Good people can do all sorts of bad things, if the reasons seem right.
Out of the Dark tells the stories of teen Thorn MacDonnell and the five quirky teachers who open up their world to him.
His new role models? An obsessive-compulsive control freak, a passive-aggressive former beauty queen, a narcissistic shopping addict, a surly recovering alcoholic, and a gender-confused manic-depressive.
Every day brings Thorn new reminders of all that he has going for him – looks, intelligence, and talent – but every moment, he lives with the reality that he’s also got HIV and leukemia. Foregoing the luxuries of being a kid, Thorn strives to become a man before it’s too late. Socially awkward among peers, he sets himself on a satellite course around a close-knit group of teachers who play in a bar band on weekends.
The teachers, cognizant of their responsibility to avoid favoritism, aren’t sure how to handle Thorn’s overtures. Their professional ethics meet head-to-head with their unwillingness to abandon a child in need.
Thorn is especially drawn to twenty-one-year-old math teacher and drummer Shane Fetters, who becomes not only Thorn’s closest friend, but his first love. Shane struggles with issues of his own, waging a sometimes desperate war against his feelings for Thorn, all the while keeping the secrets of Shiloh, a woman who never was.
Out of the Dark is a multiple-perspective novel that reveals the shared physical journey of characters on solitary psychological and emotional odysseys toward honesty, both with themselves and with each other. Along the way, the teachers get a lesson of their own: good people can do all sorts of bad things, if the reasons seem right.
Song "This Too Shall Pass" performed by singer-songwriter
co-written and produced by Craig J. Snider of Emoto Music, and used with artist's permission.
I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to the songwriters and artists whose work inspires me as I write. I have included a player here so you can click to hear some of the music I listened to while writing and editing this one.
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