The Tears of Dark Water: Epic tale of conflict, redemption and common humanity - Couverture souple

“A fast-paced thriller that puts its humanitarian moral at the forefront.” —Kirkus Reviews

A powerhouse new novel of tragedy, vengeance and redemption from the internationally bestselling author of A Walk Across the Sun and The Garden of Burning Sand—electrifying and moving, The Tears of Dark Water is a tour de force and Corban Addison’s most powerful novel yet

November, 2011: Somali pirates hijack a sailboat in the Indian Ocean and take Americans Daniel Parker and his teenaged son, Quentin, as hostages. A tense standoff orchestrated by top US negotiator Paul Derrick ends in tragedy. The pirates are captured and extradited to stand trial in the United States, and a young man named Ismail is identified by his cohorts as the leader. Paul begins to suspect there is more to his story than zealotry and greed, but Ismail says little, fearing the truth will endanger the only person he has left in the world: his sister, Yasmin.

Derrick’s twin sister Megan, a criminal defense lawyer, takes Ismail’s case. Sharing her brother’s sense that there is a mystery to unravel, she begins an investigation that traces Ismail’s journey from Mogadishu to a Kenyan refugee camp to the large Somali immigrant community in Minneapolis.

Meanwhile, Quentin Parker’s mother, Vanessa, is wrestling with her future and her past, struggling to maintain hope in the midst of Quentin’s recovery and haunted by the letters Daniel sent her—one from every port—describing the love they had lost and might yet regain.

As the tension mounts, Ismail is desperate to find a way to save Yasmin’s future. But he must put everything on the line in order to tell the truth about the attack.

In his most ambitious and accomplished novel yet, Corban Addison has created a tale of pressing contemporary relevance, bringing together the compassionate storytelling, international scope and masterful orchestration of plot and suspense that have made his novels must-reads for fiction lovers around the world.

PRAISE FOR A WALK ACROSS THE SUN

“A pulse-revving novel with a serious message.” —O, THE OPRAH MAGAZINE

“A powerful first novel. . . . Searing and timely.” —TORONTO SUN

“A novel that is beautiful in its story and also important in its message. A Walk Across the Sun deserves a wide audience.” —JOHN GRISHAM

Daniel and Vanessa Parker are an American success story. He is a Washington, D.C. power broker, and she is a doctor with a thriving practice. But behind the 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 that the voyage he hopes will save them may destroy them instead.

Half a world away, on the lawless coast of Somalia, Ismail Ibrahim is plotting the rescue of his sister, Yasmin, from the man who murdered their father. Driven to crime by love and loyalty, he hijacks ships for ransom money. There is nothing he will not do to save her, even if it means taking innocent life.

Paul Derrick is the FBI's top hostage negotiator. His twin sister Megan, is a celebrated defense attorney. When Paul is called to respond to a hostage crisis at sea, he has no idea how far it will take them both into their traumatic past - or the chance it will give them to redeem the future.

Across continents and oceans, through storms and civil wars, their paths converge in a single, explosive moment. It is a moment that will test them, and break them, but that will also leave behind a glimmer of hope: that out of the ashes of tragedy the seeds of justice and reconciliation can grow, not only for themselves but also for Somalia itself.