Gripping from beginning to end: My review of Darkroom by @J0shuaGraham @Howard_Books

ABOUT THE BOOK

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.

MY REVIEW

Dare I say that this is one of the best suspense books I've read so far this year?

Joshua Graham has a masterful grasp of the English language, using it to execute a sizzling tale that grabbed me from the first chapter and catapulted me through to the fantastic conclusion. His descriptions are so vivid that the scenes played like a movie in my mind, and he expertly moved from the different viewpoints of the characters to unveil the plot at a rapid pace. Darkroom is absolutely action-packed, drawing upon my favourite plot elements of supernatural occurrences, haunting secrets, political maneuvering, murder, conspiracies, and spirituality, all tangled up in one explosive ride. Although I have read other novels where I found the flashing between different character's first-person narratives to be utterly confusing, Graham uses such a technique to expert effect here, and I didn't find this at all detracted from the story.

As I was devouring the story, I kept asking myself why this is the first time I've read a Joshua Graham book? Well, I will certainly be changing that in the future, because the author has earned a place on my "must read" list. The story is entertaining, the characters are complex and intriguing, and I turned the last page looking forward to seeing more of Xandra Carrick in the coming books from this talented author.

Well done, Joshua Graham! Darkroom is a highly recommended read, and receives 5 out of 5 stars.

Book has been freely provided courtesy of the publisher, Howard Books, for the purposes of this unbiased review.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joshua Graham's debut novel, Beyond Justice, won the 2011 International Book Awards and was a bestseller on BarnesandNoble.com and Amazon.com. Graham grew up in Brooklyn, New York where he lived for the better part of thirty years. He holds a Bachelor and Master’s Degree from Juilliard and a Doctorate from Johns Hopkins University. He has performed as a soloist and principal cellist domestically and internationally. During his tenure 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. Under different pen names, his short fiction works have been published by Pocket Books and Dawn Treader Press.