It was the best time in their young lives. Maura and Molly Lincoln had participated in the competitive world of Irish dancing since they were six years old. Now, as they approached their teen years, they had successfully competed in Feiseanna ( Irish Dancing Competitions)in the New York City area and finally qualified for the North American Championship (the Grand Oireachtas), at Cape Breton University, near Sydney, Nova Scotia. They flew north, accompanied by their proud parents Erin and Pat. Billeted on a luxurious cruise ship with twelve hundred dancers from North America and beyond, things went well at first. Both girls successfully completed the preliminary rounds and move forward to the semi-finals, competing against the best dancers in their age groups. But that’s when disaster struck. The bus on which they were riding was hijacked by terrorists of the Chechen brotherhood, demanding free elections and independence for their homeland. Maura, Molly and twenty-two other dancers from the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand were spirited away and detained in a disused coal mining tunnel running under the ocean near Glace Bay. The terrorists promised the girls that they would not be injured, but publicly announced to the world that over one hundred pounds of explosives had been scattered through the mine shaft and any attempt to storm their stronghold would result in the immediate death of the young dancers. A stalemate followed, and only through a tip received from a retired miner did the police learn of an intersecting tunnel which could be used to rescue the hostages. Maura and Molly and her new friend Annie Riley participated in their rescue by dancing strenuously, giving the rescue party a clue to where they were being held. This action/adventure novel is sure to hold the reader’s attention!
