Whitney has known she is different from other people since age seven. She can see someone’s impending fate through a dark cloud that hovers and grows above their heads. Whitney tries to save them all, but when she saves a bullied classmate, she soon learns no good deed goes unpunished in THE DARKNESS RISES by Stacy Stokes.
The only other person who can understand Whitney’s gift is her grandmother, who always warned her that others would not understand. Whitney always felt her gift was positive, but now she’s not so sure. She saved the boy who later opened fire at a high school football game, killing eight and injuring several others. No one knows she knew the shooter, Dwight, who shared with Whitney that he had been bullied by her boyfriend Kevin and other classmates. Now it is a year after the shooting, and Whitney has kept this haunting secret to herself. She has quit the dance team and broken up with Kevin. As the anniversary of the shooting draws near, Whitney receives a threat in her locker, and later her car’s windshield is covered with a red substance. When someone targets her grandmother, Whitney knows this person is deadly serious. Do they know Whitney’s secret? Do they want revenge? Whitney can’t even share her secrets with her best friend Marissa or Isaac, the new boy who showed up at the beginning of the school year. Can Whitney figure out who is threatening her, and can she finally share the secrets and guilt she’s been hiding for over a year?
THE DARKNESS RISES is a captivating and suspenseful story of doing the right thing while also triggering a terrible subsequent event. Whitney can save people, but what happens when the person she saves goes on to hurt others? This gripping story throws readers into a complex moral dilemma and plays out against the backdrop of a school that is grieving after suffering a school shooting. The premise is intriguing, and the pacing is spot-on. There is never a dull moment as we learn more about what happened that night and Whitney’s role in the events. Topics such as bullying, suicide, and school shootings are explored. There are several red herrings to keep readers guessing about the identity of the person stalking Whitney and plenty of scary events that keep the suspense high. Well-written and compulsively readable, you won't be able to put THE DARKNESS RISES down until the very end.
A gripping speculative thriller perfect for fans of Lauren Oliver and Ginny Myers Sain, about one girl with the power to see death before it happens—and the terrible consequences she faces when saving someone goes wrong.
SOMEONE WANTS REVENGE…
Whitney knows what death looks like. Since she was seven, she’s seen it hover over strangers’ heads in dark, rippling clouds. Sometimes she can save people from the darkness. Sometimes she can’t. But she’s never questioned if she should try. Until the unthinkable happens—and a person she saves becomes the perpetrator of a horrific school shooting.
Now Whitney will do anything to escape the memory of last year’s tragedy and the guilt that gnaws at her for her role in it. Even if that means quitting dance—the thing she loves most—and hiding her ability from her family and friends. But most importantly, no one can know what really happened last year.
Then Whitney finds an ominous message in her locker and realizes someone knows her secret. As the threats pile up, one thing becomes clear—someone wants payback for what she did. And if she’s going to survive the year, she must track down whoever is after her before it’s too late.
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