Author: Corban Addison
Hardcover: 439 pages
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published date: October 2015
FTC: Received to review from publisher
Wow. I loved this book. One of my favorite things about getting review books is finding and loving stories and authors that I normally would never have checked out. Corban Addison's The Tears of Dark Water is one of these. I loved his writing and the story is one that will stick with you for a long long time. This is a must read.
Back of the book:
Daniel and Vanessa Parker are an American success story. He is a Washington, DC, power broker, and she is a physician with a thriving practice. But behind the gilded facade, their marriage is a shambles, and their teenage son, Quentin, is self-destructing. In desperation, Daniel dusts off a long-delayed dream a sailing trip around the world. Little does he know, the voyage he hopes will save them may destroy them instead.
Half a world away on the lawless coast of Somalia, Ismail Adan Ibrahim is living a life of crime in violation of everything he was raised to believe except for the love and loyalty driving him to hijack ships for ransom and plot the rescue of his sister, Yasmin, from the man who murdered their father. There is nothing he will not do to save her, even if it means taking innocent lives.
Paul Derrick is the FBI s top hostage negotiator. His twin sister, Megan, is a celebrated defense attorney. They have reached the summit of their careers by savvy, grit, and a secret determination to escape the memory of the day their family died. When Paul is dispatched to handle a hostage crisis at sea, he has no idea how far it will take him and Megan into the past or the chance it will give them to redeem the future.
Across continents and oceans, through storms and civil wars, the paths of these individuals converge in a single, explosive moment. It is a moment that will test them and break them, but it will also leave behind an unexpected glimmer of hope that out of the ashes of tragedy and misfortune, the seeds of justice and reconciliation can grow.
My thoughts:
There are so many characters and relationships in this novel that can be explored. Corban Addison has multiple characters narrate to really get you sucked into the story. First there's the failing relationship but possibly hopeful reconciliation between Daniel and Vanessa Parker. It's one of those marriages that probably look perfect in the family photo but in reality is a crumbling mess. Quentin is their only child and is in the throes of serious self-destruction. I found it absolutely awesome that Daniel felt that his son and their relationship was so important that while the family was well off, they did make sacrifices for father and son to travel and bond. But of course, my two favorite characters were Ismail, the Somalian pirate and Paul, the FBI negotiator. Ismail is awesomely portrayed not as a terrorist, pirate, or ethnic stereotype but as a sympathetic character who's situation and plight are almost unfathomable to much of the Western world. Paul Derrick's character makes me wish this story was made into a movie. He's one of those characters that has me thinking who would be cast to play his character.
I am going to start following Corban Addison as an author and check out more of his novels. The writing is superb, the story absorbing, and the characters moving. I dare you not to get emotionally involved in this story. Dare you not to shove this book on someone else to read. I'm keeping this one to share with my husband.
Side note: Just read on Corban Addison's Goodreads site that The Tears of Dark Water was listed as John Grisham's favorite reads of 2015. Very cool!
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