U. Cronin

THE GROTTO

U. Cronin

Is minic cuma aingeal ar an Diabhal féinThere is often the look of an angel on the Devil himself – old Irish expression

THE GROTTO

160,000 words 450 pages Supernatural suspense Available through

Amazon, Smashwords, iTunes, Barnes and Noble, Sony and many other ebookshops

THE GROTTO

The Grotto in a Nutshell

A statue of the Virgin Mary in a Lourdes grotto outside a small village in Ireland begins to move

Huge crowds flock to the village (Loughermore) Strange things begin to happen around Loughermore

Animal mutilations Abductions Ritualistic murders

Readers learn that An Entity inside the statue is behind everything A group of men calling themselves ‘The Guardians’

has come under the Entity’s control and are carrying out its commands

The Grotto in a Nutshell

Mac and his friends discover what’s going on They learn from the exiled Fr. Morrison:

The origin of the Entity An aes sídhe of the Tuatha Dé Danann

How to combat the Entity using the magic from stone circles

The Entity requires blood sacrifices to escape from the statue and assume physical from

As The Guardians strive to provide the Entity with human victims, an epic struggle between good and evil ensues

Background – Moving Statue Fever

Summer 1985 A statue of the Virgin

begins to move in Ballinspittle, Co. Cork

This very soon becomes a national and international sensation

Later in the year the phenomenon spreads all around Ireland Every town and village

has its own moving statue

Characters in The Grotto - Goodies

Mac – The hero Thirty-something environmental scientist Sceptical, honourable, brave

O’Malley – Mac’s best friend Loud, brash, big-hearted, incorrigible slagger

Rob and Katie – A couple, the other half of the ‘famous four’ Rob is the action hero, Katie the organiser

Sadhbh – Local girl that the ‘famous four’ befriend in the course of investigation Bubbly, funny, irreverent, fearless

More Goodies

Fr. Tola – Folklorist, wise man Fr. Morrison – Mystic, demonologist,

antiquarian Unique insight into moving statues and the

entities behind them Teaches Mac and co. how to master the

magic of stone circles Mossy McDonagh – Naturalist, Traveller

Resourceful, quick-witted Supt. Fergal Gallagher – Police

superintendent for Macroom district Rigorous, fair-minded, determined

Characters in The Grotto - Baddies

The Guardians Six men from Loughermore Ostensibly pillars of the community Led by the cruel and sinister Enda Bannon Fall under the Entity’s control at a very early

stage Graduate from animal mutilations to human

sacrifices Kitty Boyle

Loughermore parish priest’s housekeeper Pat Landy

Corrupt and disgraced former government minister and MEP

Places in The Grotto

Loughermore Fictitious village in

northwest Co. Cork, Ireland

Pop. 3-400, a couple of bars, a shop, a petrol station

A large Lourdes grotto just outside the village, set into a hill

Macroom Nearest big town to

Loughermore and home of Sadhbh

Lively, picturesque market town

Places in The Grotto

Ennis, Co. Clare, Ireland Home to Mac,

O’Malley, Rob and Katie

Charming, medieval town of laneways and pubs

Famed for its traditional music

Places in The Grotto

Vitoria Capital of the Spanish

Basque Country Extensive medieval

quarter of winding cobblestone streets, ancient plazas, palaces and chapels

Famed for its gastronomy

Close to the Rioja region

Home to Fr. Morrison

Places in The Grotto

Musheramore mountains Dark, mysterious

mountains north of Loughermore and Macroom

It is here among its deep, lonely woods that the Guardians operate

Also here that Mac stumbles into Knocknakilla stone circle and inadvertently learns how to harness its magic

Stone Circles

Knocknakilla Stone circle complex

west of Macroom It is here where Mac

discovers he has the power to channel stone circles

Mendiluze Sun-wheel stone circle

in province of Alava in Basque country

Fr. Morrison teaches the gang to channel here

Stone Circles

Reanerre Well-preserved five-stone

ring between Millstreet and Macroom

Carrigagulla Set in an elbow of the

River Laney Deep in the countryside

an Seisear Six stone alignment Legend says each stone

is a petrified wrong-doer

About the Author – U. Cronin

From Ennis, Co. Clare, Ireland Now lives in Madrid, Spain The Grotto is his first novel Is currently working on his

second novel

Blog: http://ucronin.wordpress.com/

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About me: http://about.me/ucronin