The Devil to Pay (Canaan-Star Publishing) explores the question of
how a community of good people, attempting to do the right thing, fail
to see the evil growing among them, while some of them deliberately
cover it up.
In
Waterford, Ireland, in the 1930s, civil authority is bolstered by the
moral authority and dominance of the Catholic Church. Dunphy presents
six Irish boys growing up, each struggling in his own way to break free.
With a strong sense of fun and friendship shielding them, their
penchant for pranks exposes the hypocrisy and evil they meet. Their
innocence leaks away as they learn to deal with brutal teachers, greedy
priests and rapacious adults determined to bring them to heel.
When
one of the boys is cruelly murdered, it takes nearly fifty years for
his friends to bring someone to answer for the crimes in their
childhood. They have the evidence to prove the wrongdoings of the past,
but reprisals are threatened. Will they have the courage to do what's
right, no matter what the cost? Will they survive long enough to tell
the truth?
I had a chance to review the book, which really makes readers think about their own moral strength in the face of evil. If you've ever wondered how Germans could stand by during WWII, or how people can ignore the racism that exists right in front of them, this book gives insights on how that can happen. Dunphy's talent for portraying human
foibles, motivations and denial ultimately reveals that love, hope and
humor are our best hope for the future.
After
a lifetime involved in teaching, training and consulting, Ted Dunphy
now turns those wickedly sharp observational skills to work explaining
human behavior in his fiction. He holds an MA in Creative Writing from
Warwick University. An experienced life and business coach, he is
co-creator of the unique Coaching Plus program and an accredited trainer
in Emotional Intelligence (EI). He is also an NLP Master Practitioner, a
qualified clinical hypnotherapist and a psychometrics and leadership
profiler.
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