Book Recommendation - Darkness Calls the Tiger

 


Janyre Tromp is a new name in the world of Christian fiction authors, though she's been in the writing business for some time, doing editing and the like. This is her sophomore novel and focuses on the CBI (China Burma India) theater in the war, giving it a unique WWII story. This read was a bit heavy and a bit dark, so I wouldn't recommend to younger audiences, but for those who enjoy the depth of a good light from darkness story will easily enjoy this tale. Here's a bit about the book:

"My adopted people have a story, a legend, that speaks of a time so dark, the sun will turn his back on the mountains and swallow the moon. It is then that the sharaw—the tiger-man—will come prowling, exacting revenge on the darkness. But there is no great darkness in me or my world. It isn’t always comfortable, but it has always been predictable . . . until the soldiers came."

A handful of months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, missionaries Kailyn Moran and Ryan James, face a brutal Japanese attack on their village high in the mountains of Burma.

After the Land of the Rising Sun devours almost everything she loves, Kai vows to hunt down those responsible, even if it means she must become the legendary sharaw. When the Japanese put a price on her head, Ryan fights to protect Kai from the path of revenge. But only she can choose to turn away from the call of the darkness.

Wrapped in real history and mountain legends, Darkness Calls the Tiger will appeal to fans of Susan Meissner and William Kent Kreuger.

Following the author on social media has given me some additional behind the scenes looks at the book itself. Here are a couple of tidbits she has shared from her research on social media:

1. Known as the Forgotten War, the China-Burma-India Theater of WWII is widely recognized as the genesis for modern US Special Forces tactics.


The OSS (precursor to the CIA) parachuted officers into the mountains to recruit the local people to fight against Imperial Japan. These fighting groups became known as Detachment 101.

My upcoming book, Darkness Calls the Tiger, references one of the many guerrilla fighting forces in the CBI—The Kachin Rangers. They were known as spirit men (derived from mountain lore) and the Japanese were terrified of fighting in the Kachin state because of how the Kachin's would rain down destruction and simply vanish into the jungle.

When she sees her adopted village destroyed, my main character, Kailyn Moran, sinks into one of the deadliest legends of the mountains--that of the tiger people.

Want to know more about the CBI? There's an awesome FB Group, RememberingTheCbi (https://www.facebook.com/RememberingTheCbi)

2. This man saved hundreds of lives in WWII Burma.

His name is Father James Stuart and he was an Irish missionary who, with only his words, convinced Imperial Japanese soldiers to not decimate multiple Kachin villages in the mountains of North Burma. He regularly hid refugees (many of them children) and then led them through the mountainous jungles to safety in India.

He was brave, kind, funny, and one of the reasons many of the mountain people signed up to become a Kachin Ranger--run by officers of the OSS Detachment 101 in Burma.
We could use more of these kind of men in the world. Yes?

The good news is that there's more than a little of Father Stuart in Ryan, the male protagonist of Darkness Calls the Tiger.

I absolutely adored Ryan and love that he's based on a real person! Also.....

 


This book releases May 14, 2024 wherever books are sold. For additional information, check out the following links:

Janyre Tromp's website: https://beautifuluglyme.com/

Janyre Tromp's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/JanyreTromp

My full 4-star review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5585967418

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