Darkroom
Authors: Joshua Graham
YOU SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH, AND THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE …
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, in her darkroom, 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, she confronts him about a dark secret he has kept—a secret that has devastated their family.
Her investigations lead her to her departed mother’s journal, which tells 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 cover off the human struggle for truth in a world imprisoned by lies.
Within weeks of its release, bestselling author
JOSHUA GRAHAM’S
debut novel,
Beyond Justice,
rose to the top of the Barnes & Noble ebook lists in the Legal Thriller and Christian Thriller categories. He was featured on
Suspense Magazine
’s Best of 2010 list alongside Scott Turow, Brad Thor, Ted Dekker, and Steven James. He lives with his family on the West Coast.
MEET THE AUTHORS, WATCH VIDEOS AND MORE AT
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COVER DESIGN BY FACEOUT STUDIO/CHARLES BROCK • COVER IMAGE FROM VEER
Praise for
Darkroom
“
Darkroom
comes complete with a great mystery, unearthed secrets, and beguiling adventure. Joshua Graham mines an emotional landscape through an entourage of fascinating characters. Read this one—and take a walk on the perilous side.”
—Steve Berry,
New York Times
bestselling author of
The Jefferson Key
“Mixing the end of the Vietnam War with a young woman’s paranormal visions of a murder in today’s New York, Graham has created a modern political thriller wrapped in a historical puzzle inside a tale of redemption. The short chapters, told from the point of view of the various characters, give it a cinematic feel and a breakneck pace.”
—
Author Magazine
“Bravo! Graham takes characters and puts them inside each other’s lives in such a way that it’s impossible to put his book down until the last word is read…. [His] power with words is absolutely incredible and paints one of the most powerful pictures I’ve ever seen, anywhere.”
—
Suspense Magazine
“A vivid retelling of historic events [that] bring the Vietnam War to life in alarming detail. If you like thrillers … then grab this book when it’s released. You’ll enjoy every minute of it.”
—
Rhodes Review
“A spellbinding and riveting tale of suspense with international flavor … Wrapped in authentic history, but woven into a tale of mystery and intrigue … full of twists and turns … this riveting tale will keep readers on edge. A book that I highly recommend.”
—
East County Magazine
“Graham takes us on a ride full of twists and turns in this emotionally charged quest to find the truth…. I actually found myself holding my breath at times and sympathizing with the characters, feeling outrage when they were wronged, hating the villains or even forgiving them. When it was all said and done, I didn’t feel like I had finished a book; I felt like I had been on a journey.”
—
The Top Shelf Book Reviews
“
Darkroom
is a twisted tale of conspiracies [that] moves at a frantic and suspenseful pace…. Mr. Graham immediately grabs hold of the reader with the tenacity of a pit bull and will not let go until you have read every last page and emerge exhausted and happily satiated from this astonishing ride…. I would not hesitate to recommend
Darkroom.
… You won’t be disappointed.”
—PsychoticState.net Book Reviews
“The intensity and heart-pounding thrills you’ll feel as you read each page [of
Darkroom
] will leave you breathless. Blending history with current events, Mr. Graham is a talented author who can wrap the reader in a cocoon of emotions, from bitterness to redemption, and leave the reader feeling as if they were in the story, as if they were the ones plotted against. A fantastic job!”
—Partners in Crime Book Reviews
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2012 by Joshua Graham
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Howard Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
First Howard Books trade paperback edition May 2012
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Designed by Davina Mock-Maniscalco
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Graham, Joshua.
Darkroom / Joshua Graham.
p. cm.
1. Photojournalists—Fiction. 2. Women journalists—Fiction. 3. Vietnam War, 1961–1975—Fiction. 4. War crimes—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3607.R3385D37 2012
813'.6—dc22
2011020222
ISBN 978-1-4516-5469-1
ISBN 978-1-4516-5477-6 (ebook)
Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible, public domain; the New King James Version, Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved; and THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV®, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica US, Inc.®. Used by permission.
For Katie, my bride, my muse, the mother of my children, and my best friend. On countless levels, this book would not exist without you.
Contents