The Tears of Dark Water by Corban Addison
Published by Harper Collins on October 13th 2015
Genres: Christian, Fiction, General, International Mystery & Crime, Mystery & Detective, Suspense, Thrillers
Pages: 464
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 façade, 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.
First of all, I have to tell everyone this book is not my typical read. Not only are the topics out of my usual preferences, but I start screaming “hokey” the minute I hear about the whole “pirate, intrigue, mystery” thing. I am honestly so glad I was able to step outside my usual reading box on this one! This great book would have been one that I would have missed out on reading if I hadn’t expanded my choices, that’s for sure! My hat is off to you, Mr. Corban Addison for a fantastic book filled with intrigue, mystery, romance, realism, loss, love, devotion, forgiveness, compassion, and so much more! I may even venture into reading your other books thanks to this eye opening experience!
Mr. Addison does a fantastic job at his story telling in The Tears of Dark Water. The plot is – in a nutshell – about modern day piracy with people’s lives being torn apart and cultures clashing. It’s about terrorism, which tragically, is in the newspaper and has become part of our everyday lives. It’s about the United States government versus – well – “them”. In The Tears of Dark Water, we read about human needs, different cultures and religions, the bonds of families, and ultimately about justice and truth.
We begin the book learning about Daniel and Vanessa Parker, who are a successful lawyer and doctor, respectively. They have a 17 year old son, Quentin, who is at the difficult teenage stage causing trouble at school and in their lives. In the hopes of reconnecting with Quentin, Daniel plans a world sailing trip on the family yacht, Renaissance. Daniel also hopes that Vanessa will join them since their slowly fading marriage is in desperate need of repair and restoration. Vanessa opts to stay at home, in Washington DC, working in her medical practice, so Daniel and Quentin head on the trip alone.
As Daniel and Quentin travel on the yacht, Daniel continues to write to Vanessa encouraging her to join them at various ports along the way. Their trip is doing Daniel and Quentin’s relationship a complete restoration and they have gotten pretty far on their trip, until they get the coast of Somalia. That’s where the pirates come into the story: A band of pirates hijacks the yacht and its two sailors, Captain Daniel first mate, Quentin. The leader is Isamil, who is a highly intelligent young man, who has experienced his own sadness in life. He has seen violence and murder, having even been kidnapped himself. He knows what a family torn apart looks like and is desperate to reconnect with his sister, Yasmin, who disappeared years earlier. His only link to Yasmin all this time has been a mobile phone she has managed to keep secret from those around her.
The US employs the services of hostage negotiator, Paul Derrick who, along with the Navy and the SEALS, are deployed to rescue Daniel and Quentin, and to stop the seven pirates who have now become their hostage takers. Everyone gets involved, including Daniel’s parents, and Vanessa feels her heartstrings pull toward the love she feels for Daniel. I’m not going to spill the beans here, but I’m going to tell you I found the book to be quite believable. I was intrigued while learning about the Quran as it was quoted several times throughout the book. These diverse elements and characters come together in The Tears of Dark Water and the author shares each character’s different pasts while weaving the characters into this one single traumatic event. I loved how the plot twisted and turned, and we come to love and hate the characters as they all seem to be real people and the story really comes to life. Be ready to be moved when you read this book.
If you want to connect with Corban Addison:
Corban Addison is the author of three international bestselling novels, A Walk Across the Sun, The Garden of Burning Sand, and The Tears of Dark Water, which address some of today’s most pressing human rights issues. He holds degrees in law and engineering from the University of Virginia and California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. An attorney, activist, and world traveler, he is a supporter of numerous causes, including the abolition of modern slavery, gender-based violence, and HIV/AIDS. He lives with his wife and two children in Virginia.
Overall, I highly recommend Corban Addison’s The Tears of Dark Water. On a reading scale of 1 to 5, I give this book a 5, with 5 being the best! It’s a book that will keep you flipping pages in the hopes that everything will be resolved. (Again, no spoiler here. Read the book to see how it ends.)
I received a copy of this book without cost as part of the Fiction Guild Team Challenge in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.
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