Falls Church Author Publishes Debut Novel 'The Seventh Messenger'

The Seventh Messenger, debut novel from Falls Church author, Roland McElroy is now available online from www.theseventhmessenger.com and from Amazon.com.

The Seventh Messenger contains two stories told in parallel. The first surrounds the life of James Strang, an excommunicated Mormon who retires with about 200 of his followers to Michigan’s Beaver Island in 1848 and sets up his own brand of Mormonism. He soon crowns himself king and declares the island a sovereign nation.  

“Strang’s story is based on the facts of his life,” McElroy said, “but the second story, set in 1954, is an entirely fictitious account of a young St. Louis socialite who spends her summers vacationing on the mainland’s Pine Lake Club.”

As the two stories come together, an unsolved and largely forgotten Great Lakes mystery begins to ensnare the protagonist.  “And that’s before the Seventh Messenger appears and begins to pull the heroine into his surreal world,” McElroy said.

A broader description of the plot and a book trailer are available on the author’s website, www.mcelroyassoc.com.  McElroy recently published a history of Lewinsville Presbyterian Church, Pilgrims and Pioneers Always. He is also known locally for his children’s books, including his latest, The Squiggle and Me, published in October.