KEVIN NEAL, at the foot of the Blackstairs Mountains, fails to bait a Púca to fight. In this compelling, heartrending, Irish coming-of-age story, he learns too well what it costs when monsters are unleashed.Decades before the great famine, the youngest Neal boy survives the war, but believes he has lost everyone. When he locates a childhood friend-Anastasia Kelly, he learns that she has become aloof and part of a different world. ANTY is as much a stranger to him as the tenants around an abbey by the seashore. The orphans try to hide from the past, but the violence encircling threatens what little they have left.Can the orphans survive the wake of an Irish rebellion and the troubles unleashed? And, how does a boy fight a thing that tears apart the living and cuts through bone, without alerting a corrupt gentry and the sheriff's men?Lawrence P. O'Brien's character-rich debut novel is a gripping, historical adult fantasy steeped in folklore, mystery, adventure, and romance. Clochan is an exploration of friendship, loss, and loyalty on a journey well-worth taking. Lawrence was raised across from a hill shadowing Black Rapids Creek in Ottawa, Canada. The towering toboggan hill fed an early appetite for challenge, tall tales and doing the impossible. The black forested river valley set his dreams.He spends his days as a Systems Analyst and Technical Architect for Security and Intelligence concerns. The days long past in another life as sailor, hard rock miner, surveyor, logger and even a carpenter influence his writings. His debut novel "CLOCHÁN", which was published in the Fall of 2021, will be followed by "WRIGHTS". The latter is scheduled for release in 2022.
