1998 Chicago When a hail of bullets fails to end the lives of Irish immigrants, Caelan and Abigale McCrane, their checkered past with the IRA causes them to act once more in the interest of self-preservation. Unwilling to drag their two daughters, Sydney and Lillian, with them as they return to their old tricks, Caelan and Abigale make the heartbreaking but necessary choice of leaving the girls behind in Chicago. But before disappearing, Caelan and Abigale give the girls one parting imperative: burn the past to ashes and leave it behind. As a result, the McCrane's house in the Chicago suburbs burns from within, and the girls become separated with no way of knowing if the other survived. Lillian, the younger of the two, remains at the scene and confesses to burning down the house. Sydney is quickly presumed dead. While Lillian faces the consequences of telling the truth, Sydney builds a new life under a new name: Grace Keller. 2014 San Francisco Sydney, now married to a tech company CEO, works at her adopted father's start-up technology firm, Keller Integral Technology (KIT). One night, as she sits down to watch a sports talk show with her husband, she discovers a connection to her long-lost sister. KIT Solutions is sinking fast toward financial ruin but a project proposal from DARPA offers salvation--at a cost. New York City Elizabeth Vespa, a tech savvy young woman in search of answers, breaks into the apartment of the chief executive of DARPA, her estranged uncle, Adam, to find his paranoia may be more than a delusion and her own life may be in danger.Quickly this suspicion is confirmed. She comes to know the people Adam has hired to protect her from his enemies who would do her harm. His determination to prevent Elizabeth from becoming collateral damage further strains his relationship with her to its breaking point until he offers her a paid internship in London on a job where she will have the chance of a lifetime to work with the woman she idolizes, Grace Keller. Washington D.C. FBI agent Magdalena Miller has a vested interest in one particular case: a 1998 housefire in Chicago's suburbs. As Miller investigates and further dedicates herself to discovering the true fates of two young girls-- one who supposedly started the fire and the other who is presumed dead--Miller discovers new leads that turn the case from ice-cold to white-hot.
About the Author: The author began writing at the age of fifteen. The novel See Through Darkness is his first published, full-length novel. He draws inspiration from his life experiences and the world around him. Whenever possible, he immerses himself into the reality of his subject matter. In the process of writing See Through Darkness, he found a passion for rock climbing, self defense martial arts, and surfing that contributed to the characterization of principal characters, Lillian and Sydney McCrane. He sought out a collegiate education in mass media, medical science, and sustainability and did extensive research and reading about the topics of psychology, sociology, and computer science. He also researched scientific facts and theory regarding artificial intelligence and electronic engineering. He studied current events to build the business models of KIT and United Advance Technology, the two major tech companies featured in the book. Though truth and reality are important matters to the author, a story must also entertain and provide catharsis. Striking the perfect balance between myth and fact is this author's true aim in writing.