I’ve had pretty good luck with debut novels of late, but I
leave Stina Leicht’s “Of Blood and Honey” ($14.99, Night Shade Books) with
mixed feelings.
The story focuses on Liam Kelly, a young man growing up in
the turmoil of the 1970s in Ireland. Liam is a Puca, a shapeshifter of Irish
legend, only he doesn’t know it. He’s grown up with a stepfather and other
members of his family who don’t really like him. He’s been told his father was
Protestant, while is family is devoutly Catholic, and he assumes that’s the
reason. Other than his mother, the only two people who really seem to care
about Liam are a local priest, Father Murray, and a neighborhood girl named
Mary Kate. Both, though, will end up getting him in trouble.
Father Murray carries secrets that are important to Liam’s
very survival. Mary Kate comes from a staunchly Republican family and is a
regular at demonstrations and protests. At these demonstrations, Liam is
arrested by British troops and imprisoned without trial twice for no greater
crime than being in the wrong place at the wrong time. During his first stint
in prison, he discovers that there’s something lurking within him that’s not
quite human. During the second, his non-political outlook on life changes and
he volunteers for the IRA.