Book Title: "Darkroom”
Author: Joshua Graham
Published By: Howard Books
Age Recommended: 18+
Reviewed By: Kitty Bullard
Raven Rating: 5

Review: A highly suspenseful read that shows another side to the Vietnam War. The intrigue and mystery in this novel will excite the reader and keep them interested long after the story is over.
Wielding a sense of the supernatural this book packs a gallant punch! ( )

Xandra Carrick is an award winning photojournalist for the New York Times. At the age of twenty-seven, she's following in the footsteps of her father, Peter Carrick, a Pulitzer Prize photojournalist who was embedded with the US Army in Vietnam during the war.

Xandra and Peter travel to her mother's birthplace, Vietnam, to honor her dying wish by scattering her ashes. While in Vietnam, Xandra takes pictures using an old camera that Peter had used during the Vietnam War. Upon returning home to New York, she develops the film and sees disturbing paranormal visions of images of death. Stunned by the visions, she uses the camera to take pictures at a local park near her apartment. When she develops the pictures from the park, she sees a body in the pond, so she calls the police to report what she saw in her pictures, but she finds herself arrested for the murder of a young woman, a student at Juilliard. Out on bail, Xandra leaves NY for California in search of answers to the disturbing visions that she saw in the pictures, and she knows that the answers can only come from her father. Can Xandra solve the mystery behind the disturbing visions from Vietnam? Was her father part of a conspiracy while he was stationed in Vietnam? Can she prove that she is innocent of the murder she is accused of, or will someone stop her from revealing the secrets and truth that have long been buried?

Darkroom is a riveting political mystery suspense thriller that will have the reader sitting on the edge of their seat. The story is set in alternating time periods between the present and flashbacks to the Vietnam War, and intriguingly narrated with alternating first person perspectives by different characters. With vivid descriptive scenes and attention to detail, the author transports the reader back to the historic Vietnam War era of political conspiracies, lies and deceptions, atrocities and horrors of war, murder and paranormal happenings.

The author provides a cast of realistic, complex, strong and intriguing variety of characters, and masterly interweaves their individual stories into one heck of a compelling and powerful story. These characters are downright fascinating, and I thought that their varying narrative perspectives provided a realistic element to the storyline.

This intense fast paced suspense thriller is jammed packed with enough action, intrigue, twists and turns that will keep the reader captivated, holding their breath and guessing until the surprising conclusion. If you fancy an intense political thriller with a mixture of family discord and romance thrown in, then Darkroom is the novel for you!

Disclaimer: I received the book from the author's publisher in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event.

Virtual Book Tour Event: On Wednesday, June 20, 2012, in association with Pump Up Your Book! Virtual Book Publicity Tours, author Joshua Graham participated in a virtual book tour event with an Author Guest Post on Jersey Girl Book Reviews.
http://jerseygirlbookreviews.blogspot.com/2012/06/author-guest-post-joshua-graha...

http://jerseygirlbookreviews.blogspot.com/2012/06/darkroom-by-joshua-graham.html ( )

Book Giveaway & Review: We’re excited to be a stop on the virtual book tour today for Darkroom by award-winning author Joshua Graham, and to host a giveaway for this heart-stopping thriller. One of the things that drew me to this novel is its connection to the Vietnam War, something I haven’t read much about. I don’t know if that’s because I just haven’t run across novels that talk about Vietnam or if it’s because that war is still too much of a sore spot to write about. No matter the reason, I was glad to find this one. Do you like a non-stop thriller that interweaves the not so distant past with the present? One lucky reader is going to win a finished copy of Darkroom! Enter at http://popcornreads.com/?p=4035. ( )

I became interested in this book mainly because it revolved around Vietnam. I'm a lover of all things War & Literature, so I assumed this book would fit right into my favorite genre. Now, there's not a lot about war or Vietnam in the story, but that was fine with me as the plot unraveled and gave way to something far more than I expected. Not only was this novel uplifting and inspiring on a spiritual level (personally), but it was adventurous, a thriller, a story which literally kept me on the edge of my seat. The one and only thing I had a problem with was that I wish we heard more from the President's wife at the end of the book. Putting that aside, however, this is one of the best books I've read this year, and I sincerely hope to read another by Joshua Graham soon. I've already gotten my mother started reading the book, and I might even convince my father to read it. I truly think any gender can enjoy this book and sympathize with not just the main character, but the emotions every character feels and the events that challenge them. ( )

To me, Darkroom, is a very poignant and emotional read. I really felt for Xandra Carrick, not only for her loss of her mother but also her secretive father. Darkroom is told in two different times, the present and during the Vietnam war. After going with her father Peter, to Vietnam, to scatter her mothers ashes. She had taken some pictures and when she got back home as she was developing these photos, she sees images that are disturbing to her. What she sees in these photo's takes her to a park in New York where she saw the body of a young woman floating in the water, dead. She soon finds herself arrested for the murder of the young woman because she knows things that only the murderer would know. Xandra is released on bail and flees to investigate why these things are happening to her. A Senator, running as an independent for president, is one of the men Xandra finds herself investigating. He had condoned the massacre that happened in Vietnam but does all he can to keep his involvement from coming out. What ensues is a story taken from the news at the time, an exciting, suspenseful thriller that had me eagerly turning the pages until the surprising ending. Political intrigue, atrocities of war and a bit of the supernatural makes Darkroom a very engrossing story. I highly recommend it. I intend to find more works by Joshua Graham to add to my increasing library. ( )