Stray

by Greg Lilly

Taliesin MacGuire promises his grandmother he will discover why his father left thirty years ago and never returned to his family. Finn MacGuire was the seventh son of a seventh son, and the legend of shapeshifter followed him throughout his life in Southwest Virginia.
Was Finn the good son? The unfaithful husband? The doting father? The charming uncle? The spoiled brother? The wolf or the lamb?
Tal finds few people have fond memories of his father and fewer want to talk. Finn left a backwash of heartbreak, but no physical clues to his disappearance. Time sweeps away memories and paper trails.
With the help of his cousin, Dr. Brigid MacGuire, and a woman dredging her own past, Cliodhna Fitz-Adams, Tal searches for answers to set his grandmother's - and his - mind at ease about Finn's disappearance.
Echoes from Irish lore, the Lost Colony, and the Virginia witch trials weave strains of an ancient melody as Tal discovers that time silences the past and nonconformity is a howl in the night.

248 pages, Paperback

Published April 5, 2021

About the author

Greg Lilly grew up in Bristol, Virginia then lived in Charlotte, North Carolina. The rich storytelling tradition of the South captivated him and he began writing. He first turned to creating short stories after plot lines and characters emerged from the technical manuals he wrote for a large family-owned corporation. His first novel, Fingering the Family Jewels – a Derek Mason Mystery, grew from those Charlotte experiences.

To escape the city and find a slower pace, he relocated to Sedona, Arizona for several years. During that time, his novels Devil's Bridge and Under a Copper Moon chronicled adventures of the high desert—present and past.

Scalping the Red Rocks is the next novel in the Derek Mason Mystery series and unites the Derek Mason characters with the lead characters of Devil's Bridge.

Greg’s non-fiction book is Sunsets & Semicolons – a Field Guide to the Writer’s Life. In the book, he shares his experiences and techniques – things that worked, not in academia or in New York City, but in the real world of freelancing and query letters and book signings. He has presented workshops and served on panels at the College of William & Mary's Christopher Wren Association, the Virginia Festival of the Book, the Virginia Writers Club, the World Bank in Washington D.C., Malice Domestic, Bouchercon, and the Sedona Arts Center in Sedona, Arizona. The kernel of the book came from requests for his workshop handouts and notes.

His latest novel, Stray, follows a son searching for his womanizer father who left almost 30 years before, a daughter grasping for her distant mother, and the shadows cast on them by the Lost Colony of Roanoke and Virginia’s witch trials.

Greg is a freelance writer, magazine editor, as well as a former Arts & Culture commissioner for the City of Sedona, Arizona, for the Williamsburg Area Arts Commission, and for the Abingdon Arts Commission. He serves on the Virginia Commission for the Arts’ Advisory Panel. Today, he writes and lives in the historic town of Abingdon in Southwestern Virginia.

His next book is a historical True Crime from Arcadia Publishing's The History Press scheduled for release in the summer of 2024.

Reviews

[Wade Lake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Greg Lilly's STRAY is a wonderful tale about brothers, cousins, grandparents, and a missing father. What exactly happened to Tal MacGuire's father is the mystery that propels the story; however, STRAY is, at its heart, a deep dive into the dynamics of a big family: Where do we come from? What makes us similar to the cast of characters that surrounds us. In Lilly's novel, that cast is masterfully drawn: the novel unfolds at a leisurely pace, over three distinct time periods, with attention to every character. Every person we encounter feels real. Their voices are identifiable, believable, genuine. As the story bits are sewn together to solve the mystery, the true depth of this seemingly simple tale becomes clear: the past is only barely and briefly submerged. Tides repeat. The rituals, tragedies, and love stories of yesterday go forward--continually--leaving a pattern like animal tracks along the sandy shore.

[Dawnna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Taliesin McGuire has a special request from his grandmother to please try and find out what happened to his long lost father. Tal wants to know too, but has a hard time putting the pieces of the puzzle together. He begins the journey and clue searching with his cousin Brigid and their new friend Cliodhna. It appears his father Finn, was quite the womanizer. The dialogue between the four, including Tal's grandmother, flows so well it takes you right there with them into the story. This was such a feel good and very enjoyable read. What happened to Finn? Will Tal be able to give his grandmother the answers she so desperately needs? I promise you'll have fun finding out - and there might just be some interesting folklore about a witch weaved throughout the story. I really enjoyed this novel!

[Melba · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful read, with many places that brought back great memories of high school days. I have enjoyed all Greg's books, and this one was no exception. It was like reading of family, friends & familiar haunts from my younger days.