Detective Ryan O’Clery is working a series of homicides when he discovers a journal kept by an uncle five generations earlier, detailing the same type of murders as the Night of the Big Wind swept the Atlantic Ocean across Ireland in 1839.
As Hurricane Irene barrels toward the North Carolina coastline, Ryan discovers even the killer’s description matches exactly. And as he falls in love with television reporter Cathleen Reilly, he begins to wonder if she is the reincarnation of Caitlyn O’Conor, the woman lost to the killer as the storm raged in Ireland—and if he is the reincarnation of Constable Rian Kelly.
Now he’s in a race to rescue Cathleen before the killer finds her—or is history destined to repeat itself?
A provocative story of a love that spans centuries, of soul mates found, lost and reunited… and the lengths to which one man will go to change their destinies.
One of four finalists in the 2013 USA Best Book Awards, cross-genre category and a nominee for the 2014 International Book Awards
“I know you too well,” Claire said. “You’re wanting the story of Caitlín O’Conor, aren’t you?”
“Who?”
She smiled. “Her name was Caitlín O’Conor. She was supposedly the great love of Ríán Kelly’s life. It was a star-crossed love story. Her father was a prominent man in the village and Ríán was a ‘lowly county inspector’ and though they were deeply in love, her father would not permit Ríán to ask for her hand in marriage.”
He felt his chest tighten and he sipped his coffee to avoid Claire’s piercing eyes.
“The tale is that they sneaked around for years; everybody knew it. Everybody except Caitlín’s father, that is. They were madly in love.” She sighed wistfully.
“What happened?” He kept his eyes on his coffee. “Did she marry someone else?”
“Her father died. Quite unexpectedly. Heart simply stopped. And without him in the way, they were clear to be married.” She brushed non-existent crumbs from the countertop before continuing. “He asked for her hand in marriage on New Year’s Eve. Let’s see, I believe it was 1838. Yes, that’s right. December 31, 1838.”
“How can you be so certain of the date?”
“Because seven days later, Caitlín was dead.”
His head jerked up and he stared into Claire’s eyes. They were as green as the fields of Ireland and now she cocked her head and eyed him curiously.
“He’d gone to Dublin, so the story goes,” she continued slowly.
“Ríán Kelly.”
“Aye. He’d been called away on business. And as Fate would have it, the great flood came while he was gone and Caitlín was swept away. It was January 6, 1839—Epiphany.” Her voice took on a whispered note as though she was telling a ghost story. “There were those in the faith who had forecast the end of the world would occur on January 6, 1839—the day of Epiphany. So when the air grew completely still, so still they could hear the voices of neighbors miles apart, there were some who thought the end was near.”
He waited for her to continue. His cheeks were growing flush and he could feel beads of sweat beginning to pop out across his brow. “What happened then?”
“By nightfall, there were gale force winds. They moved from the western coast of Ireland all the way to Dublin, where Ríán Kelly had traveled. Some said the winds were accompanied by an eerie moan, a rumbling of sorts. But not thunder; it was a sound never heard before nor since. It increased as the winds grew. And then the northern sky turned a shade of red that had never been seen before.
“Well, so the myth goes, Ríán Kelly left Dublin immediately. It was a miracle he made it back to the village at all. He traveled through the night, in the rain and the hail, with the winds all about him. Bridges had been washed away; the wind had been so strong—stronger than anything Ireland had experienced in more than three hundred years—so strong that it whipped the Atlantic into a fury and pushed it all the way across the island. Streams and creeks became raging rivers. Whole villages were wiped out. Even some of the castles were beyond repair.”
He rested his elbows on the counter and put his head in his hands.
“You’re sure you don’t want to lie down, Re? You look as if you might faint.”
“I’m fine,” he said. “What happened when Ríán Kelly reached his village?”
“It was gone. Oh, there were a few buildings still intact. The church, for one. But Caitlín O’Conor’s home had been washed away. There was no sign of Caitlín.”
“So that’s where the story ends, does it?”
“Oh, no. I suppose it’s where it just begins.”
My thoughts on THE TEMPEST MURDERS ~ I seem to be a minority.
