SUMMARY: 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.
REVIEW: When this book first arrived, I was very hesitant to read it. While the description sounded interesting, I wasn't sure I wanted to read a book about hostages, pirates and families falling apart. But, after opening its pages and reading the first chapter or two, my interest was cautiously peaked. The author does a marvelous job keeping all the characters and stories engaging. The depth of the characters and the story lines still reverberate through my mind, weeks after the book was finished. Hope and restoration are the recurring themes throughout the book. Each character is holding on to hope that their families can be restored and that the situation will resolve itself. They also believe restoration will occur, even very slowly in most predicaments, in their families and their own lives.
Now, I do need to state that this is not a Christian faith-based novel. A couple of characters pray at different times but it seems to be a last minute "Oh, I should pray" but not looking to God for direction or peace. Ismail and his family are devout Muslims. Their practice of Islam is prominent and at times central to their story. There are a couple of curse words and, towards the end of the novel, a character mentions sleeping with another without the benefit of marriage.
This novel is gripping and very intriguing, one that I recommend cautiously but without hesitation.
This book was provided by Fiction Guild for review without compensation.
Corban Addison is the author of two international bestselling novels, A Walk Across the Sun and The Garden of Burning Sand, which address some of today's most pressing human rights issues. An attorney, activist, and world traveler, Addison is a supporter of numerous humanitarian causes, including the abolition of modern slavery, gender-based violence, and HIV/AIDS. He lives with his wife and children in Virginia. He can be found online at corbanaddison.com, Facebook: Corban Addison and on Twitter: @CorbanAddison.
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