A young woman faces deadly consequences when she moves to the south and uncovers a family secret.
A young woman faces deadly consequences when she moves to the south and uncovers a family secret. Moving to Atlanta, GA a day after she conceived the thought Zenith Chargrin learns a hellish lesson about doing what’s right thing and doing what’s best. Seduced by tales of southern charm, bright lights, unlimited opportunities Zenith put her plan into action to find a job, reconnect with her roots, have a baby by insemination and live comfortably. Zenith was well educated, action-oriented, and she was always landed exciting, high-paying jobs. Working for BIMSTAR Industries one day after arriving in Atlanta seemed like it was the makings of her dream-come-true. Zenith’s quick ascent up the corporate ladder did not come without deeply disdainful opposition. Working with Zenith’s new manager and his wife set Zenith on nightmarish downward path that could only be matched with a dark justice.
Excerpt
Oh, my God, where is my baby?
With a prayer caught between my faith and my fear I closed my eyes and gently patted my right hand over to the edge of the bed. Bereft of hope, my fear-stricken, rigid body slumped like a time-enhanced withering flower. Paralyzed by terror that pervaded me and the guilt of my plausible neglect, I sat quietly listening for any sign of life from my newborn baby boy. I tried desperately to calm my heartbeat and breathing so that I could listen harder to the quiet timbre of the room. In one excruciating moment I thought I heard someone breathe next to me. Then I heard it at the foot of the bed. In the next moment I was hearing it over by the door. I scooted to the edge of the bed and stood slowly.
Disparaging moans and cries filled the room. The cries were so foreign and distressing they sounded like a wounded animal. In a moment of clarity I realized the cries were my own. I knew they were my soul's expression and release from the torment that roiled inside of me. I opened my mouth to speak but unintelligible desperation lurched out in decibels so loud that it made the glass pitcher rumble and teeter on the edge of the dresser and the thin glass plate on the nightstand rattle before it fell and shattered.
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Reviews for "Dark Justice"
Reviewed by Georgia Williams
11/29/2018
I will start by saying that you must read the book to the end. At first I wanted to put it down because what Zenith experienced in the beginning was horrifying and so graphically written thatI began to form very intense images and feelings as I read the first few chapters. This is a testament to Amanda Grihm's writing. I stood up and cheered as I read the last words of the story because there were so many triumphant things that had taken place in those last few words. Amanda Grihm is a truly excellent writer. I expect some day soon to see her name and her works celebrated on a best sellers’ lists.
Amanda Grihm should be read by every psychiatrist because she writes what a psychotic break must feel like. It may be because of the climate of the country and the division we’re experiencing today that I focus on the civil rights aspects of Dark Justice. When I finished Dark Justice I felt that I had a better understanding of how to interpret the divide in the country today. Some people willing to do anything to others (even kill them off) just to hold on to some old notion of ill-gotten privilege while others pull together to do the right thing even if it means breaking rank and rules.
In the beginning Zenith Chagrin wakes up to a nightmare. She brought her baby home from the hospital weeks after giving birth because he was premature only to wake from a deep sleep to voices taunting her about the whereabouts of her newborn baby. When she tries to run to her son she is grabbed by a stranger before she can turn on the lights.
The struggle Zenith endures to get to her baby is heart-wrenching. When the lights come on, Zenith sees that the two strangers are not strangers at all, they were Kenneth Deorty and his wife Sue. They worked with her at BIMSTAR. Kenneth was her manager and Sue worked for Zenith. They worked side-by-side on a daily basis. Sue, unskilled but too privileged to earn a living and Kenneth, who feels entitled to promotion without being qualified and who is also trapped by a family secret that he’d be willing to kill to keep quite.
As I read Dark Justice I was struck by the irony of the immorality of the people who acted against Zenith as if they had a right to judge her for being pregnant without being married. I not only felt what Amanda Grihm wrote, I experienced everything that she wrote. I felt the dark justice very deeply by the end of the story. I found myself cheering out loud. I could feel the dread and darkness that had to fill Blacks in the darkest days of Deep South. I also felt empowered by the humanity and support of those Whites who fought for Zenith knowing that her life, quality of life, and mental wellness was at stake and that their jobs and lifestyles could be at stake for showing their support for her.
After waking from that nightmarish experience of being shot in the head, Zenith found herself driving on a highway without a memory. This is when I realized how well Amanda Grihm was able to write feelings from experience. We all have times when what a person says makes you feel like some action has been taken place, like someone saying something so harsh that you feel like you’ve been slapped. The first part of the Dark Justice expresses the feelings and the second half tells the experience. The second part of the story starts with Chapter 11.
