Vengeance of the Black Donnellys: Canada's Most Feared Family Strikes Back from the Grave
by Thomas P. Kelley
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Book Summary Information
Author: Thomas P. KelleyEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1995-06-01
ISBN: 1895565553
Number of pages: 212
Publisher: Firefly Books
Book Reviews of Vengeance of the Black Donnellys: Canada's Most Feared Family Strikes Back from the Grave
Book Review: "The ghosts of the Donnellys will still ride the Roman Line."
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the sequel to Kelley,s "The Black Donnellys";the story of Canada's most barbaric feud.This was a true story of 35 years of fighting,feuding,barn burning,animal mutilation,revenge and mayhem that ended in the massacre of 5 Donnelly family members on February 4,1880.This massacre was carried out by a Vigilante
Group.See my review of that book on January 29,2006;and visit the super web site "The Black Donnellys"for the whole story, many excellent pictures and lots of information.
Kelly was the first author to write a book on this all but forgotten tragedy in 1954.He ignited a great interest in the whole story.He was not,nor did he ever profess to be a historian.He was a very successful pulp fiction writer.In fact he was probably the greatest Canada ever had,and his books sold in the millions.He was somewhat like Ned Buntline ,a New Yorker,who went out west and was one of the most popular pulp fiction writers of the Wild West.Kelly would find a story that he felt would interest a lot of people,spend some time to learn the essence,then set about to tell it,filling in the details where necessary,from his own imagination;right down to and including conversations.He was an excellent storyteller and left the nitpickers worry themselves about details and accuracy,if that was their avocation,but it wasn't his.
"The Black Donnellys" was such a great success,he decided to follow it up with a book that told story of the awful fates that were visited on the members of the Vigilante Committee.Though there were probably some things that really did happen to some of them;Kelley let his imagination run freely,and created all kinds of legends and stories.The result is a thrilling tale of evil,revenge,romance and adventure that is difficult to put down once started.However;for the greatest effect ,his other book,which is essentially the true story,should be read first.Just as in his first Donnelly book;each chapter starts off with a verse from an old ballad about the things that happened on the Roman Line and around Lucan following the awful murders.
There has even been a bit of a cult following that has grown up and visit the areas in hopes of encountering some of these 'old ghosts'on the anniversity date of the night of February 4,1880.
Let me just qoute a couple of verses of the ballad to set the atmosphere of the book and tale;
"It happened,God alone knows why,
In Lucan,long ago.
Dark clouds were on the moon that night,
The fields piled high with snow.
As the mob killed old Johannah,
She cried out with her last breath:
'Your murderin'souls will roast in hell
You'll all know a violent death."
"For the midnight hour brings alarm,
And horses won't pass the Donnelly farm.
Stay off that road or you'll come to harm,
Out on the Roman Line."
"They found him in an upstairs room,
He lay half beneath the bed.
Blood flowed around his lifeless form-
In one corner was his head."
And finally;
"The ghost of the violin still plays-
For the dead sometimes return.
I know what these old eyes have seen,
I know what I did learn.
And even though a thousand years
May pass along in time:
"The ghosts of the Black Donnellys will
Still ride the Roman Line!"
If you'd like a great story of murder and mayhem,this is the book for you.
Summary of Vengeance of the Black Donnellys: Canada's Most Feared Family Strikes Back from the Grave
The Vengeance of the Black Donnellys is a fictionalized tale that picks up where The Black Donnellys left off -- at the grim scene of their common grave.
What ever happened to the members of the mob that clubbed, stabbed, shot, and burned the two Donnelly parents, two of their sons, and a visiting niece? Why was no one ever convicted of their brutal murders? Who was the mysterious mastermind behind the mob? What happened to the surviving Donnellys?
Find out the answers to these and other (some still unanswered) questions in this spellbinding sequel.
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