I have been looking forward to this next installment in The Moth and Moon series for quite some time. Quigley’s writing is superb, transporting you back in history. If you enjoy coastal settings, complete with salty air breezes, warm cable-knit sweaters, and the smell of old docks, this is the set of books for you. If that doesn’t sound intriguing, well then, we simply can’t be friends.
Honestly – go get these books. They’re brilliant.
Title: We Cry The Sea
Author: Glenn Quigley
Series: The Moth and Moon, book 3
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: March 15, 2021
Length: 375 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Blurb:
After the explosive events of The Lion Lies Waiting, life has returned to normal for burly fisherman Robin Shipp. That is until the innkeeper of the ancient Moth & Moon approaches him with a surprising proposal, and an unexpected arrival brings some shocking news that sends Robin on a perilous journey alone.
While he’s away, his lover, Edwin, anxiously prepares for the birth of his first child with his friend, Iris. Her wife, Lady Eva, must travel to Blackrabbit Island for a showdown over the future of the family business. Meanwhile, Duncan nurses an injured man back to health but as the two grow close, the island’s new schoolmaster makes his amorous intentions clear.
Robin’s search for answers to the questions that have haunted his entire life will take him away from everyone he knows, across a dangerous ocean, and into the very heart of a floating pirate stronghold. Pushed to his limits, Robin’s one last chance at finding the truth will cost him more than he ever imagined.
Excerpt:
With a terrifying crack that landed like a lightning strike, the boat splintered against rocky outcrops, and its occupant was flung into the water. Without a moment’s thought, Robin ditched his cap, overcoat, and jumper. He hopped around, pulling off his boots, before diving into the sea. Edwin followed suit. They splashed about in the choppy waters, unable to find the man.
“Robin!” Duncan said. “Over there! To your right! No, the other way… Starboard, man! Starboard!”
Robin kicked his massive legs furiously to avoid being dashed against the rocks himself. With one deep breath, he dived beneath the surface to search where Duncan had indicated, but there was no sign. Underwater, Edwin was pointing furiously. Robin turned to find the figure of a man floating limply. Together, he and Edwin grabbed the victim and brought him to the surface. Robin’s lungs were burning, and he gasped for air.
Once ashore, they lay the drowning man on his back. He was breathing and coughed up some seawater. Blood poured from his left eye, dying part of his white beard crimson. He was huge, as big as Robin himself. A crowd gathered around them. Robin brushed the man’s lank hair away from the wound.
“Easy, easy,” Robin said. “You’re safe now. What… Wait. Vince?”
“Hello, brother,” Vince said. His usually growling voice was weak and cracked.
“Let’s get him to the inn,” Edwin said.
“No,” Vince said, grabbing firmly onto Robin’s arm. “Too many people.”
“We’ll take you to my ’ouse, then,” Robin said. “It’s not far.”
They loaded Vince onto a borrowed cart and took him up the steep slope of Anchor Rise. He placed one huge arm across Edwin’s shoulders, the other across Robin’s, and together they all sidled through the blue front door of Robin’s home. Scarlet dots gathered on the black and white tiles of the hallway floor as blood dripped from Vince’s eye, yet still he stared at the oil painting on the upstairs landing. Once inside Robin’s front room, they put him by the fireplace and wrapped bandages around his head and leg. They would have to do until Doctor Greenaway could be summoned.
“I didn’t recognise you under all the hair,” Duncan said.
“Haven’t had much chance to get it cut,” Vince said. “Been busy.”
“Too busy to visit us, like you said you would.”
“Here now, aren’t I?”
Edwin handed him a mug of water and Vince sipped it, then pawed at his throat, obviously in some discomfort.
“How did you end up running aground?” Duncan asked.
Vince sipped his drink again but said nothing.
Robin frowned. “Vince? Did you ’ear ’im? What—”
Edwin coughed and placed his hand on Robin’s arm. “Let’s just give him time to get his head clear. He’s obviously had a terrible shock.”
Robin had only met Vince once before, around the same time he’d injured his hand. Before then, he didn’t even know he had a brother. They’d promised to stay in touch, and they did, after a fashion. A couple of short letters had been exchanged but nothing more.
“Well, you can stay ’ere as long as you like, of course,” he said. “My ’ome is your ’ome.”
“How’s he going to manage all those stairs with his leg the way it is?” Duncan asked. “You’d be better off staying with me, I suppose.”
Vince growled something approaching gratitude. “Help me up,” he said.
“You don’t ’ave to go right now,” Robin said, as he once more he let Vince lean on him.
“Hallway,” Vince said.
Robin guided him back out onto the black and white tiles. Vince pointed at the painting upstairs.
“Who’s he?”
“Oh, right, you never met ’im. It’s our dad, Captain Erasmus Shipp,” Robin said. “It were painted a few years before ’e died.”
Vince shook his head. “Can’t be Dad.”
“Why not?”
“Because just this morning, I saw that man in Wolfe-Chase Asylum.”
Purchase Links:
Meet The Author:
Glenn Quigley is an author and artist originally from Dublin and now living in Lisburn, Northern Ireland. He designs for www.themoodybear.com. When not writing or designing, he tries to improve his portraiture skills.
J.P. Jackson 