Timmy Quinn Runs from Ghosts in Vessels:
“. . . he would never be free of the dead, never be free of their hunger for vengeance, never be able to crawl out from beneath the shadow of their world.”
“Someone living is controlling the deadworld?”
Ohio horror author Kealan Patrick Burke traps Tim Quinn in a nightmarish world plagued by vengeful ghosts with no way to escape — lest he become a ghost himself.
Remember, click the mouse on the book covers to get your free copy of The Turtle Boy, The Hides and Vessels from Kealan Patrick Burke’s website — now, before they disappear.
TITLE:
VESSELS
WRITER:
by Kealan Patrick Burke
SERIES:
Timmy Quinn Series #3
PUBLISHER:
Bloodletting Press
LENGTH:
137pp.
GENRE:
Horror Fiction,
DESCRIPTORS:
Murder, Suicide, Good vs. Evil, Ghosts, Revenge, Horror Novel, The Stage, The Curtain, Small Town Communities, Blackrock Island, Ireland, The Catholic Church Clergy, Promiscuity, Pregnancy, Family, Love, Hate, Sociopath,
CHARACTERS:
Timmy Quinn, A boy who can see and interact with ghosts, although he doesn’t know it yet.
Mr. Paul Quinn, Timmy’s beloved father.
Mrs. Sandra Quinn, Timmy’s beloved mother.
Kim Barnes, Timmy’s old friend and the woman he loves.
Agnes Noonan., An elderly lady who lives on Blackrock.
Sergeant O’ Dowd, The law on Blackrock Island.
Father Edmund Brennan, Also called “The Scholar” The latest ghost who demands Timmy’s help.
Bernie Lohan, An elderly ferryman.
Madigan, The bartender, he owns Madigan’s.
Peregrine The mysterious puppeteer.
SUMMARY:
Tim is over thirty years old. For many years he has been estranged from both his family and Kim Barnes in an effort to protect them. Everywhere Tim goes his presence opens the curtain and the ghosts of the murdered come and use him to exact revenge upon the living.
In the meantime, Tim’s father, now a priest in Los Angeles, offers one last hope of sanctuary — the one place where a murder has never been committed — Blackrock Island, off the coast of Ireland.
Then Tim’s father kills himself.
At first the island seems perfect.
The inhabitants keep to themselves and Tim does the same.
Not until he until he finds an abandoned boat off the coast, does Tim actually seek out the inhabitants — at a tavern called Madigan’s — where he warns the locals that someone’s curragh has gotten loose.
What he gets in return is the unwanted attention of Sergeant O’Dowd.
After that interrogation, Tim passes an old chapel on his way home. Reluctantly, Tim enters and encounters a ghost of Father Edmund Brennan who calls itself The Scholar. The ghost demands his turn at revenge and Tim refuses.
Then it makes Tim an offer: release the fetters that bind him to the chapel and the Scholar will see that Tim gets to visit with his dead father. Tim still refuses and is found later, an unconscious bloody mess.
After another interrogation by O’Dowd, Time returns home to discover Kim Barnes waiting for him — this time, she says, never to leave his side.
And that’s when all unholy hell breaks loose.
APPEAL:
Originally published by Bloodletting Press on November 21, 2006 as a hardcover novella, Vessels which is, in my opinion, the most powerful of the stories in the Timmy Quinn Series so far.
Last year Kealan Patrick Burke made Vessels, along with the other two books in the series, available as a free download from his website. Vessels is available as a PDF document which you can read with the help of a free program called Adobe Acrobat Reader. There is no artwork and the layout is typical word processor. Not beautiful but not an impediment if you want the story. And you do want the story.
The Turtle Boy begins the life of Timmy Quinn from the Summer his power first manifested at Lake Myers in Delaware, Ohio. The Hides begins Timmy’s quest to escape the ghosts that use him and begins to reveal disturbing information about their true nature. Vessels sets in motion the grand plan of the mysterious Peregrine and leaving Timmy with no other alternative but to hunt him down.
Kealan Patrick Burke reveals more about the nature of the ghosts behind the curtain — including something that not even the ghosts themselves suspected. Each revelation builds upon the other which makes discovering the next as much motivation to continue reading as reaching the end of the plot.
Things change in this book. Not only will Timmy never be the same again, the entire world may well be altered — for good or bad — only the final book will tell. Moreover, Kealan really puts the thumbscrews to Timmy as murder and even suicide will risk bringing him back as a murderous ghost.
As bad as things will get — and they’re already pretty bad — he has no way out and no way to quit.
The characterization is masterfully done, particularly in the exchanges between Tim and Sergeant O’ Dowd. The give and take, probing and repelling in their conversations made those sections a thrill to read.
At this time, The Turtle Boy is sold out, as is The Hides and the third book Vessels could sell out at any time.
However, for the last year and for a while longer, you can get all three books as free downloads from Kealan’s website. Click here to find and download all three books in the Timmy Quinn series If you read it, you’re invited to tell Mr. Burke what you thought of it on his blog: Something Stirs.
If you want a free copy, please hurry. I suspect one day they’ll be taken down and then you’ll be out of luck. Make no mistake, this is some of the best horror reading you’ll do all year and it’s available only for a limited time.
WHAT DO I READ NEXT:
The Turtle Boy: Peregrine’s Tale which will be published this month by Cemetery Dance Publications and is still available at the Horror Mall. It tells the tale of the mysterious Peregrine and, I believe, sets the stage for the final book — tentatively called Nemesis — which hasn’t been announced yet.
Additional Posts:
A Present from Kealan Patrick Burke
A Gift I’d Love: Master of the Moors
March’s Book Cover Spotlight: Seldom Seen in August
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