Vengeance of the Black Donnellys: Canada's Most Feared Family Strikes Back from the Grave

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

T.P.Kelleys second 'Donnelly' book is more of a ghost story than the first.he relates the history through the use of storytelling,as opposed to his first book which was more telling of story.this was the first book i read in the DONNELLY catalogue of books and it was the perfect one to start with.it allows the reader to involve themselves in the aftermath of the crime committed on the victims.a fantastic tale and a worthy read.

This book is, I think a much improved and expanded version of "the Black Donnely's" with more detalic effort. This book is the better book of the series. If you liked "the Black Donnely's" you are really going to like this one, it is filled with more town myths and legends of what goes on at the Donnelly's old farm after dark.

I read both the BLACK DONNELLYS and Vengeance of the Black Donnellys over 25 years ago. I, in turn loaned my copies of these books to several family members who,in turn, read these books and passed them around to family members and friends. Their reactions echo mine. My parents and an aunt and uncle travelled to Lucan, Ontario several years ago, and visited the Donnelly grave. While there, they took pictures of the Donnelly tombstone and did ask some people about the Donnellys. Even though the Donnellys were murdered 118 years ago, there are decendants of the members of the vigilante committee around and it is still a rather sore topic to try to discuss. The Vengeance of the Black Donnellys is strictly a fictional story, which the author, Thomas P. Kelley states at the beginning of the book. But - if you read the "Black Donnellys and think about some of the events that are mentioned in the Vengeance of the Black Donnellys, maybe truth is stranger than fiction. If t! his book is made up, maybe the author is hitting on some truths that followed the murder of the Donnellys and none of the survivors of the vigilante committee is willing to acknowledge just how close the author has come to relating how those responsible for the murders came to meet their death.