The Tears of Dark Water by Corban Addison

The Tears of Dark Water by Corban Addison

Daniel Parker sets in motion a long standing dream to sail around the world, in an attempt to bond with his troubled son, Quentin.  He leaves his wife, Vanessa and their failing marriage at home, hoping somehow the journey will lead them both toward mending their differences. 

After a rest in the Seychelles, Daniel and Quentin discuss sailing into the vast Indian Ocean, a playground for Somali pirates.  Quentin, who in Daniel's eyes has grown so much while at sea, refuses to give in to fear.  Daniel feels proud of the man his son has become and agrees to set sail into the unknown.  During the night, Ismail and his band of pirates board The Renaissance, taking Daniel and Quentin hostage. 

Paul, the government's top negotiator is called into action.  From an aircraft carrier, the communication to save the Americans begins.  Each chapter of this novel is told from the point of view of a different character, Daniel, Vanessa, and Paul.  As the story progresses, we hear from Ismail, his sister Yazmin, and Paul's sister Megan, a high powered lawyer who defends Ismail in the American courts. 

The Tears of Dark Water is a beautifully and expertly constructed story. This is not the kind of book I would normally have selected on my own, so I am grateful for the ARC I received.  I could not put this book down. It has everything I look for in a good book, suspense, tension, and emotion.  The Tears of Dark Water is intense to say the least.  It's not an easy beach read.  It requires an investment of heart and commitment.  The pages turn quickly as the novel taps into all that makes us human, grabs our hearts and refuses to let go.  I loved it.

The Invisible Girls by Sarah Thebarge

The Invisible Girls by Sarah Thebarge

Thank you to Netgalley and Faith Words for my advance reading copy.

Publication Date:  April 16, 2013

Sarah's story is quite incredible really.  At 27 she is diagnosed with a highly aggressive form of breast cancer.  At the brink of a promising future as a physician's assistant, newly engaged to the love of her life, discovering her passion for writing, Sarah's world comes crashing down around her.  Her struggle to put the pieces back together leads her to Portland, Oregon where by chance she lands in the arms of a family of Somali immigrants. 

Actually they land in her arms and who needs who more is the story's question.  Poor, not understanding the language or culture in America, it is practically impossible for the mother to navigate the never ending red tape of the welfare system.  Sarah enters a world she knows nothing about and tries to change things by bringing food, teaching the girls proper hygiene, taking them out to play.  Until one day they suddenly move to Seattle into what they consider a more stable safety net of other Somali immigrants.

A piece of Sarah's story was her dream to become a medical journalist.  I felt the writing lacked alot of that passion.  She spoke of the girl's clothing, the Somali dress, yet I had trouble imagining how they might look in their colorful and dirty native dress among the jeans and T-shirts of America.  Sarah wrote that the children were constantly getting her own clothes dirty when they came close.  And yet I have no real description in my mind of how any of them looked.  And then I recalled a scene when Sarah's parent's sent her off to college in a dress from the Goodwill that was four sizes too big.

For different reasons, Sarah and her Somali family had learned how to blend in to remain safe and secure in a big and scary world.  Finding each other put them on a path out of the cloak of darkness.  That's why they call themselves The Invisible Girls.   My bet is they are invisible no more.