Lelia Freeman hasn't had an easy life and
the broad, sweeping arc of her experience sets up the Dark
Side of Valor, a debut suspense novel by Alicia Singleton. The first half of the
book delves into Lelia's childhood, where she is raised by an alcoholic, single
mother. When Lelia turns sixteen, she runs away, determined to make a better
life for herself. Setting off from New York to Los Angeles, she lives on the
streets, vowing to avert the lure of drugs and prostitution. She survives,
fending for herself, ultimately empowered by congregants of a Christian church
who encourage her to help other homeless runaways.
The novel then fast-forwards ten years.
Courageous Lelia has been transformed into a prominent child advocate. When
Washington D.C. appoints her to a task force in search of orphans in the
war-torn African Sudan, Lelia
sets off only to discover the greater political implications of her mission.
Things take a dangerous turn when the corrupt president of the Sudan takes
Lelia prisoner. Can Elijah Dune, a mercenary grappling with skeletons from his
own past, rescue Lelia from a deadly fate?
Singleton has created authentic characters
and has embroiled them inside a chilling, complicated story. As rats crawl
along tenement baseboards, readers will shiver and feel the palpable depths of
predatory evil--and compassion--that lurks inside the hearts of many who cross
Lelia's path. The human instinct toward triumph and striving to do the right
thing, despite personal cost, are the major threads running through this
haunting, suspenseful novel.
Dark Side of Valor by Alicia Singleton
Strebor Books (A Division of Simon & Schuster), $15, Trade Paper, 9781593093853, 352 pp
Publication Date: February 7, 2012
Please note: This review is a reprint and is being posted
(in a slightly different form) with the permission of Shelf
Awareness. To read this review on Shelf Awareness: Reader's Edition
(2/17/12), click HERE.