The Hand That Held Back

Belfast, 1978. A pub shooting leaves innocent men dead and a family shattered. Among the victims is Patrick McKenna, father, husband, neighbour, gone in an instant.

Decades later, his daughter Sarah is no longer a child. Driven by grief and silence, she hunts for the truth about that night. Her search leads her to Ronnie Gray, the man who never pulled a trigger but drove the killers to their target, and has carried the weight of it ever since.

What follows is a tense, deeply human story of memory and reckoning, where anger collides with remorse, and vengeance stands face-to-face with the fragile possibility of peace.

The Hand That Held Back is a gripping novel set against the backdrop of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, exploring guilt, justice, and the courage it takes to break the cycle of violence.