Not Without Mercy The Black Death [Book One] (PAPERBACK)

Not Without Mercy, The Black Death is book one in the Not Without Mercy series.

Several years ago, I abruptly woke from a deep sleep at the end of a brief but disturbing dream.  I dreamt that I was watching a scene unfold in the town of Bristol, England in the year 1348 during the Black Plague.  Prior to this dream, I had never given any thought to Bristol, England, and I knew very little about the Black Plague or life in the 14^th century.

I appeared to be standing a few feet away from a large four-post bed of a wealthy man in his late forties.  He was giving instructions to a younger man in his early twenties. He instructed the young man, “…take my wife and young son and daughter to safety, to my wife’s mother’s home in Cardiff, Wales.”  He told the young man that he would join them in a few days when he regained his strength. 

The dream was so real that for many days, I wondered if it was just a dream, or was it a vision, a glimpse into the last moments of a life of someone who was not just a figment of my imagination, but a real person who lived.  I could not get the scene out of my mind and eventually decided to write it down.  Years later the entire story unfolded to me, and it became my first novel.

Although the story changed over time as I began to write it, and the characters and their lives all came to life for me, I never forgot that dream and the impact it had on me.  It caused me to write the incredible story about the life of one man who struggled to save his family from certain death from the world’s most deadly killer of all time–the Black Plague.

As the Black Plague progressed throughout Europe and death became commonplace, it left two kinds of people, the faithful and the faithless.  The faithful drew closer to God and the faithless, wandered further away. Much of the land had fallen into moral malaise. Not Without Mercy The Black Death is a novel about life, faith, family, love, courage, hope, and redemption.  While the lives of millions were cut short, most of those who survived re-discovered the sanctity of life, the importance of love, the strength derived from courage, the power of faith, the endurance of hope, and the joy of redemption. William was a man of faith, honor, and integrity.  He would do whatever it took to protect and save his family from the plague. His wife Jillian, embodied love, gentleness, and ardent charity. Michael, their adopted son, changed their lives for better, and for worse.

I do not believe our lives are predestined to some predetermined outcome, and that we have no choice in the matter. I believe that our agency, next to life, is the greatest gift God has given us. God gives us life and agency, what we do with it is our destiny.

FORWARD BY AUTHOR Michael B. Rush, author of
A Remnant Shall Return (The10LostTribes.com) 

"I highly recommend Phill’s book, Not Without Mercy.  First, it is a story of faith and family that takes place during one of the world’s darkest chapters – the Black Death.  I believe that many of the challenges the Beorn family faced in this book will parallel the challenges our own families will endure in the coming days of trial. Secondly, Phill’s story is unique in that it is based on numerous dreams and visitations wherein the characters of his book appeared at his bedside and told them their stories firsthand. Phill later learned that these characters were his own family members who lived during the mid-1300s in Bristol, England.  The story they told is very timely for our day and the desolating pestilence that has been foretold.  Furthermore, this story demonstrates that the veil is thin and that the hearts of the fathers have turned towards the children.  I believe in the administration of angels.  Who would have a more vested interest in administering to us than our own family?  Not Without Mercy is a wonderful testament that family bonds do not end in the grave."

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