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In these unsettling short tales, dark secrets are brought to light, some of them in the most uncanny of ways. Each tale is self-contained and observes the characters within them, their intimate thoughts, motivations, and choices that set them on a collision course.
The collection begins with "Day of Darkness" where a young child is confessing seemingly innocent sins to his priest, when an unexpected and more disturbing sin is committed that ignites a ripple effect that's clearly felt throughout the church in the form of a scandal. A bereaved forensic pathologist sinks ever deeper into the pit of despair, is plagued by addiction and grief, and finally consumed by death like Poe with his Annabel Lee in "Cause of Death." A young man on the brink of suicide and its impact on the authorities attempting to help him is examined in "Suicide Amidst Catharsis." And in the title story, "Redefining Darkness," a rogue CIA agent hunts down an SS German officer and confronts him with a dismal truth that hits close to home.
Cabiling's stories deal with very heavy and serious topics: murder, death, suicide, rape, and depression. It is not light reading. They are not stories with definitive answers, and there are no clear protagonists or villains. Each character suffers a burden in some way, and Cabiling acutely explores the connection we each have to one another and how each action we take affects everyone connected to us. No one knows just what to expect in each of these sinister tales, and sometimes you are left with more questions than answers of how one should confront iniquity and sometimes evil.