Would you spend the night in a rumored haunted house for the chance to win one million dollars? For five people in Until the Sun Rises, the proposition is one that they can’t resist. Each member of the group has his or her own motivations – be it money or curiosity, a desire to find the truth, or a way to prove a point. Whatever brought them to the Drake mansion, what they uncover during the night will challenge them all.
The mystery of Drake mansion is nearly a century old. An entire family and a magician growing in notoriety all vanish in the 1930’s. Police officers investigating the disappearances are killed in tragic and very questionable circumstances. In order to safeguard the rest of the town, officials board up the house and pass an ordinance to keep it sealed up for 100 years. When television executives approach the town leadership with the idea of opening the mansion decades early and televising the endeavor, the financially struggling town jumped at the chance. As the evening goes on, two of t he contestants find the journal of family patriarch Vinton Drake. Journal entries slowly reveal the events of the past and the shockingly gruesome truth behind the entire mystery.
Until the Sun Rises is an intriguing read. Spooky, but not overly scary – no nightmares for us more sensitive readers! It’s nearly impossible to not get pulled in to the mystery and the drama builds well as events unfold. There are times when the dialogue and descriptions feel somewhat rough or clunky, but the strong plot camouflages those bumps. The perfect story for a cool evening with a cup of tea and a cozy spot.
Until the Sun Rises on Goodreads
About the Author
Channing Whitaker is a novelist, screenwriter, and filmmaker originally hailing from Centerville, Iowa. An alum of Indian Hills Community College, Channing went on to study cinema, screenwriting, literature, and mathematics at the University of Iowa.
Post graduation, Channing began his career in the production of television news, independent films, and commercial videos, as well as to write for websites, corporate media, and advertising. His 10-year career in writing has taken Channing from Iowa, to Alaska, Oklahoma, and currently to Texas.
Channing has written five feature-length screenplays, co-written another feature screenplay, and penned a novel. In that time, Channing has also written and directed over 50 short films.
The April 2015 publication of Channing’s debut novel, “Until the Sun Rises – One Night in Drake Mansion,” comes in tandem with the first production of one of Channing’s feature screenplays, “KILD TV” – which is slated to premier in March 2016.
Channing is a fan of many media forms and genres. He considers himself a storyteller foremost, and works in multiple media and genres himself. He regards Trevanian (known best for his divergent spy novels) as his favorite author and an inspiration for his writing career. He also credits his father, a retired psychology professor, with heavily influencing his approach to the deep, conflicted, and multifaceted characters that drive his stories. Other artistic influences for Channing include auteur directors Jim Jarmusch and Robert Altman.
Channing is among a small subset of writers who are also dyslexic. He considers learning to overcome the challenges of this diagnosis, amid a career in writing, to have aided him in persevering amid the rejection-filled, uncertain, and competitive fields of writing and screenwriting.
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