Ireland January 6, 1839, the Epiphany and Night of the Big Wind that swept the Atlantic across Ireland, a day many believed to be the beginning of the end of the world. It certainly seemed that way to those in Ireland. It was the day Constable Rian Kelly lost the love of his life, Caitlyn O’Conor, but did he lose her to the storm or to the serial killer that had murdered women in their village who favored her? August 2011 Detective Ryan O’Clery is investigating a string of homicides in Lumberton, N.C. that eerily mirror those committed over one hundred years ago. Is history about to repeat itself?
The premise of THE TEMPEST MURDERS is exciting, the suspense thrilling, and the past mirroring and providing clues to the present furnishes much food for thought. These are the aspects I truly enjoyed about THE TEMPEST MURDERS. However, there were a couple things that bothered me.
Ryan is more a stereotype than a real hero. Surly with everyone but his sister and nieces, he runs hot and cold with Cathleen O’Reilly, behaving boorishily then apologetic. Cathleen is often superimposed with Caitlyn. We know why Ryan feels so strongly toward Cathleen but there’s no sense of that being reciprocated other than she continues to return. She’s like a paperdoll, no real substance. Cathleen’s marital status is in question but Ryan continues. In consideration of his recent situation and moral character that didn’t fly well. The other thing that ground my hamburger with these two is they never actually talked! Not once did they ever ask sincere questions, hang any questions at all really, or make an honest effort to get to know each other. These two barely skimmed the surface. Their strong visceral attraction wasn’t enough to make me believe in Ryan and Cathleen as a couple.
Being admittedly ignorant about police procedures and such I could be out in left field. Cathleen is a television reporter from Atlanta. Captain Johnson tells Ryan to work with Cathleen on the murders because they correlate to murders in Atlanta. Wouldn’t his best bet be to work with the lead detectives on the Atlanta case? Police don’t always release all their information to the press. Discovering what she knows, yes, but working with her?
The suspense, mystery, historical, and paranormal (is it or is it not reincarnation and what does that mean if it is?) aspects were great and made the book for me. It was the character development, or lack thereof, that left me flat and frustrated.
THE TEMPEST MURDERS is the first in a series. The second book, The White Devil of Dublin, per the blurb delves into the origins behind THE TEMPEST MURDERS mystery. That makes it worth a shot with hopes the characters have developed some depth and grown beyond where we left them.
3 stars
p.m.terrell is the pen name for Patricia McClelland Terrell, the award-winning, internationally acclaimed author of more than twenty books in four genres: contemporary suspense, historical suspense, computer how-to and non-fiction.
Prior to writing full-time, she founded two computer companies in the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area: McClelland Enterprises, Inc. and Continental Software Development Corporation. Among her clients were the Central Intelligence Agency, United States Secret Service, U.S. Information Agency, and Department of Defense. Her specialties were in white collar computer crimes and computer intelligence.
Vicki’s Key was a top five finalist in the 2012 International Book Awards and 2012 USA Book Awards nominee and her historical suspense, River Passage, was a 2010 Best Fiction and Drama Winner. It was determined to be so historically accurate that a copy of the book resides at the Nashville Government Metropolitan Archives in Nashville, Tennessee. The Tempest Murders was one of four finalists in the 2013 USA Best Book Awards, cross-genre category, and a nominee for the 2014 International Book Awards.
She is also the co-founder of The Book ‘Em Foundation, an organization committed to raising public awareness of the correlation between high crime rates and high illiteracy rates. She is the organizer of Book ‘Em North Carolina, an annual event held in Lumberton, North Carolina, to raise funds to increase literacy and reduce crime. For more information on this event and the literacy campaigns funded by it, visit www.bookemnc.org.
She sits on the boards of the Friends of the Robeson County Public Library and the Robeson County Arts Council. She has also served on the boards of Crime Stoppers and Crime Solvers and became the first female president of the Chesterfield County-Colonial Heights Crime Solvers in Virginia.
For more information visit the author’s website , follow her on Twitter at @pmterrell, her blog, and on Facebook under author.p.m.terrell.
DebraG
Aug 26, 2014 @ 08:18:47
The book sounds intriguing. I enjoyed your biography.
Bewitching Brews
Aug 26, 2014 @ 08:57:44
I love romance! I would elect to travel back in time, if given the chance… OMG… there’s so many places I’d like to visit. I think my first choice would be Scotland… I really enjoyed your post. TU!
