A Darkened Room

A Darkened Room:

Within the darkness of a lonely cabin, behind the darkened walls filled with filth and molded food, someone enters hoping to find Winslow Sprague alive but what he sees will haunt him and readers as the author describes the scene. A shot gun is prominent and the kayak that his man used to traverse the shallow waters, is now waiting for his return. Knowing that he was going to tamper with the murder scene, he takes the shotgun and places somewhere hoping it will be found but not attribute to him. Why? The police lack the drive to realize that this is a murder does not suicide and the daughter of the deceased requested his help finding her father. This is what this man thrives on. It pumps up his blood and gives him energy and drive. Helping people is the goal of this security consultant that the police, FBI and most law enforcement members that have encountered him would like to bury him in a cell forever. But, Zack Taylor is smart and although he tampered with the murder scene at first he skates until he meets a clever FBI agent who takes down his defenses, knows the truth and yet, all she wants is his help in finding the gun, tells him that he’s out of the investigation but will he stay away as he realizes that two fake cops were inside the home of the daughter and things changed from this point on. What really happened to the dead man he found in the Darkened Room?

Told in first people narrative we get to know this man, hear his thoughts as he tries to unravel the mystery behind the murder before someone tries to permanently take him out. Winslow Sprague is the man who was found dead and Agent Selkirk is the one that has taken Taylor along for a long kayak ride, back to the cabin and then hoping he would mix out of the investigation but that would not be him.

Finding him at the funeral and seeing Theo who is protecting the daughter, things take on a strange turn when two people enter the viewing room, ignore the daughter and the mourners, why take a picture of the guests in the logbook. Added in another man is screaming that Winslow stole from his workers, Theo takes care of him and then things get more interesting as JC and Zack take a guided tour of the area where the funeral home is, the author gives us a geographical view of Maine and many small towns there as we understand why Zack finds this area so special but he won’t stop until he finds out who killed Winslow and why? Zack seems to be a prime target for the people who killed Winslow as we learn that the source are the Russians who wanted to take over and buy the paper company that he worked for. But Winslow was the bookkeeper and looking into their finances he realizes that something is not quite right, and he decides to steal the books, money and other written forms in order to be able to take them down before they get him. The Russians want the lumber from the paper company in order to make sure that the Japanese never see it. It’s a war between them. Someone put out the word that the sale might not happen because of what Winslow did. So, Zack gets jumped in a bar, but the FBI agent saved his tail. They figure if they buy the company that can delete or cut the amount that the Japanese get. Unfortunately, Zack must deal with the police every step of the way as they want to nail him big time, but will Casey Selkirk come to his aid and why?
Things get dangerous when the couple from the funeral home show up at Miriam’s door, Theo is blindsided, and she is kidnapped but Zack and Casey have to find a way to get her back before she is the next casualty as author Dale T. Phillips keeps us on the edge on pins and needles until the final reveal.

Zack is hired by the VP of the paper company to find the missing documents but each time they go to the cabin or even the victim’s home, either the police or someone else is there to take them down. The VP of the company and someone else are sacrificed and the documents have yet to be found. But Zack is tough, will not give up and in the end will he find what is needed to take down this organization?

Someone on the inside in the FBI is their leak as each time Zack is in a safe place how do they find him? Why is he the primary target? He is even told that he cannot stay in the motel he did before or welcome in any of the bars? Scary to say the least but he is tenacious, impetuous , loyal, tough and sort of honest to a fault as this one man powerful and loyal Security Consultant will stop at nothing to avenge the death of one man whose daughter only wants to prove her father’s innocence.

An explosive ending with an open-ended result as the author leaves us wondering the fate of both Zack and Casey’s futures. Will they stay close? Will he follow her to her new location? But first they both must survive the final encounters with those that have worked hard to take them both down. Where are the documents? What about the money within the duffel bags? What about the letter that Winslow wrote to Miriam, how does Zack handle that ? Honesty is a virtue except when it’s necessary to fudge the truth for the good of someone else. Power, greed, money laundering, countries dealing with a financial war, the Russians, the Japanese, the government and the state of Maine at the heart of this mystery/thriller as you the reader decide whether Zack did the right thing and whether he absolved the reputation of the man found in A DARKENED ROOM!

Fran Lewis: Just reviews