Fit to Die

PRAISE FOR DANIEL KALLATHE DARKNESS IN THE LIGHT“Trust Daniel Kalla to come up with the perfect post-COVID thriller.”The Globe and Mail“Emergency room physician Daniel Kalla is one of Canada’s best-selling and most impressive writers, and his latest novel, The Darkness in the Light, demonstrates why.”Zoomer“Kalla’s Alaskan whodunit delights…. Just remember that Vancouver E.R. doctor Daniel Kalla not only writes superb medical thrillers with a pronounced social edge—his books are also terrific murder mysteries.”Winnipeg Free Press“A very good read, and very timely.”CBC’s The Next Chapter“The Darkness in the Light is a gripping, heartbreaking, and enthralling suspense so vividly immersive that I was hooked from the first page. With crisp, powerful writing and two extremely compelling voices, Kalla draws you in to the remote, intriguing world of the Arctic and the tragic, inexplicable suicide clusters that have ravaged a small, tight-knit town. Kalla is a clever master of surprise, dropping subtle clues and expertly changing course, so you can’t possibly look away until the mystery is solved. It’s an absolute must-read from a remarkable talent.”SAMANTHA M. BAILEY, USA Today and #1 nationally bestselling author of Woman on the Edge“Kalla is unparalleled in his ability to create compelling characters that embody societal trauma and medical complexities. The Darkness in the Light explores rural northern health care, the unrelenting pressure of depression and pharmaceutical treatments with great care. Both heartbreaking and brave, this is a boldly written story that fans will love and new readers will devour.”AMBER COWIE, author of Last One AliveLOST IMMUNITY“Kalla ratchets up the suspense as a cover-up is exposed… a truly scary scenario from a writer who knows his medical thriller lingo down to the final line.”The Globe and Mail“Kalla… has a knack for writing eerily prescient thrillers.”CBC Books“Always there to hold up a mirror to society—his last book, The Last High, took on the opioid crisis—Kalla’s new Lost Immunity book sits smack dab in the middle of what the world has been going through for the last year.”Vancouver SunTHE LAST HIGH“Kalla has long had his stethoscope on the heartbeat of his times…. In his latest, the focus is on Vancouver’s opioid crisis…. A lively story.”Toronto Star“Kalla is terrific at building suspense as the case progresses, uncovering a web of dealers, sellers, and users.”The Globe and Mail“If you want an engrossing, edge-of-your-seat thriller that combines good detective work, corruption, savage criminal practices, a dark, seamy portrait of a large Canadian city, and a hard-hitting lesson on the medical and emotional effects of opioid drugs, then The Last High certainly fills that prescription.”Montreal Times“A thrilling, front-line drama about the opioid crisis.”KATHY REICHS“A riveting thriller… This important, must-read book is not only well-researched and entirely realistic, it gives a human face to a devastating epidemic.”ROBYN HARDING, internationally bestselling author of The Arrangement and The Party Thank you for downloading this Simon & Schuster ebook.Join our mailing list to get updates on new releases, deals, recommended reads, and more from Simon & Schuster.CLICK HERE TO SIGN UPAlready a subscriber? Provide your email again so we can register this ebook and send you more of what you like to read. You will continue to receive exclusive offers in your inbox. In memory of my mom and her special soul CHAPTER 1“Someone killed him,” the woman murmurs.Her cheeks are splotched. Her pupils huge. And her outstretched finger trembles, pointing to the corpse near her feet.How else is a mother supposed to respond? Detective Cari Garcia wonders with a sympathetic nod as she glances around the tidy bedroom, its walls lined by framed black-and-white posters of marathon runners and races. A pair of crime technicians in white bunny suits survey the scene, acting as usual as if they’re the only living souls present. The victim lies on his back with his right leg flopped out to the side, bent at the knee, and a pool of vomit puddled under his chin, which accounts for the faint sour odor drifting to Cari’s nostrils.Cari had been on her way to dinner when the captain phoned with his urgent request. It was almost a relief to be called out to a case. She had only agreed to go on the date to appease her best friend, Benny, who insisted Cari had been “on the bench” too long since Mattias.Cari looks back over to the mother, whose whole body is now shaking.“I see how it looks.” Her finger has turned on Cari. “Just another teen suicide. Or maybe an accidental OD. Another addict who fooled his parents. No fucking way! I know my Owen.” Her voice cracks and her chin drops, fractionally. “Never, never, never…”“We don’t make any assumptions from the outset,” Cari says.“Somebody must have killed my son!”Cari has witnessed the same response too many times in her career. The outrage. The shock. The denial. But not in this setting. Not with the victim still splayed on the floor of his own bedroom. The uniforms would never have allowed the mother to stay in the room while two crime scene techs scoured the scene, were she not one of California’s most influential state senators—a fixture on the local news—and, according to some pundits, the front-runner to succeed the current governor.“We’re going to find out what happened to Owen. I promise you, Senator Galloway.” Cari has to stop herself. It’s not the time or place to pose the usual questions: Did her son have mental health issues? Were there substance use concerns? Had his mood changed of late? Was there a recent breakup or any other crisis in his life?Without any visible signs of trauma, murder is already near the bottom of Cari’s list. Statistically speaking, fentanyl or some other opioid would be at the top. Suicide, a close second. Granted, there are a few anomalies, like the lack of any visible drug paraphernalia or pill bottles. Perhaps even natural causes? The boy is rail-thin. Regardless, the LAPD’s Robbery and Homicide Division would not normally have been called to a scene as tragically familiar as this one.The finger stills and