Join novelist and psychotherapist Verlin Darrow for a reading from his latest book, The Brighter the Light, the Darker the Shadow. He will share a brief excerpt and dive into the novel’s development, exploring its psychological and spiritual themes as well as the personal experiences that shape his fiction.
In The Brighter the Light, the Darker the Shadow, Darrow explores the collision of spiritual ideals with the criminal justice system. The novel follows Kade Tobin, who needs every bit of his wisdom as the leader of a rural spiritual community to remain true to his core values as murders pile up around him. Drawn into helping to solve the mystery by a sheriff's detective, Kade sorts through the array of quirky seekers on the community's land, only to end up as the defendant in a suspense-filled trial. He struggles to maintain a stance of kindness while he endures bullies in the jail, a vengeful DA, and the pending judgment of twelve strangers. As the prosecution parades witness after witness, the mounting evidence against Kade becomes alarmingly damning. If he were a juror, Kade believes he might vote to convict himself at this stage of his trial. But he also trusts the universe. Kade remains confident that a force greater than himself--and the justice system--has other plans for him. Or does it?
About the Author:
Verlin Darrow is currently a psychotherapist who lives with his psychotherapist wife in La Selva Beach, California. They diagnose each other as necessary. Verlin is a former professional volleyball player (in Italy), unsuccessful country-western singer/songwriter, import store owner, and assistant guru in a small, benign spiritual organization. Before bowing to the need for higher education, a much younger Verlin ran a punch press in a sheetmetal factory, drove a taxi, worked as a night janitor, shoveled asphalt on a road crew, and installed wood flooring. He missed being blown up by Mt. St. Helens by ten minutes, survived the 1985 Mexico City earthquake (8 on the Richter scale), and (so far) has successfully weathered his own internal disasters. Verlin is the author of seven novels, including Kinney’s Quarry, Blood and Wisdom, and Murder for Liar.
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