In 1919 Dublin, 12-year-old Shanley Keagan is left with his uncle after
his mother dies. At her death, she told Shan that his real father was a U.S.
sailor. With nothing for them in Ireland, Shan's uncle accepts an offer to sail to
the United States, where Shan has dreams of locating his father in New York.
Befriended by young Nick Capello while on board the ship, Shan is welcomed
into the Capello's home and made to feel like a part of their family. Shan and
Nick are close until after high school when Shan goes to work in the Capella
plumbing business, while Nick pursues another line of work. This shift in their
relationship leads to circumstances that irreparably change the bond between
them and test Shan to the extreme.
THE EDGE OF LOST by Kristina McMorris is the compelling tale of a smart,
educated and talented Irish lad who uses all these attributes to survive as he
traverses a rocky journey through life. Shanley Keagan is an unlikely hero, but
his inherent decency and resolute perseverance through dreadful adversity
mold him into a unique protagonist. Shan's tale grabs readers from the very
start and doesn't let up until the dynamic conclusion. Historical details give THE
EDGE OF LOST even more dimension and a vivid imagery of the time and
locales. THE EDGE OF LOST is another work of genius by the talented Kristina
McMorris.
From New York Times bestselling author Kristina McMorris
comes an ambitious and heartrending story of immigrants,
deception, and second chances.
On a cold night in October 1937, searchlights cut through
the darkness around Alcatraz. A prison guard's only
daughter--one of the youngest civilians who lives on the
island--has gone missing. Tending the warden's
greenhouse,
convicted bank robber Tommy Capello waits anxiously. Only
he
knows the truth about the little girl's whereabouts, and
that both of their lives depend on the search's outcome.
Almost two decades earlier and thousands of miles away, a
young boy named Shanley Keagan ekes out a living as an
aspiring vaudevillian in Dublin pubs. Talented and
shrewd,
Shan dreams of shedding his dingy existence and finding
his
real father in America. The chance finally comes to cross
the Atlantic, but when tragedy strikes, Shan must summon
all
his ingenuity to forge a new life in a volatile and
foreign
world.
Skillfully weaving these two stories, Kristina McMorris
delivers a compelling novel that moves from Ireland to
New
York to San Francisco Bay. As her finely crafted
characters
discover the true nature of loyalty, sacrifice, and
betrayal, they are forced to confront the lies we tell--
and
believe--in order to survive.
Excerpt
Alcatraz Island
October 1937
Fog encircled the island, a strangling grip, as search
efforts mounted. In the moonless sky, dark clouds forged
a dome over the icy currents of San Francisco Bay.
“You two check the docks,” shouted Warden Johnston, his
voice muffled by rain and howling wind. “We’ll take the
lighthouse. The rest of you spread out.”
More people traded directives, divvying up territory.
They were off-duty guards and teenage sons who called
Alcatraz their home, an odd place where a maze of fencing
and concrete kept families of the prison staff safe from
the country’s most notorious criminals.
At least in theory.
From inside the warden’s greenhouse, inmate 257 strained
to listen—that was his number. Even his coveralls bore a
stamp of his designation, branded like cattle. The beam
of a searchlight brushed past the glass-lined walls.
Over and over in the dankness of his cell he had
envisioned this very scene. Had seen it as clear as the
picture shows he grew up watching in Brooklyn. The Mark
of Zorro, he recalled. It was the first swashbuckler he’d
ever viewed on the silver screen. The film was silent,
long before talkies became all the rage, but the action
and suspense had quickened his pulse, gripped his lungs.
Same as now.
He drew a breath, let it out. Raindrops grew insistent.
They tapped the ceiling like fifty anxious fingers.
Seventy. A hundred.
“Eh! Capello!”
His heart jolted. Normally he stayed keenly aware of
sounds behind him, a survival tool in the pen, but
somehow he’d missed the creak of the door.
He tightened his hold on the garden trowel before turning
around. It was Finley, a guard with the look and nose
twitch of an oversize ferret.
“Yeah, boss?”
“You seen a little girl pass by? Ten years old, light
brown hair. About so high?”
The answer needed to sound natural, eased out like
fishing line. “No, sir. I’m afraid I haven’t.”
Atop the single entry step, Finley surveyed the room with
an air of discomfort. He wasn’t a proponent of the rare
freedoms afforded to passmen, the few trusted inmates
assigned to work at the warden’s house.
“Aren’t you about done here?” Finley asked.
“Sure am. Then I’ll be heading to the lower greenhouse to
finish up.”
Finley hesitated, an endless moment—of gauging? Of
suspicion? At last he gave a partial nod and turned to
exit.
The door swung closed.
Adrenaline rushed with the force of the pounding rain.
The risks and consequences gained new clarity. Doubt
invaded his thoughts.
It wasn’t too late to turn back. He could serve out his
time by sticking to the grind, sleeping and eating and
pissing when told, and one day walk out a free man . . .
But, no. No, it wasn’t that simple. Not anymore. He
recalled just how much lay at stake, and any chance of
reneging crumbled.
Through the fog, lightning cracked the sky. The air
brightened with an eerie blue glow, and from it came a
boost of certainty.
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