Hannigan's Hand

by Geraldine Ryan-Lush

Find out what's lurking inside ....Hannigan's Hand! Many years ago, a young Dan Hannigan witnessed a horrific headless spectre and poltergeist activity which shook him to the core. A priest had to intervene, to exorcise the demon which invaded his campsite and him, following his haplessly using a remote beach trail for some summer work. While exorcising the demon from his spirit-possessed hand, the priest told Dan he was being punished by the ghosts of a tragic shipwreck which had happened there a year before. He also told him he was never to repeat what happened at the camp that terrible night, OR THE CURSE WOULD BE UPON HIM, AND ANYONE ELSE WHO HEARD THE STORY. 60 years passed. Old Dan Hannigan mellowed, and began to believe the priest's warnings were all hogwash. Until a visit from an old friend and four innocent teenagers prompted the telling of the story again. Things start happening! THE SPIRITS ARE BACK, MORE VENGEFUL THAN EVER! Is old Dan Hannigan just a crusty old codger who stepped in a ghost path many years ago, or is he now....something worse!

"Keeps you in suspense , with your hair standing on end from start to finish....A chilling, excellent story about an old man and four teenagers who get caught up in spirits from long ago, who are bent on revenge......there's ghosts coming up from floor boards, taking baths, rocking in empty chairs, materialising out of the sea....there are poltergeists who terrorise and take possession of the house.....and finally the priest....the priest!! .....Customer, Barnes&Noble

ALSO AVAILABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE AUTHOR, SHIPPING INCLUDED. facebookauthorgeraldineryanlush. Twitter@GRyanLush geraldine1942@live.com

120 pages, Paperback

First published November 10, 2013

About the author

Geraldine Ryan-Lush was born and raised in St. Joseph's, St. Mary's Bay, Newfoundland. A small community lacking electricity and a library, she spent long cold winters and steamy hot summers reading everything she could get her hands on, from the Hardy Boys to Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, and comics. She received a Bachelor of Arts and Education at Memorial University, majoring in English Language/Literature, and was a classroom teacher for a number of years, teaching in St. Mary's Bay, Goose Bay, Gambo, St. John's, Mount Pearl, and Manitoba. She was also a columnist for The Evening Telegram, and Newfoundland Herald. She is the author of to date 16 books for children and young adults, as well as 2 adult novels, a collection of poetry, and numerous scholarly articles published in The Newfoundland Quarterly, Canadian Children's Literature and Books In Canada, to name a few. Awards and Honours for her books include American Bookseller's Pick of the Lists, Merit Magazine Studio Award, Alcuin Society Design Award, Readers' Favourite 5-Star Reviews Twice, Atlantic Books Today Editors' Pick, French translation edition. Her books have been reviewed in a plethora of prestigious scholarly sources including School Library Journal, New York, Copley News Services, Washington D.C., Quill & Quire, Canadian Book Review Annual, Canadian Children's Literature, London Free Press, Canadian Materials, CBC Radio, Atlantic Books Today, among many others. Her latest books (2019) are THE LAW-BREAKING ADVENTURES OF TEACHER TABITHA, (MG graphic novel), GOODBYE WART! ([picture book) and HAUNTED TOWNS: GHOST STORIES OF NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR (non-fiction collection of TRUE ghost stories from across Newfoundland.) She lives in St. John's, Newfoundland.

Reviews

[Shannon Lush · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are rarely truly scary books in the paranormal/ghost genre these days. Authors feel compelled to insert copious and detailed scenes devoted to flat-out gore and gristle in order to shock and, in many cases, take it to appalling levels. They seem to have forgotten the intent of 'scary books' are to do just that; scare, not disgust. The current trend of far too many books in this genre is to skimp on the flavouring and just present a buffet of gore; dripping blood, mutilation, and scenes that would not be out of place in true crime novels rather than supposed 'ghost stories'. It is for this reason that 'Hannigan's Hand' is an exceptional stand-out.

Eschewing the current trend, Geraldine Ryan-Lush evokes classic sensibilities back into the 'scary tales' genre. The protagonists, young and innocent teens, are thrown into a situation that they simply are not prepared for. All about them, the adults to which they rely on for encouragement and support are guarded in the extreme, tight-lipped regarding the events transpiring around them. Truly, the teens are on their own and must make sense of the ghostly figures and strange happenings about them. Each chapter begins with an ever-growing presence of something sinister stalking them, and ends with a climax that leaves the readers gasping aloud and eager to turn the page; these are little-used methods in modern storytelling these days, where books have become short on tension-building, and Ryan-Lush retains the mystery of the spectral identity throughout, to the satisfaction of the reader.

'Hannigan's Hand' is based on oral folklore told in small, quaint towns clinging to the shores of Newfoundland, and like a black and white photo, it contains a true sense of antiquity within. The setting is perfect for the story, and helps to allow the story to breathe without the needless exposition found in stories set in busier cities in the world, with pages of needless prose regarding the hustle and bustle of modern city life. Ryan-Lush gives the characters a unique sense of curiosity, false bravado, and captures the dialogue between teenagers perfectly. The antagonist, the true 'Hannighan's Hand' of the tale, is given an appropriate balance of pathos and horror, with a denoument that is befitting to both Hannighan as well as to the story itself.

To summarize, 'Hannigan's Hand' is, in effect, a throwback novel; to an earlier, sensible time when storytellers would utilize time-tested methods of building suspense, and it stands as stark contrast to the rushed efforts of lesser authors who hurriedly construct a story around the popular trend of the day, with stock characters and stock situations that fight vampires or zombies, depending on how popular their respective media incarnations are at the time. This is a story that engages the reader no matter what comprehension level they are, and is a fun and spirited book that families can enjoy.