The Image of Valor

The Image of Valor

A series of murders of body-shamed women, all seemingly connected by a therapy group, sends Val undercover for the first time.

A woman’s body is found with mysterious, symbolic clues—an undecipherable message carved into her skin—in the small, rugged east coast city of Clayton. Then a second body turns up, killed in a similar way, with new clues—but the same signature: The Engineer. The only other connection between them: both women belonged to the same body-shaming self-help group.

To solve the case, Val Dawes, the Clayton PD’s youngest-ever detective, goes undercover as a member of the support group. When she uncovers The Engineer’s strange obsession with eugenics, she becomes a target of his mission to “cleanse” the human race of its “undesirable” elements.

Can Val stop The Engineer before his killing spree reaches epidemic proportions?

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About the Book

Val Dawes returns, now Clayton’s youngest-ever detective, and she lands a case with high personal stakes for her and many of her closest friends: a man is “editing” the human gene pool by killing women who have what he considers “defective” DNA.

His primary victims: members of a self-help therapy group focused on body-shaming and body-image issues. The group includes two of her friends–and before long, Val becomes a member as well.

Her intended role is as an undercover agent, trying to track down how the killer is identifying and isolating his victims. But soon she discovers the group has become a powerful tool for her addressing own body-image issues.

When her favorite, quirky barista goes missing, Val goes all out, willing to do whatever it takes to stop “The Engineer” before his killing spree reaches epidemic proportions. But will she find him in time?

Details
Author: Gary Corbin
Series: Valorie Dawes Thrillers, Book 7
Genres: Mystery, Police Procedural, Thriller
Tag: Recommended Books
Publisher: Double Diamond Publishing
Publication Year: 2026
Format: Paperback
Length: Novel
ISBN: 9798992759228
List Price: 16.99
eBook Price: 4.99
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Gary Corbin

Gary Corbin is a writer, editor, playwright, and actor in Camas, WA, a suburb of Portland, OR. Lying in Judgment, his Amazon.com best-selling legal thriller, was released in early 2016. Lying in Judgment was selected as Bookworks.com “Book of the Week” for July 11-18, 2016 and is one of six novels worldwide featured in the Literary Lightbox “Indie Spotlight” for Autumn/Winter 2016-17. His current series, the Valorie Dawes Thrillers, consists of three published books, the most recent (A Better Part of Valor) released on September 21, 2021. The fourth book in the series, Mother of Valor, will release November, 2022.

All of Gary’s novels are available in paperback, hardcover, and eBook formats. You can find his books on Amazon.com as well as Smashwords, iTunes, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, and area bookstores. Signed paperback and hardcover editions can be ordered direct from the author. His writer’s reference, Write Better Right Now: A Dozen Mistakes Good Writers Make-And How to Fix Them, is available exclusively on Kindle.

Gary earned his B.A. in Political Science and Economics at Louisiana State University (Geaux Tigers!) and his Ph.D. at Indiana University (Go Hoosiers!), writing his dissertation on the politics of acid rain (1988). He worked on farms, construction, and in food service jobs to earn his way through, so he knows the meaning of hard work. He interned with Argonne National Laboratory on assignment in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Analysis, then worked for eight years in small IT firms as an applications and systems analyst in the DC area.

In 1993, Gary moved to Portland, OR to manage IT systems and projects for the City of Portland. After 12 years as a City employee, Gary went freelance, writing for clients and stringing for established publications such as the Portland Tribune, The Oregonian, and Brainstorm NW, among others.

Gary is a member of PDX Playwrights, the Willamette Writers Group, the Northwest Independent Editors Guild, the Portland Area Theater Alliance, and the Writing Dojo Writers Workshop, and participates in workshops and conferences in the Portland, Oregon area.

A homebrewer as well as a maker of wine, mead, cider, and soft drinks, and an avid home roaster of fresh coffee, Gary is a member of the Oregon Brew Crew and a BJCP National Beer Judge. He loves to ski, cook, and garden, and hopes someday to train his dogs to obey. And when that doesn’t work, he escapes to the Oregon coast with his sweetheart.

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the page above are "affiliate links." This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."