How did I get here?
He ripped back the zip, his heart pounding as red dust trickled in and landed on his face. He stood, brushing the dust from his eyes, a sense of vertigo launching itself up his spine. One step from the swag and his eyes snapped open. He started to lean into a void. Over a cliff.
Fifteen years after college graduation, four friends reconnect to keep a long-ago promise and go on a trip of a lifetime in the Australian Outback.
Eliza needs to disconnect from her high-powered fashion job to consider the CEO position she's just been offered. Lincoln hopes to rekindle a past relationship and escape from another one. Bree looks forward to a fun getaway from home and her deeply buried disappointments. Andy wants to disappear from the mess he's made of his life-possibly forever.
Dropped at a campsite in the middle of nowhere, the friends quickly discover they aren't the same people they once were, and they begin to confront hard truths about one another-and themselves. Then a bizarre storm sweeps across their camp, scattering them across the desert. Wondering if they are part of some strange escape game, each of the friends meets a guide to help them find exactly what they need: purpose, healing, courage, and redemption.
But they've already traveled far down the road of life and course-correcting to become the people they were meant to be won't be easy.
Daniel, Kelly, and Milly appear to be the perfect family. But an old camera will expose secrets no one wants developed.
Daniel Whitely is a successful marriage counselor and bestselling author, yet his own marriage is in crisis and his daughter is drifting further away each day. To make matters worse, the deadline for his second book has come and gone, and he still hasn't written a single word.
When Daniel inherits an old camera from his grandfather, he notices an inscription on the bottom: "No matter what you think you might see, the camera never lies."
Daniel begins using the camera, but every time he develops his photos, they threaten to reveal secrets that could sabotage both his marriage and his career-exposing him as a fraud and destroying the life he has worked so hard to build.
He's faced with a choice: keep his secrets and save his career or come clean and possibly save his family. Which will he choose? Which would you choose?
Praise for The Camera Never Lies:
'In his intriguing novel, The Camera Never Lies, David Rawlings challenges us to wonder what our photographs would look like if our souls, not our faces, were captured by the lens. This fascinating story will capture your imagination and your heart.'-Rachel Hauck, New York Times bestselling author of The Wedding Dress
"The camera never lies, and neither does this gripping story about unearthing our deepest secrets in the most fantastical of ways. A message relatable to us all, bottled in an adventure we all love to read."-Melissa Ferguson, author of The Dating Charade
'A thought-provoking look at the real price that secrets extract-not just from the person keeping them, but from their loved ones, too.You'll close this story and be compelled to examine your own life . . . and also look at those around you and wonder, 'Who else looks like they have it all together but is drowning on the inside?''-Jessica Kate, author of Love and Other Mistakes
In a similar vein to The Traveler's Gift by Andy Andrews or Dinner with a Perfect Stranger by David Gregory, The Baggage Handler is a contemporary story that explores one question: What baggage are you carrying?
"The Baggage Handler by David Rawlings is an extraordinary novel that lingered in my heart long after I finished it."-Colleen Coble, USA Today bestselling author of The House at Saltwater Point and the Lavender Tide series
When three people take the wrong suitcase from baggage claim, their lives change forever.
A hothead businessman coming to the city for a showdown meeting to save his job.
A mother of three hoping to survive the days at her sister's house before her niece's wedding.
And a young artist pursuing his father's dream so he can keep his own alive.
When David, Gillian, and Michael each take the wrong suitcase from baggage claim, the airline directs them to retrieve their bags at a mysterious facility in a deserted part of the city. There they meet the enigmatic Baggage Handler, who shows them there is more in their baggage than what they have packed, and carrying it with them is slowing them down in ways they can't imagine. And they must deal with it before they can leave.
In this modern-day parable about the burdens that weigh us down, David Rawlings issues an inspiring invitation to lighten the load.
