Synopses & Reviews
A midshipman's six-story fall onto a plaza at the United States Naval Academy is classified initially as an accident. The Academy's administration-none-too-affectionately called the 'Dark Side' by the midshipmen-attempts to brush the ensuing controversy under the rug. But a bizarre twist complicates what might otherwise be a tidy cover-up, and pulls Midshipman first class Julie Markham into the incident in a highly embarrassing manner. Suddenly there are rumors of homicide.
Julie's flawless reputation, high academic standing, and athletic achievements make her an unlikely suspect, but her father, Ev Markham, an Annapolis graduate who is now a professor there, knows the extremes to which the Dark Side will go to protect the Academy from scandal. Fearing Julie will be sacrificed to appease the rising public outcry, he hires high-powered attorney Liz DeWinter as the Naval Criminal Investigative Service begins an investigation.
Meanwhile, Jim Hall, the Academy's civilian security officer, explores a trail of violent pranks in the locked subterranean tunnels connecting the Academy to Annapolis proper-tunnels that lead to an unsolved murder. But as he follows, Jim finds himself becoming the quarry instead of the hunter, pursued by an ingenious predator whose dark secret is hidden deep beneath the Academy's pristine grounds and sterling traditions.
Darkside is a twisting, relentless thriller by an Annapolis insider-simply, Deutermann at his best.
Review
"Gripping...thoroughly absorbing." -
Publishers Weekly "Deutermann...writes page-turners. And this one has a surprise ending-one that comes as a bombshell." -Houston Chronicle
"A dead-on sense of place and appealing characters in tight corners...satisfying." -Kirkus Reviews
"Deutermann has now published seven pounding-pulsers. For this book, he was back at Dahlgren and Mahan, updating his reef points."-Baltimore Sun
Synopsis
Dark Motive...
At the US Naval Academy, the students refer to the administration as the Darkside, a nickname befitting the secrecy and manipulation that occur behind closed office doors. So when a first-year student falls to his death from a campus building, the Academy tenses as the Darkside begins to creep out of the shadows to cut off any potential scandal.
Dark Secret...
Retired naval aviator Ev Markham is now a professor at the Academy. When a provocative clue connects the dead student to senior midshipman Julie Markham, Ev knows how quickly his daughter could become the easy scapegoat the Darkside badly craves. But a second body convinces Academy security chief Jim Hall that a killer is on the loose. As both men struggle to uncover the truth, a psychopath more sinister than they can imagine lies in wait, protecting the ultimate-and most deadly-secret of all...
Darkside
Synopsis
Dark Motive...
At the US Naval Academy, the students refer to the administration as the Darkside, a nickname befitting the secrecy and manipulation that occur behind closed office doors. So when a first-year student falls to his death from a campus building, the Academy tenses as the Darkside begins to creep out of the shadows to cut off any potential scandal.
Dark Secret...
Retired naval aviator Ev Markham is now a professor at the Academy. When a provocative clue connects the dead student to senior midshipman Julie Markham, Ev knows how quickly his daughter could become the easy scapegoat the Darkside badly craves. But a second body convinces Academy security chief Jim Hall that a killer is on the loose. As both men struggle to uncover the truth, a psychopath more sinister than they can imagine lies in wait, protecting the ultimate-and most deadly-secret of all...
Darkside
About the Author
P. T. Deutermann is an Annapolis graduate who retired from the Navy as a captain, to begin his writing career. He is the author of seven previous novels. He lives with his wife on their family farm in Georgia.