‘Follows a successful architect whose carefully constructed life is turned on its head when a malevolent stranger arrives unexpectedly at her lighthouse home’
– The Dying Time
[ About The Dying Time ]
Architect Kate O’Connor appears to have it all. A lighthouse home, a successful politician husband and an eight-year-old daughter. Yet everything is not as it seems.
A snowstorm approaches, and with it arrives a menacing stranger whose presence will change everything. A haunted man, driven by destiny, set to wreak havoc on Kate’s carefully constructed life. Over the course of twenty-four hours, as intersecting lives tragically collide, Kate discovers that everything she holds dear is in peril.
Isolated by the unrelenting storm, in a desperate race against time, Kate and her family face a battle of wits with the highest stakes. Their lives.
[ My Review ]
The Dying Time by Anthony Carragher published April 28th with The Book Guild and is described as ‘a gripping psychological thriller, set on Ireland’s rugged Atlantic coast’. Kate O’Connor stepped back from her life as a successful architect and now lives with her husband and daughter in a converted lighthouse on the west coast of Ireland. Her husband Peter, is a politician at a European level and is away from home quite a lot, leaving Kate alone. Their relationship has become fractured over the years and Kate has decided that they need to finally face up to the fact that their marriage is over.
She organises for her daughter to have a sleepover and prepares herself for the inevitable difficult conversation that’s to follow but Kate is unprepared for the weather that is approaching. As the storm picks up momentum, it soon becomes clear that Peter is going to have difficulty making it home safe so Kate settles down for the evening as best she can. The local town is under a warning so Kate is surprised when there is a knock on the door. When Kate opens the door, she unwittingly exposes her family to real danger.
Over the next twenty-four hours, Kate’s life is thrown into turmoil with her family unit on the verge of destruction. This stranger has a story to tell, one with fateful consequences that will tear Kate’s world apart. As the storm rages, Kate is faced with some traumatic information and with a threat that could destroy everything she holds dear. Isolated and vulnerable Kate is forced to take part in an unusual activity that can really only have one outcome. Has Kate the strength to survive? Can she save her loved ones? What is the price she will have to pay?
The Dying Time is quite an atmospheric novel that moves along at a heady pace, but you do need to accept some of the bizarre events that transpire in order to enjoy the tale. Anthony Carragher has written a solid debut which bodes well for what he writes next. An interesting new talent in Irish fiction!
[ Bio ]
Anthony Carragher was born in Dublin, Ireland. An investment professional for over twenty years, he now devotes himself full-time to writing.
His bestselling sports book Lost? won a Dublin People book award and received critical acclaim.
The Dying Time is his debut novel. Anthony lives in Dublin.
