Dylan's Song by P.M.Terrell Review!!

About the Book

Dylan Maguire returns to his native Ireland with psychic spy Vicki Boyd. Their mission: to locate and extract a CIA Agent who disappeared in Dublin while on the trail of a known terrorist. But when Dylan receives word that his grandmother is dying, he is plunged into a past he thought he’d left behind forever. His mission and the dark secrets he’d sought to keep hidden begin to merge into an underworld that could cost him his life. He must now confront his past demons and the real reason he left Ireland—while Vicki harbors a secret of her own.

Suspense Magazine says, “p.m.terrell’s writing is powerfully written and masterfully suspenseful; you have to hang on for the ride of your life.” Midwest Book Review says theBlack Swamp Mysteries series is “page-turning action, unforgettable characters, breathtaking descriptions and unexpected plot twists.” And syndicated reviewer Marcia Freespirit says the series is “riveting, spell-binding, sexy and intense!”

About the Author

p.m.terrell is the award-winning, internationally acclaimed author of more than 16 books. Vicki's Key, one of the first books in the Black Swamp Mysteries series, was one of five finalists in the 2012 International Book Awards (Mystery/Suspense) and 2012 USA Best Book Awards (Mystery/Suspense.) River Passage, an historical work based on her ancestor's migration to Fort Nashborough in 1779-1780, won the 2010 Best Fiction & Drama Award. The Nashville (TN) Metropolitan Government Archives determined it to be so historically accurate that they entered the original manuscript into their Archives for future researchers and historians.

Prior to becoming a full-time author in 2002, terrell founded and operated two computer companies in the Washington, DC area. Her clients included the United States Secret Service, CIA, Department of Defense and federal and local law enforcement. Her specialty is in the areas of computer crime and computer intelligence. Her experience in these areas have greatly influenced her books' plots.

She is the co-founder of The Book 'Em Foundation, whose slogan is "Buy a Book and Stop a Crook" and whose mission is to raise awareness of the link between high crime rates and high illiteracy rates. She founded Book 'Em North Carolina Writers Conference and Book Fair, an annual event to raise money to increase literacy and reduce crime.

For more information on Book 'Em North Carolina, visit www.bookemnc.org and www.bookemnc.blogspot.com.

Read an Excerpt!!

Dylan’s boot slipped on a hold too tenuous and he hugged the wall as pebbles rained below. He made a mental note as though he might forget that this would be his only attempt at rock climbing. There was nothing even remotely fun about it.

The rope rubbed uncomfortably against his torso through the thick wool turtleneck and the leather jacket and he wished he hadn’t tied it so tightly. He’d been concerned it wouldn’t hold but now he felt its heat and coarseness.

“Dylan!” Stephen whispered hoarsely.

Dylan looked upward; he might have been a mere twelve inches from the top but it may as well have been twelve more feet. “Aye?”

“The ledge isn’t going to hold.”

“What?”

“It’s been shifting as you’ve climbed. I thought it was embedded pretty well into the earth but…” His voice faded as he inspected the ledge.

Dylan forced his body against the wall until his cheek was pressed against the cold stone. It felt good against his skin; he was overheated and fatigued and the iciness helped in some strange way to calm him. “What might you suggest I’d be doin’ at this point?” He called up.

“You can’t untie the rope, I suppose?”

Dylan might have laughed if he’d had any sense of humor left in him. The truth was he was terrified to move; as long as he’d continued upward, concentrating on the next hold and the one after that, he’d been able to keep his fear in check. But now as he continued to press his body against the wall, he felt too large, too heavy and too clumsy. “No,” he managed to say. “I’m thinkin’ untyin’ the rope isn’t an option at the moment.”

“We’ll have to cut it.”

A moment passed. He expected to feel the rope dropping off below him but it never happened.

“You have the knife, Dylan,” Stephen said quietly.

Dylan pressed his cheek against the wall until it hurt. “Ooh,” he groaned.

“Can you toss the bag up to me?”

He forced himself to look upward. Twelve inches. Maybe more. It was too far for him to throw his arms over the edge. He needed just one more finger hold; one more toehold. The rope dangled; there was slack to it.

“Tell me,” he said, “why is the ledge movin’ if there’s slack?”

“When you’re climbing, you’re depending on the rope to hold you.”

“And if I didn’t?”

“You haven’t fallen yet, have you?”

He processed this for a moment. “And if I started to fall now?”

“The ledge would come with you.”

“Christ Almighty.” He took a deep breath, exhaled sharply and inhaled once more. Then with a guttural groan, he forced one hand away from the stone as he sought frantically for another hold. He scrambled up the side of the wall, his boots slipping and sliding against the slick rock, until he had both arms over the side.

There was nothing but peat and the ledge and as he struggled to haul himself onto firm ground, he realized he had no choice but to depend on the ledge.

“It won’t hold, Dylan,” Stephen cautioned.

A wicked clap of thunder shocked the night air. A flash of blue light streaked across the black sky, momentarily lighting the ground beyond him.

He grasped the edge of the ledge and pulled with the entire weight of his body. As his torso cleared the opening, the stone teetered away from him and then toward him. He forced one knee over the edge as it shifted downward suddenly, pinning his remaining leg beneath it.

My Thoughts
"The mists of Ireland were something alive, something that could soothe a man's soul or destroy it; something that cloaked a man when he wanted to be hidden or obscured that which he needed to see. It could soak into the bones on the coldest of days or sweeten the skin in the warmest of hours." ...pg 276 of Dylan's Song

I think that the above quote from the end of Dylan's Song pretty much describes most of the story. Dylan's Song is the fourth in the series "Black Swamp Mysteries". The bogs of Ireland have always been one of the most mystical places in Ireland I think, because no one really knows what secrets the bogs may hold. One of these secrets is the premise of the story. Dylan is a CIA operative and he and Vicki, who is a CIA spy with psychic abilities, are sent on a mission to Ireland to rescue a man who is somehow hidden in the bogs, a victim of a kidnapping. Dylan does not want to ever go back to Ireland because of past events in his life. He probably would not have gone back either if it was not for the fact that his grandmother was dying. So along with Vicki and her sister, Brenda, they are headed to Ireland. The mission is fraught with danger as the bogs can be a very dangerous place. There are other dangers of course waiting for Dylan and he does his best to keep his secrets from Vicki, but Vicki has a secret of her own.

Dylan's Song is an exciting mystery that has romance, danger, modern technology along with the beauty of Ireland and it's culture that will please any reader who has read the previous three books in the series or even if you haven't like me. I loved the suspense and the wonderful love between Dylan and Vicki and the snarkiness of Brenda. I could just picture the village portrayed in the story and feel the the mists and smell the peat from the bogs. I highly recommend this series.

I received a copy for review and was not monetarily compensated for my review.