Friday, March 25, 2016

Book Nook: The Devil to Pay

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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