Sacrifice: A Celtic Adventure

by Philip Freeman

Overview

SOMEONE IS KILLING THE NUNS OF IRELAND.

The grisly discovery of an elderly sister of Saint Brigid’s monastery strangled, bled dry,

and thrown into a bog is just the beginning. Soon a beautiful young nun is found decapitated

and hung from a barren tree. It doesn’t take long before the members of the struggling

monastic community of Kildare realize that not only are the nuns being hunted by a serial

killer, but the murderer is performing the gruesome slayings in the manner of the ancient

druidic sacrifi ces.

Set in the turmoil of sixth-century Ireland, where ruthless tribal kings wage constant

war for survival and the powerful religious order of the druids is threatened by the newly

arrived Christian church, the desperate task of fi nding the killer falls to Sister Deirdre, a

young woman torn between the world of the monastery and her own druidic heritage. Unless

Deirdre can fi nd the killer before the cycle of sacrifi ces is complete, more of her friends

will die, the monastery will face destruction, and the whole of Ireland may be plunged into

civil war.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781681772486
Publisher:	Pegasus Books
Publication date:	12/20/2016
Series:	Sister Deirdre Mysteries Series , #2
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.60(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

PHILIP FREEMAN received his PhD in Classics and Celtic Studies at Harvard University and holds the Qualley Chair of Classical Languages at Luther College. He is the author of thirteen books, including St. Patrick of Ireland, Julius Caesar, and Alexander the Great. He is also the author of Saint Brigid's Bones, the prequel to Sacrifice. Philip lives in Decorah, Iowa.

Editorial Reviews

“This is a goodly yarn, complete with its fascinating and colorful historical and cultural context, not to mention its dangers and horrors.”—The Providence Journal

“All books about Celtic heritage should be this readable. I hope to hear more of Deirdre in the future.”—The Irish American News

“Freeman drives a quick pace with characters that are well-crafted and dynamic. His writing and sense of place and time easily set the reader in an ancient Ireland so foreign yet incredibly familiar.”—Historical Novels Review

From the Publisher

A fascinating look into the world of druids and
Christians in sixth-century Ireland. I put his work up there with Rosemary
Sutcliff’s wonderful novels. I was drawn into the imagery and pacing and hope there is more of Deidre to come.

Suspense Magazine

Freeman drives a quick pace with characters that are well-crafted and dynamic. His writing and sense of place and time easily set the reader in an ancient Ireland so foreign yet incredibly familiar.

Historical Novels Review

This is a goodly yarn, complete with its fascinating and colorful historical and cultural context, not to mention its dangers and horrors, a good start to what looks to be a good mystery series.

The Providence Journal

A lively and lucid biography.

The New York Times (on 'St. Patrick of Ireland')

Philip Freeman creates convincing characters who use realistic dialogue. All books about Celtic Heritage should be this readable. I hope to hear more of Deidre in the future.

The Irish American News

The pacing and suspense were very well stylized, and I was happy to see that Philip Freeman plans on publishing a second novel featuring the lively Sister Deirdre.

Historical Novel Society

2015-07-29
It's druids versus Christians in a series of ritual murders that rend sixth-century Ireland. Although Deirdre became a nun after the death of her young son, she still retains her status as a druidic bard. She's worked to find a balance between being a sister of holy Brigid and her allegiance to her beloved grandmother, a well-respected seer who raised her in druid traditions. But not everyone is happy with Deirdre's double loyalty. Sister Anna, the abbess of St. Brigid's monastery, seems even more mistrustful when Sister Grainne, an elderly hermit, is found in a bog, garroted with the lanyard of her own cross and with her throat slit. Father Ailbe, who doubles as a physician and rattles off medical terminology with the ease of a modern forensic scientist, reports that Grainne was drugged with mistletoe juice and was in a peaceful coma before her death. Hers is only the first of many murders of nuns, all killed according to rituals of druidic sacrifice. One of the victims is the daughter of a powerful clan leader who demands revenge on the druids. Fearing a rift between Christian and druid and outright warfare among the clans, King Dúnlaing turns to Deirdre, who not only has a foot in both religious camps, but also lives in Kildare, midway between the eastern and western clans. As his designated detective, she has more time to follow his orders (and apparently to invent the Irish alphabet) after Sister Anna expels her from the monastery. When Deirdre's cousin, another solitary nun, is attacked, she denounces her assailant as the murderer. He doesn't deny it, even if it means being burned at the stake. But just when Christians and druids alike think it's safe to leave their daub-and-wattle huts, another murder proves how wrong they are—and Deirdre must summon all her courage to face the threats to herself, her family, and her community. Despite Freeman's earnest enthusiasm for his subject, this sequel to St. Brigid's Bones (2014) works marginally better as a mystery than as a historical novel.

Kirkus Reviews