Dean Poling
The Valdosta Daily Times
VALDOSTA —
A traumatic experience inspired Maria S. Sakry to pen her first novel, “The Darkest Night.”
The book’s main character, Mary, survives a brutal attack. Mary must come to grips with not only the memory but continued threats from her unknown assailant.
Like Mary, Sakry survived an attack. While she based the opening of the book on her experience, the rest is fiction to some extent. Like Mary, Sakry is a paramedic. Like Mary, Sakry finds strength through God. Like Mary, Sakry met a good man, though her real-life husband is in the military, not a fellow paramedic like Mary’s love interest. Sakry and her husband moved to Valdosta last year.
While the book is a work of fiction, it can also be read as a testimony of faith. Sakry delves deep into how faith buoys Mary even in the immediate impact of her attack. Sakry shares her experiences, giving this novel authenticity.
“I wrote the first part based on what happened to me, but the stalking and what happens at the end are all fiction,” says the Valdosta author who uses Maria S. Sakry as a pen name.
“The Darkest Night” falls into an interesting genre: The Christian thriller.
Though Mary is haunted by her attacker, she finds faith in her church and Christianity. While her attacker sends her threatening notes, a fellow paramedic reads her Scripture. While an unknown assailant plans to do her harm, she falls for another paramedic who would do anything for her.
Characters find the Lord both directly and indirectly through Mary. Yet, she hangs somewhere between her faith and despair. While she clings to God, Mary distances herself from many relationships. She avoids dating. She has the faith to sing hymns but not the faith to fully move past her attack.
God offers her the blessings of a good relationship, but she remains tormented by her attacker. Mary’s life hangs in limbo between these two conflicting forces.
Though some readers may guess the attacker’s identity early in the book, Sakry keeps readers intrigued, wondering what will happen next. “The Darkest Night” remains a page turner while possibly shining a light to help those readers who have also survived a similar darkest night.
Sakry discovered writing the book provided a catharsis for dealing with her experience. She had enjoyed writing since childhood. Writing seemed the natural way to express her feelings about her attack. This written description of her attack became the premise behind “The Darkest Night.”
She wrote the book and soon found a publisher.
Sakry is already writing her second book. It will also fall into the Christian thriller genre but delves into a murder investigation. She is about 50 pages into this second book, and she hopes to have it completed by the end of the year.
Maria S. Sakry’s “The Darkest Night” is available through amazon.com, and in many book stores.
