), Western Maryland College, and Columbia Union College (MD).
Today he lives with his beautiful wife and children in Southern California. Several of Graham’s short fiction works have been published by Pocket Books and Dawn Treader Press.
Writing under the pen name Ian Alexander, Graham debuted with his first Epic Fantasy novel ONCE WE WERE KINGS, an Amazon #1 Bestseller in multiple categories and Award-Winning Finalist in the SciFi/Fantasy category of The USA “Best Books 2011″ Awards, as well as an Award-Winning Finalist in the Young Adult Fiction category of The USA “Best Books 2011″ Awards, and an Award Winner in the 2011 Forward National Literature Awards in the Teen/Young Adult category. ONCE WE WERE KINGS is available in ebook and hardcover editions.
Look for his next Suspense/Thriller DARKROOM (Simon & Schuster/Howard Books) to be released May 1, 2012!
Connect with Josh at:
www.joshua-graham.com
www.facebook.com/j0shuagraham
www.twitter.com/J0shuaGraham(less)
Look for his next Suspense/Thriller DARKROOM (Simon & Schuster/Howard Books) to be released May 1, 2012!
Connect with Josh at:
www.joshua-graham.com
www.facebook.com/j0shuagraham
www.twitter.com/J0shuaGraham(less)
Thank you so much for this kind review of DARKROOM, which is available for Kindle
ReplyDeleteand Barnes & Noble/Nook
You might be interested in a short blog post I recently did regarding some inspiration for this book: Here
http://networkedblogs.com/wT9LD
If you'd like free sample chapters, please come to my facebook page: http://on.fb.me/joshpage
I'd love to hear from everyone, so please feel free to reach out to me on facebook, my blog, or twitter: @j0shuaGraham
This is one of those stories that I had to carry with me everywhere; reading it whenever I had a break from work, housework, and even forsook tv to keep up with what was happening. I appeciated the struggles that the character had to go through to make his final decisions, especially in the area of forgiveness which any of us would have to consider under the circumstances in the novel. I was brought to tears as I read the conclusion. It was hard to believe that Joshua is a new writer (I kept wanting to key in John Grisham to find him), and I look forward to many more books ahead.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Portugal. I'm so glad you enjoyed my book and hope you'll like my other titles as well.
ReplyDeleteJoshua Graham
Thanks for dropping by Mr. Graham, I really have to agree with Portugal, this was a compelling read!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Brenda! I'm so honored to hear that so many have enjoyed my book. Please keep in touch, there's always another book in the works!
ReplyDeleteJosh