Patricia Terrell
Aug 26, 2014 @ 09:48:01
Thanks for hosting me here today, and Bewitching Brews, thanks for the comment. I agree with you about Scotland. Scotland and Ireland are at the top of my bucket list. Come to think of it, they ARE my bucket list!
ivydtruitt
Aug 26, 2014 @ 09:53:32
Glad to have you….I’m looking forward to The Devil of Dublin to learn the origins of all this hate and murder.
dihuffer
Aug 26, 2014 @ 09:49:37
I have incredibly detailed dreams of ancient Egypt. I think I lived there as a priestess of Isis in another life… 😉 I would love to travel back to that time because I have always been fascinated by it.
p.m.terrell
Aug 27, 2014 @ 09:20:56
Thanks for stopping in and leaving a comment, dihuffer. I’ve known several people who have a deep fascination with Egypt and who have felt like they have lived there in the ancient past. I hope you follow up on that – maybe visit the region when all the turmoil in the Middle East finally stops. Do you feel drawn to the ancient pharaohs? If so, I bet you’d love reading Anne Rice’s “The Mummy” – I fell in love with Ramses the Great!
dihuffer
Aug 31, 2014 @ 19:01:54
I’ve read Ms Rice’s “The Mummy” — absolutely loved it! I am hoping to go sometime… Yes, it’s ancient Egypt that I’m drawn to. Not sure why, but I love it! One of my bosses took a trip there and brought me back a piece of art that looks like it came from ancient times. I can stare at it for hours and transport myself there… 😉
Cindy vonHentschel
Aug 26, 2014 @ 09:50:52
That’s a hard one. So many times, and people is love to meet. I’d have to write them down, and draw from a hat.
bn100
Aug 26, 2014 @ 21:00:17
The series sounds interesting
bn100candg at hotmail dot com
librarypat
Aug 26, 2014 @ 21:21:21
Time travel books are a favorite. I haven’t read many reincarnation stories, but the few I have read were enjoyable.
If I could go back in time, I would most likely want to take several trips. The Scottish Medieval Highlands would be my first trip. I would then like to go to the West of the late 1800’s.
It would be interesting to be around when my ancestors first came to North America. The initial influx of French settlers into Quebec in the 1600 and 1700’s and later the Irish side of the family coming across in the 1860’s to escape the potato famine.
p.m.terrell
Aug 27, 2014 @ 09:22:58
LibraryPat, I love all the places you’d want to time travel to. Scotland and Ireland are favorites of mine for sure – my father’s family came from Northern Ireland (Ulster region; the Scot-Irish) and my mother’s family from Ireland – definite redheads! Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment!
Diane Sallans
Aug 26, 2014 @ 23:15:31
Time travel can be so much fun – I love to see how characters fit themselves into a new time – it can be really fun if someone comes forward an encounters more modern inventions.
Diane Sallans
Aug 26, 2014 @ 23:16:47
it would be really interesting to go back in time to observe family members (like grandparents) when they were young.
p.m.terrell
Aug 27, 2014 @ 09:24:14
Thanks for your comments, Diane! About seeing our grandparents when they were young, it reminded me of the movie Back to the Future when Michael J. Fox encounters his parents. I think it would be so interesting to see our grandparents when they were young and just starting their lives.
Glenda
Aug 26, 2014 @ 23:35:15
Most of the time I do really enjoy this type of book. As to where I’d go. . . . How many trips could I take? I’d need a TARDIS and Doctor to get everywhere. 😀
p.m.terrell
Aug 27, 2014 @ 09:26:13
Thanks for dropping in and leaving a comment, Glenda. I suppose you could take as many trips as you’d want! I just finished reading a fabulous book called Wait for Me by Sandy Huth where a woman in the present day remembers three past lives. It was a riveting read filled with tragic romance and adventure, most of which was set in early America.
p.m.terrell
Aug 27, 2014 @ 09:29:02
Thanks again for hosting me! I’ve been very blessed with this book – it was one of only four finalists in the 2013 USA Best Book Awards cross-genre category, and it’s up for the 2014 International Book Awards. The book has had so much commercial success that the publishers decided to make it into a series. The White Devil of Dublin will be released in just a couple of weeks and it takes Detective Ryan O’Clery back nearly 800 years to Dublin at the time of the Viking conquest of Ireland and on the cusp of the Norman invasion.