"La Guardia, who seemed less formidable with sweat saturating their once-starched shirts, piled boxes, guns, ammunition, and grenades in the yard. The butt of a machine gun slammed between Luís' shoulder blades and he stumbled down the porch steps, trying to keep from falling. As soon as he was steady, the butt hit him again, pushing him forward across the yard. Luís would have willingly gone to wherever they wanted but he couldn't tell which truck to head for. Over and over, he was hit in the exact same place until the last slam to his back bent him over the front of a jeep and Luís screamed as the side of his face sizzled on the sun-scorched, engine-heated hood...." Passion, terror, poetry and the fierce urgency of a people held down too long ... it all comes alive in this debut novel by DL Rose. Shepherds Of Terror takes place in the homeland of the Basque people of Spain. It follows the lives and actions of Basque terrorist ETA members and innocent folks who are affected by the daily barrage of violence. More than just a story of terrorist acts, Shepherds Of Terror is also a character study of the people fighting for their Basque autonomy from the Spanish government and, also, the Basque people as a whole. After years of research for the Shepherds Of Terror, DL Rose now resides in Montana enjoying a quiet life and the spectacular outdoors, where rafting the many rivers has become a favorite pastime.
About the Author: The writing of this novel happened spontaneously from being in northern Spain and seeing first-hand, on a daily basis, the open and in-your-face activities of ETA. If one is out and about, especially in the city of Bilbao, you experience their annoying pranks, watch them paste posters everywhere, and see their ETA propaganda. One can't help asking what it's all about. It's interesting that the Basque people in every northern Spanish town are more than willing to sit down on a park bench or in a bar and tell you what it's like to be Basque today, while the older folks relate horrific tales of life during Franco's long reign. When you visit schools, teachers will discuss the difficulty of dealing with today's rebellious Basque teenagers and young adults. I spoke with people every day, gathered notes, memorabilia, news articles, and personal memories. It's amazing how these special people crave to tell their personal stories. And they are what motivated me to write about it. After returning to the states, I began researching the Basque problem from an historical point of view and found that the Basque fight for autonomy has been going on for centuries...a time-period too long to tackle in a story. On a more personal note, today I enjoy a quiet life in Montana...working, visiting family, staying connected to the world electronically, reading on my Kindle, rafting the majestic rivers, and taking an occasional vacation to somewhere with an ocean. -DLR