Author of the Ambulance Driver and The Keli Dowry
" People need books with an epic background. They are bored with books that tell only one story on one level. They need something fantastic, something that gives them a sense of living in history." ( Gunter Grass )
Welcome to Chris McNaught's imagination. Begin exploring his writing here...
Writer
Historical Fiction
Chris McNaught is an Ottawa writer, lecturer, and former criminal lawyer. He was educated at Jarvis Collegiate (Toronto ), Neuchâtel Jr. College ( Switzerland ), Trinity College ( U. of Toronto, Hons. Classics ), and the Faculty of Law ( U. of Toronto ). He is married, with three children. His other passions are water polo and watercolours.
Chris McNaught
Dùn Phris
A Gathering
by Chris McNaught
Not everyone is fortunate enough to return to their family origins; when I swung from Edinburgh into the Scottish Lowlands in 2016, downed pints and drams in Robbie Burns’ ‘local’ in Dumfries, rustled the grass and crumbled stone of a distant relation’s kirk at Closeburn, trekked along the dramatic north cliffs of Solway Firth, watched liners steam from Loch Ryan into the Irish Sea, and spied the iconic isle of Ailsa Craig off the Ayrshire coast, there was no option but to create a tale that, selfishly, wove all these threads and others into a tale to preserve them for posterity( (ie. me!). In a nutshell, here’s my confabulated premise:
‘ Left a widower by murder, lawyer James Kirkpatrick quits America to find his Scottish roots, and in Dumfriesshire he walks into the arms and charms of DCI persephone Rodriguez. yet Jame’s new home has ghosts of its past too. After the Battle of the Atlantic, within sight of the Bloody Foreland, every surrendered U-boat was sunk by naval gunnery.
What could this have to do with the disappearance of a young nursing auxiliary, found dead the day before the last U-boat was used for target practice? Found not by the authorities nor by anyone else for the last seventy years…’
* Not sure if the McNaughts, Kirkpatricks, and Sandersons ( my forbears) would be pleased with my story, but I do hope you may be!
Chris McNaught
The Linnet
by Chris McNaught
The Linnet, Chris' 3rd novel, tracks the struggle of a young Ukrainian patriot against sex trafficking, ex-KGB mafia, and her role as an MI6 asset.
Book is now officially published by Pegasus as of August , 25th, which happens to be the 25th anniversary of Ukraine's declaration of independence...
available through Amazon and Indigo
" All in, this novel is quite 'deep'...by nature of the author's research the political content of Ukraine is necessary and vital to give the storyline a good base to improvise on. Resulting from this the author produces a 'cliffhanger' with a deceptive twist two thirds of the way through...marvellous."
The editors, Pegasus Publishers, Cambridge, UK
5.0 out of 5 starsSuperb writing
21 November 2016 - Published on Amazon.com
"I read The Linnet in two sittings . It is a tour de force on two levels, Chris McNaught’s superb writing skills that transport the reader through history in a succinct and moving way, as well as his ability to get inside his characters and express their inner longings.
He brings Nina Vassileva to life so convincingly that I found myself identifying with her completely, reliveing my own idealistic young years filled with the desire to effect change and right wrongs wherever possible.
His power of description is superb: “The sea undulates in sparkling prisms, fusing and diffusing. It dazzles the survivor who sits at the water’s edge on a wrought iron chair from a shattered café, stark against the horizon.” I was sitting there with him!
While the story is technically fictitious, it is based on the reality that many people are haviing to deal with today and not only in the Ukraine. This book is not to be missed. You will feel it “in the deep heart’s core”.
Pat Marshall
