Nominated for 4 awards... Readers Favorite says, "The narrative is lyrical and the voice is irresistible. Yes, the prose sings in the reader’s ears like beautiful music and it is peppered with wonderful dialogues, which are well-composed to read naturally and to deepen the plot and conflict. P.M. Terrell’s characters are wonderfully developed and readers will love them. There is a lot of drama taking place throughout the narrative and the action is intense and unrelenting. Clans and Castles is a gripping treat for fans of historical novels, a well-crafted, not-easy-to-put-down story that will transport the reader into a turbulent period in Irish history." ... Midwest Book Reviews says, "Terrell introduces a new level of excellence to the historical novel. Using the mastery of an artist, Terrell paints colorful word pictures and descriptive phrases that are so exquisitely well-chosen that the reader is magnetically drawn into the plot, taking on a role as an active participant in the intrigue of the story."
A window into the ancestors of anyone of Scot-Irish descent...
In 1608, William Neely left Wigtownshire, Scotland for Ulster. He was looking for his place in the world but what he found was the adventure of a lifetime.
Surrounded by powerful clans that had ruled Ulster for more than a thousand years, he came to know some of the most mighty chieftains of the time, including the formidable Cahir O’Doherty, who launched O’Doherty’s Rebellion with the burning of Derry and the killing of Sir George Paulet of His Majesty King James’ service. It would put in motion a chain of events that would transform Ireland and it would mark Cahir O’Doherty as the Last Gaelic Irish King in Ireland.
Cahir O’Doherty became the Lord of Inishowen as a teen after the death of his father. Known as The Queen’s O’Doherty due to his loyalty to Sir Henry Docwra and the English Crown, he saved his clan lands on the Inishowen Peninsula and his people from the fate that had befallen other Irish clans.
Peace would be short-lived, however, when Henry Docwra, Governor of Derry, was replaced by the ruthless Sir George Paulet, who ushered in a new wave of hatred for the Gaelic Irish. It would all come to a head on one fateful night when O’Doherty took the commander at Culmore Fort hostage along with his wife and son. Gaining access to the weapons at Culmore Fort, he led an invasion of Derry, burning the village to the ground. It would touch off a wave of events that would unite the major clans of Ulster, leading to a bombardment of Burt Castle, a counterattack in the Inishowen Peninsula and the burning of Ulster; a major battle at Kilmacrenan and finally a siege at Tory Island.
And when O’Doherty’s Rebellion was complete, it would usher in the age of The Plantation and mass immigration of Lowland Scots, encouraged by King James I to transform all of Ulster.
p.m.terrell is the pen name for Patricia McClelland Terrell, the award-winning, internationally acclaimed author of more than 27 books in four genres: contemporary suspense, historical adventure/suspense, computer how-to, and non-fiction.
Before writing full-time, she founded two computer companies in the Washington, DC, Metropolitan Area. Among her clients were the Central Intelligence Agency, the United States Secret Service, the U.S. Information Agency, and the Department of Defense. Her specialties were white-collar computer crime and computer intelligence, themes that carried forward into her contemporary suspense.
She has been a full-time author since 2002. Vicki’s Key was a top five finalist in the 2012 International Book Awards and 2012 USA Book Awards nominee, and The Pendulum Files was a national finalist for the Best Cover of the Year in 2014. The Tempest Murders was one of four finalists in the 2013 International Book Awards, cross-genre category.
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.
P M Terrell surprises me every time I open one of her historical novels. I never used to read them very often, but she has completely won me over. Traveling back in time, whether it’s in the times of Indians in the United States or Clans and Castles in the countryside of Ireland. She incorporates her own personal history with fiction and I look forward to each and every adventure.
The characters leap off the pages as they struggle to survive the turbulent times. They grow and develop throughout the story.
P M Terrell takes a complicated history, unfolding it in easy to follow steps, drawing me in further and further.
Will’s curiosity earned him a place at Captain Stewart’s side. In his wildest dreams he never could have imagined what the future held in store for him…and it was the ride of a lifetime. He fit in quickly, adapting to his new role, using intuition and common sense.
P M Terrell made the political and personal machinations hard for me to figure out. I see betrayal and treachery around every corner. When you think some of the characters existed in one form or another, tweaked for fictional reading, it becomes more real to me.
Who is good and who is bad? It depends what side of the story you’re on, except for the one that pops up now and then, the narcissist in a position of power, a power that he uses and abuses causing much brutality and bloodshed.
P M Terrell brings the location alive by describing the bogs and mists with an otherworldly feel. It seems magical and mysterious.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Checkmate by P M Terrell.