Henry Raeburn led a privileged childhood in Kerrisdale in a family of considerable political pedigree. Following a brief period of addiction and homelessness on the streets of Vancouver, Henry found his calling in photography, building a lucrative international career at the intersection of art and politics, photographing black sites—international locations, not found on any map, where detainees suffer unspeakable torture to elicit intelligence for complicit Western governments. The novel opens as Henry approaches one such site, only to be captured and held prisoner. During a transfer, insurgents kidnap Henry, and demand an exorbitant ransom for his release. As the ensuing crisis unfolds, the reader is transported into a shadowy world of international diplomacy and government as Henry’s father musters all his considerable political capital in order to secure Henry’s release. Intense and captivating, earnest and explosive, The Black State is not only a political thriller exposing our darkest foreign adventurism, but an edge-of-your-seat race against time.
John Delacourt is the author of five novels, most recently The Black State. A graduate of the Humber School for Writers, his short fiction and literary criticism have appeared in The New Quarterly, The Danforth Review, The Literary Review of Canada, Ottawa Citizen, Ottawa Life Magazine, and The Ottawa Review of Books. He lives and writes in Ottawa.
