Dead Hand

Lourana and Darrick took down the dreaded coal barons in To the Bones, but it seems that Kavanaghs aren't done yet. The college-age son of Eamon Kavanagh has unexpectedly inherited not only the family's business empire but the family itself: generations of Kavanagh men whose spirits persist and who have now taken up residence in Rory's mind and body. As Lourana and Darrick try to shape a life together, they are attacked by Eamon through Rory, and flee the life-sucking Kavanaghs across Appalachia and then, in desperation and hope, to Ireland. The reluctant Rory is urged onward in the pursuit. He seeks the support of his late uncle Cormac in hopes of breaking free of this haunted legacy, even as he woos Lourana's daughter Dreama-who is Cormac's former girlfriend. The Kavanagh family's long-standing belief that they are descended from the kings of Leinster is tested at a sacred site in Ireland, with the assistance of a modern-day druid whose nature-based powers may not be all that he claims. There are old gods at work, and even older gods-Darrick's psychic powers like the Kavanaghs' are rooted in ancient Ireland. As Rory struggles against his brutal forebears, Darrick and Lourana find their love tested anew, until they are all brought together in a terrifying battle between the forces of light and dark, creation and destruction.