Crimson Mercy: Female Led Novel of Grit,Romance, Fire, and Survival

They called her a ghost. A rebel. A girl made of fire and ruin.

Belfast, 1987. In a city carved by war, Mercy O’Callaghan smuggles secrets beneath her skin and a pistol in her coat. Raised on grief and grit, she once loved a girl who vanished into the mist — and left behind a trail of blood. Now Mercy walks the line between martyr and monster, carrying the sins of a revolution on her back.

Across the sea, Ethan Walsh wears a badge he no longer believes in. His job? Infiltrate. Gain her trust. Burn her down. But when he finds Mercy in a shattered farmhouse with a past full of ghosts and a laugh that could wreck him, the mission begins to blur. There’s a war outside. And another between their ribs.

As old betrayals surface and new enemies close in, Mercy must choose between the girl she once loved, the man sent to destroy her, and the legacy that could swallow them all. She thought she buried Ashling years ago. But some ghosts refuse to stay dead.

A searing, cinematic novel of survival, sabotage, and the things we do for love. Crimson Mercy is Laura Carpenter at her fiercest — a visceral love story set against the smoldering backdrop of the Troubles. With prose as lyrical as it is lethal, this story pierces the heart and refuses to let go.

For fans of The Paper Palace, The Night Circus, and Small Things Like These, this literary romantic thriller explores themes of memory, identity, found family, and what it means to choose love in a time of war.

From the internationally praised, award-nominated author of The Ties That Made Us, finalist in six national competitions including BookFest and the People’s Book Awards.

Learn more at www.lauracarpenterbooks.com or follow @lauracarpenterbooks on Instagram and TikTok.