by Linda W. Rooks
Last September, as Hurricane Ian swept through Florida in the middle of the night, many of us in the state were suddenly plunged into a frightening darkness. We could hear the wind howling outside and the rain beating against the roof while an ominous darkness enveloped us as we waited out the storm’s fury.
As unsettling as the darkness was, however, because of listening to the news the night before, we knew beforehand the governor had positioned energy trucks in strategic places around the state that were ready to jump in to help restore electricity as soon as the hurricane passed. In the darkness, it was reassuring to know hope was not far off.
Throughout my life, I have discovered that God’s Word provides a similar assurance to us when darkness descends upon our lives. I’ve seen this not only when physical storms strike but also in personal crisis. When my marriage was restored after a three-year separation, when a beloved family member was healed after years of drug addiction, when God provided for my family when we went for a year without a paycheck, I’ve experienced the truth of God’s promise to us in Romans 8:28, “All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (NKJV). When we grope through times of hopelessness and despair, but continue to look to God and seek out His purposes, we can know that whatever darkness we are experiencing, God has promised to work it for good in our lives and in His larger story.
While this is a theme I talk a lot about in my nonfiction books, it’s a theme I also want readers to see in my new suspense thriller as well. Pieces of Dark, Pieces of Light is a story—just as each of our lives is a story. When we’re in the middle of the story—whether fiction or real life—we don’t know exactly how it will turn out. Sometimes the story takes us into a dark time. Other times we walk in the light. It’s like we’re walking across a puzzle that’s only partially complete. As we tiptoe through the pieces, stepping from one piece to another, things look fragmented.
In Pieces of Dark, Pieces of Light, I want to share the hope I’ve found in life by showing readers how God actually pulls all these pieces together in unexpected ways, using those dark and broken times in our lives to expand on the happier ones, so that together they create an amazingly beautiful picture of grace and hope. And I want people to gain an eternal perspective through the drama of story so they understand the importance of the choices we make in troubled times and how the decisions we make from a heart of faith might one day have a life-changing impact on others in the future.
Pieces of Dark, Pieces of Light is a thrilling story that takes place against a backdrop of international tension and personal crisis. When the story begins, it’s 2052, and the charismatic diplomat Janssen LaMarche appears to be the answer to a world crisis when weapons of mass destruction are discovered in the country of Tajikistan. But the situation deteriorates when Janssen’s nagging health problems escalate into the ravages of a fatal disease, requiring him to travel back in time where an unknown fate and family secrets await him.
As often happens in real life, his dire circumstances begin to entangle his family. The women in his life face unexpected dangers, and his sister Jenna must contend with unwelcome encounters with her cheating ex-husband. In the confusion, terrorists come closer to seizing the weapons, and the darkness deepens.
While the story begins in the future, it also reaches back to the past where family secrets are uncovered, revealing how the decisions of past generations can affect those in the future in unexpected ways, not only in their own immediate family, but across cultures and continents as well.
Even as the darkness grows and the characters grope for answers, however, a small thread of hope weaves through the story, gathering both pieces of light and dark together in a compelling journey in time. This creates an exquisite demonstration of God’s perfect design and the enigma of how both the dark and light times in our lives can work together to produce a brilliant picture of light when we trust God for the outcome.
Isaiah 50:10 says, “Who walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely upon his God” (NKJV).
In her debut suspense thriller, Pieces of Dark, Pieces of Light, Linda W. Rooks detours from her three earlier books, award winning Fighting for Your Marriage while Separated, Broken Heart on Hold and The Bunny Side of Easter, to dive into a futuristic world of international politics and time travel where adventure and mystery reign, but hope remains king. Over a hundred of Linda’s writings have appeared in publications across the U.S. She has appeared in numerous TV, radio and podcast interviews across North America. Find Linda at lindarooks.com.