New York Times bestselling author Karen Robards continues her penchant for “fantastic storytelling” ( RT Book Reviews ) with this next heart-pumping romantic suspense novel, the tale of a brilliant ornithologist trapped on the remote Attu Island in Alaska, fighting for her life—and that of a handsome stranger—before they’re swallowed up in darkness forever. Ornithologist Dr. Gina Solomon, PhD, can’t believe her good fortune when she’s picked as one of a small group of Stanford University scientists lucky enough to be allowed to conduct research on Attu Island, Alaska. But a dream come true soon turns into a nightmare when she witnesses the horrifying break-up of a small plane. As the pieces rain down around her into the frigid waters of the Bering Sea, Gina heads toward the crash site looking for survivors and discovers James "Cal" Callahan. But when the two realize the plane crash wasn’t an accident—and that the individuals responsible are still on the island—will they escape before they’re swallowed up in darkness forever? Set against the harsh wilderness of Alaska, Darkness is yet another of Robards’s “scintillating romantic thrillers” ( Publishers Weekly ) featuring the well-paced suspense and twists that has made Robards an icon in the romance genre. Karen Robards is the New York Times , USA TODAY , and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of more than fifty books and one novella. Karen published her first novel at age twenty-four and has won multiple awards throughout her career, including six Silver Pens for favorite author. Karen was described by The Daily Mail as “one of the most reliable thriller...writers in the world.” She is the mother of three boys and lives in Louisville, Kentucky. Darkness Chapter One It was an ordinary flight, on an ordinary day, full of ordinary people. Until it wasn’t. “Eww, gross.” Nine-year-old Elijah Samuels jabbed an elbow into the ribs of his thirteen-year-old sister, Abigail, and pointed at the couple kissing in front of them. Blue-eyed, blond-haired Lije, as he was called, was sturdy and tan from three weeks spent hitting the beach with his accountant father, who’d moved to Burbank after his divorce from the children’s mother the previous summer. Abby was sturdy and tan, too, with sunny streaks in her long, brown braid and a pair of gold studs in her newly pierced ears, a dad-authorized act that she was afraid her mom was going to freak out over. The siblings were near the end of what had been a long line of passengers waiting to hand over their boarding passes and walk down the ramp to take their seats on the Airbus A320. Flight 155 was scheduled to carry them from LAX to Washington Dulles, where their mother would meet them. It was a Saturday, and a new school year would begin on Monday. “Don’t point,” Abby hissed under her breath, smacking her brother on the shoulder. “Don’t hit,” Lije retorted, jerking away and making a face at her. The kissing couple, Mia and Nate Smolski, broke apart as they reached the turnstile. Nate handed over his boarding pass as Mia looked around to smile at Abby and Lije, having clearly overheard their exchange. A radiant smile lit up her thin face and made the slim brunette briefly beautiful. A long-distance runner who had attended UCLA on a scholarship, she was twenty-three years old and a newly minted nurse. Nate was twenty-six, a salesman for his uncle’s car dealership. They’d gotten married the previous afternoon, and this flight was the first leg of their honeymoon. Mia followed her new husband on board, and Lije and Abby, still exchanging evil looks, followed them. In line behind Lije and Abby were two businessmen, Don Miller and Gary Henderson. Both worked in the marketing department of a research and development company. They’d spent the week in Southern California pitching their company’s services to various clients, and were glad to be going home. Both were in their forties, both married with children. The Garcia family of Alexandria, Virginia, boarded next: grandmother Rita, mom Haylie, dad Jason, and their two-year-old twin daughters, Gracie and Helen. Grandmother and Mom were each lugging a child, and Dad was carrying two car seats and what looked like four or five backpacks. All looked tired and harassed, except the children, who were asleep on the women’s respective shoulders. Edward Thomas Jorgensen was behind the Garcias. A tall, fit man of thirty-nine, he was neatly dressed in a polo shirt and khakis and carried a briefcase. He was unmarried, childless, currently unemployed. Nine more people boarded after Jorgensen, for a total of 243 passengers on board. The plane also carried twelve crew members. Flight 155 took off twenty-eight minutes late at 12:58 p.m. Blue skies, perfect flying weather. One hour and fifty minutes later, still enjoying perfect flying weather, the Airbus A320 slammed into the side of a mountain just outside of Denver. There were no survivors. No cause fo