Mary McDonald

Mary McDonald

About

When I'm not writing, I'm a respiratory therapist. I've been married 25 years and have three children.

The First Book of the Gastar Series: "Act of Redemption"

The First Book of the Gastar Series: "Act of Redemption"

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Description

The once-great city of Gastar stands in ruins following centuries of war by undead monsters driven by an evil temple.  Victory cost the people of the knowledge to defeat another enemy, Zermon, ruler of hell, who seeks to extend his realm by annihilation of the few people left.  With the help of a sympathetic ancient dragon, volunteer fighters from the past war, and the arrival of a teen assassin named Shevata who is known to Zermon, they combine efforts for the existence of the people of Gastar.

Story Behind The Book

This book started as a short story based on a writing challenge. The challenge was to have your character wake up in a padded room and not know how they got there. The challenge was issued around the same time as the headlines were debating the treatment of American enemy combatants. Not the prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay. but American citizens who were designated enemy combatants. I wondered what would happen if an innocent man was accused? I've always been a fan of the reluctant hero and time travel fiction, and while this isn't exactly time travel, there is a fantastical element to the story. The short story morphed into a novel because readers of the story wanted to know what happened to the character. The padded room has been replaced by a cell and the character knows how he got there, but he's still confused as to exactly why and how he can explain.

Reviews

<span style="border-collapse:separate;color:#000000;font-family:'Times New Roman';font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:normal;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;word-spacing:0px;font-size:medium;"><span style="font-family:verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:small;">I thoroughly enjoyed reading No Good Deed. The first five chapters were consumed in the blink of an eye. I didn't want to put the book down.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br /><br />The themes are very relevant, and could have been yanked right out of today's headlines: terrorists, controversial interrogation techniques, and the rights (or lack thereof) of detainees. I always just kind of assumed detainees were legitimate bad guys who had it coming. But what if they're not? No Good Deed explores that question in a riveting, page turning way.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br /><br />Not my usual genre, but I'm glad I read it!</span></span>