Black Sunshine — Ninie Hammon

          Some secrets just won't stay buried ... not even under a mountain. 

          After two decades of shame that drove him into a whiskey bottle and left him a homeless, under-a-bridge drunk, Will Gribbins has come home to the mountains to face his past. 

          He and his best friend, Lloyd, were the only 2 survivors of the 1980 explosion that killed 27 Eastern Kentucky coal miners and shattered countless other lives in the close-knit small town of Aintree Hollow. But the 2 young men escaped the mine that day with more than just their lives. Each carried secrets about another tragedy that occurred deep in the guts of the mountains after the explosion--secrets that decimate their lives. 

          Will returns to the hollow for the first time in 20 years on the anniversary of the disaster--determined to confess what he did. The mountains are just as he left them; the people who live there are not. 

          Granny Sparrow's grief has imprisoned her. 

          JoJo bears the invisible stamp of a family heritage that will kill her.

          Jamey is ... is what? How can Will explain the boy's psychic ability? The magical statues he carves out of lumps of coal? 

          And Lloyd wants to kill him. 

          Will doesn't realize that his arrival has unleashed powerful forces that will endanger the lives of another crew of miners digging coal in a mile-deep shaft under the mountain. Only this time, the explosion that kills them won't be an accident. This time, it will be murder. 

          Will doesn't see the mounting danger, though. Or that Jamey and his pet mine canary, ValVleen, hold the key to it all. 

          When the unthinkable happens and the fate of innocent miners is again placed in Will's hands, can he summon the courage he lacked 2 decades ago? Is Will man enough now to save them--even if it means he must face the horror he has run from for all these years? 

          Will he leave the miners there, buried alive? 

          Or will he die with them, gasping for breath in the dark until there's no air left? 


READERS praise Black Sunshine

(Goodreads and Amazon.com) 

• Ninie Hammon does not just paint pictures with words, she takes you to the movies and hands you popcorn!! This is a vividly written, sensitive, psychological suspense novel about regret, redemption, foresight and overcoming, with a light touch of the Twilight Zone. Characters that are real enough to feel like relatives and connect with the soul deep. READ THIS BOOK!! Karen Pillay 
• This is not your typical mystery thrillers and suspense book; it's not what you expect from paranormal books either, though the boy who carves coal statues is psychic. Black Sunshine is a kinder, gentler version of both genres, suspense that's uplifting and inspirational. That's rare in contemporary fiction. Cassandra Pelan 
• Hammon captures the voices of backwoods Kentucky with great skill and warmth. Her research adds depth to her novels. And in the end, she always twists and turns the plot, adds elements of mystery and suspense thrillers, leaves us with life lessons that feel as genuine as the characters. Bestselling author Eric Wilson, Top 100 Amazon Reviewer 
• I didn't expect a book about coal miners to be psychological suspense--but boy, was I wrong! A match-flame of conflict builds to a bonfire in this must-read psychological drama--with "explosive" suspense and a "dynamite" end. Sarah Bridges 
• Who would have guessed my heart would break over a story about coal miners? Black Sunshine is contemporary fiction about a world as old as the mountains; inspirational suspense that gives you insight into people you never knew existed (The psychic boy added a fascinating element of paranormal suspense.) Thrillers like this are why I read Ninie Hammon! B.J. Frye