Spotlight
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- $2.99
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- $2.99
Publisher Description
On January 6, 1972, ten-year-old Devin O'Keefe takes part in a peaceful demonstration march through the Catholic ghetto of Bogside, Northern Ireland—never suspecting that the demonstration is doomed to become Bloody Sunday, and that he will watch the British Army kill his brother along with twelve other defenseless marchers. Wounded in the arm himself, Devin vows revenge on his British oppressors—and steps into a cycle of violence that will leave him with a shattered family and an empty heart.
Eighteen years later, Devin has become an earnest rock-n-roller who uses his songs to relate the horrors he's seen to an international audience of millions. His American tour photographer, Fonda Blayne, is falling in love with him—but she has no idea that his brooding silences may be rooted in a very real danger. Devin hopes that he's left the violence of his homeland in the past—but some very powerful and deadly forces are hoping to take advantage of his life in the spotlight...
"This beautiful and poignant tale of trauma and triumph is written with such style I found myself held captive with each word. SPOTLIGHT is an engrossing tale of horrifying proportion and bittersweet victory. Carole Bellacera has an impeccable talent as a story-teller with writing skills to match." --Karen Williams, Rhapsody Magazine, July 2000
"Rarely has a book about the pop music scene grabbed me from the prologue and held me so totally immersed through the epilogue...This is one wonderful, awesome book...Ms. Bellacera showcases her wonderful skills as a writer with her dialogue, plotline, and characters. This author's talent is extraordinary and her obvious love of the Irish puts her storytelling on a par with the likes of Nora Roberts." --Betty Cox, Writers Club Romance Group on AOL
"Last year, Carole Bellacera proved that she was a talent to watch. Now she is back in a big way, with another timely, emotional and thought provoking story. Ireland's troubled history plays a key role in this totally gripping drama." --Jill Smith, Romantic Times Top Pick, 4 1/2 stars
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Contemporary Irish politics, the popular music scene and thwarted romance are the key ingredients in Bellacera's passionate if over-the-top second novel (after Border Crossings). Devin O'Keefe, lead singer for an Irish rock group, was mentally and physically scarred by his youth during the "Troubles" of Northern Ireland. Although committed to peace, Devin is pressured into marriage with IRA terrorist Caitlyn McManus, who is soon sentenced to life imprisonment and tortured by the British for her role in a department store bombing. For the sake of Devin's career, his manager, Ian Brinegar, persuades Devin to lie and claim that Caitlyn died in the bombing. When Devin meets ambitious American rock journalist Fonda Blayne, sparks fly. Though she is still mourning the death of her twin brother, a policeman shot on the job, she jumps at an offer from Brinegar to travel with the band, photograph its U.S. tour and produce a "pictorial" book about it. But there is trouble ahead. Bram Gradeighy, a roadie who is in love with Devin's sister, Bonnie, harbors a mysterious secret. Fonda's 16-year-old sister, Jessie, unable to get along with their father, comes to join Fonda on tour, and becomes overly involved with another roadie. Caitlyn escapes from jail and involves Ian in arms smuggling. And the laws of the Republic of Ireland, which preclude divorce, tempt Devin into proposing to Fonda while he is still secretly married. The overstuffed plot bursts its seams toward the end, and Bellacera's dialogue tends to the mawkish, but fans of unpretentious, no-holds-barred melodrama may be intrigued.