My favorite character was Zenith because Amanda Grihm made me feel like I knew her and she made me feel like Zenith’s survival was linked to my own. I wanted to help protect her. I was relieved when the three Smyrna Policemen looked at the rule of law but were still able to see past it to the woman affected by the rules. They were not like the police of the Deep South, they were human beings who went one step farther to help another human being. I felt real relief because they did not overreact to a Black woman carrying a gun. My heart was pounding when they found it. I expected them to jump to their feet and pull their guns. I held my breath long enough to see that they were faced with a dilemma about how to handle it.
My other favorite character was Martha Chapman, an 85-year old White woman, Zenith’s next-door neighbor, who had to have lived through legalized racial segregation that characterized the Deep South. But Martha Chapman was a champion and a friend to Zenith. She supported her and fought for her. She was willing to go toe-to-toe with the three Policeman who brought Zenith home before realizing they were going against the rule for Zenith. Martha was there for Zenith every night as Zenith fought the good fight on her job. Martha was the mother-friend that Zenith needed when she moved to the South. She was a gun-toting, outspoken senior citizen with a warm spot in her heart for Zenith. Her hot buttered cornbread, fruit-filled lemonade, and the refrigerator filled with black and white magnetic cows was the grounding that helped ground Zenith and bring her back to reality.
The amount of corruption, nepotism, and unearned privilege that went on at BIMSTAR Corporation set the stage for Dark Justice. It was a place where certain members of the company openly reigned abuse and threats on Zenith and the people who supported her. Zenith’s talents were quickly recognized and rewarded but her good work also shed light on the failed works of others in the company. Zenith didn’t want to make enemies and was willing to work her way up so she let a great opportunity pass knowing that Kenneth Deorty expected to have the job that was offered to her. On a fluke, Kenneth overhead Zenith mention Dublin, where his family secret was buried, and he became convinced that Zenith was working to find out his secret.
If you want to understand the fight for human rights, read Dark Justice. I am not sure if it was Amanda Grihm’s intention to write a story about civil rights or not but Dark Justice tells the impact of what happens to a person when they are abused to the point that the abuse takes on a life of its own. As I read Dark Justice I saw Zenith as a person whose spirit was stripped from her body and her body was left to react automatically without the benefit of thought or feelings to what was happening to it.
Again, my interpretation of Dark Justice is that the first part expresses the feelings of what happened and the second part is the experience. Dark Justice took me on a journey through the good and the bad South. It is an awakening. It made me feel what things I never experienced.
Brilliant! Truly brilliant is the best description I can use to say how well Dark Justice by Amanda Grihm comes across.
How to start! First I need to catch my breath...the first 5 chapters are rough. Somewhat confusing text, severe language and nothing, at that point, to put the story line into context. As a matter of fact, I almost stopped reading 'Dark Justice' (& fear some readers may have done the same), but I continued, so I guess I must say, Amanda Grihm, had gotten my attention, at least. I do, however, believe it was extremely risky of the author to begin the book in this form. I wonder how many readers began the book only to put it down after chapter 2 or 3 deciding they were unable to continue reading, as I almost did, due to the format, language and no background story line to tie it to. I would hate to think that Amanda Grihm had low readership and/or sells of 'Dark Justice' based only on her choice of the book's beginning layout...that would be unfortunate!
The story line took a strange twist again around chapter 7. A little hard to follow, but as the reader you continue because by then a plot for 'Dark Justice' had begun to materialize.
Having said all that, if you continue to read, you find strong characters, such as, Zenith Chagrin, our main character and the people surrounding her. My favorites were the second set of policemen that wanted to help Zenith. Also, her elderly neighbor, Martha Chapman, very strong character's descriptions.
If you decide to stop reading 'Dark Justice' for whatever reason...beginning language, unclear plot at first...it would be your misfortune! Whatever area's of concern I have expressed regarding the book's beginning, Ms. Amanda Grihm, pulls it all together for a very well-written book and a very interesting read! I will most certainly read additional work done by Amanda Grihm.
Book eight in my Belinda Lawrence Classic Mysteries. Mysteries confront amateur sleuths, Belinda Lawrence and Hazel Whitby in the Somerset village of Milford.
Among the eccentrics is the shadowy Madam Malefic.
