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Blurb:
Padlocked is an epic historical and visionary novel that follows the lives of a group of ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary, life-altering circumstances as Nazi Germany invades Poland in 1939.
Two foreign photojournalists, an American and a Spaniard, are trapped between armies at Festungsfront Oder-Warthe-Bogen, along Poland’s western border with Germany. It is Hank’s last overseas assignment, and he’s been counting the days until he can go home to North Carolina to be with his family. Rafe fled Spain after the dictator, Francisco Franco, targeted his family. The experience changed him, and he now sees the rise of fascism in Europe as a battle between good and evil. They will find themselves embedded with the Polish, Nazi, and Soviet forces at varying times, forcing them to face moral and ethical decisions in their struggles to survive.
A young woman is separated from her sister in Warsaw as the Nazis encircle it. Agata made a vow that she would return to take Elsa to safety, but soldiers and barbed wire prevent her from entering the newly established Jewish sector. She is consumed with guilt over their separation, and when she discovers her sister was taken by train to a work camp near Krakow, she navigates her dangerous, war-torn country in search of her. Her quest will force her to confront a Hell on Earth to find her.
A young man joins the Jungdeutsche Partei, or the Young German Party. Once bullied as a child, Max’s new affiliations promote him to a position where he can dictate life or death and settle scores. In order to thrive under Nazi occupation, he makes daily choices that legitimize brutality and erode humanitarian principles and scruples.
While they don’t know one another at the start of their journeys, each will make decisions that have the power to transform them and place them on paths that ultimately converge on January 27, 1945, as the 60th Army of the First Ukrainian Front opened the gates to Auschwitz-Birkenau for all the world to witness.
This is ultimately a story about the strength of love, courage, faith, and resilience in the face of unimaginable hatred and obsession with power, and how every decision we make places us further along specific paths.
Padlocked is available in all eBook formats, trade paperback, hardcover, and large print editions on
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Read an Excerpt
Max was unprepared for the pandemonium as he stepped outside the building. He supposed it made sense as he could hear the voices from his office even if he hadn’t been able to make out the words. Still, it was jarring to see people who would normally walk with controlled purpose now rushing this way and that, as though the sky were falling. It made him hasten his steps, his heartbeat quickening as he joined the throngs. Many stopped along the way to cheer on the passing army vehicles, but he dodged around them, eager to get his book and get back to work. He didn’t want the soldiers to give his office to anyone else in his absence.
“Max! Max!”
At the sound of his name, he almost hid, thinking his ruse was discovered, but he quickly realized the voice was female. His eyes darted around the crowded faces. After a moment, the horde parted, and Stella rushed through to him.
“They’re on our doorstep!” she shouted excitedly. Her face was aglow, and he wanted nothing more than to scoop her into his arms and kiss her.
But, as others glanced their way, he grabbed her hand and led her to a quieter area. “Stop smiling,” he directed, swinging her around to face him.
“Why?” she demanded.
“They are not here yet. Do you want the Polish Army to pick you up?”
“Why would they? I have done nothing wrong.”
“Oh? Now that they are here and we are locked in a battle with them, you and I are collaborators.”
“Huh! That is not true.”
“Isn’t it?”
“It is not. We knew nothing of their plans to invade. We only know that we like their system of government.”
“And you don’t think they are here to change our system of government to their own?”
“Isn’t it exciting?”
“Stop it, I say. Stop it!” Max wiped his forehead. “What are you doing here, anyway?”
“The shop where I worked closed.”
“Closed? Why?”
Stella shrugged. “Excitement. Fear. Maybe a little of both.” She peered at him, her eyes narrowing. “Why are you here and not in the mayor’s office? I would have thought you’d be very busy there.”
“I am very busy.” He pulled at his suit jacket as if straightening it. “I have been promoted.”
“Promoted! To what?”
“I am now a liaison to the military.”
“The Polish military?”
“Do you see another here?” He waved his hand toward the tanks passing by them.
“What are you doing for them?” she breathed, her brow furrowing.
“English translation.”
“You don’t speak English!”
“How do you know that? I do, actually. And I am on a mission, and you are delaying me.”
“Be that way, then.” She pouted briefly before adding, “What will you do when the Nazis arrive in Będzin?”
“How do you know that they will?”
She shrugged. “I am hedging my bets.”
“For right this moment, today, I am a military liaison. That is all I know for now.” He waved as though pushing her away. “Now, go.”
As she started to leave him, he pulled her back into an embrace and kissed her. Startled, he thought she might pull away, but she didn’t. She leaned into him, her tongue flicking inside his mouth and her body pressing against him. She smelled of flowers and musk, and he held her more tightly as he inhaled her essence. Then she abruptly stepped back. “Call on me later,” she said, “when you are no longer working your military liaison shift.”
Then she was gone, as if she had never been there; her petite figure disappeared among the taller men and women crowding the sidewalk. He stared in the direction she’d gone, but when he didn’t spot her among the cluster of people, he turned back in the direction of home.
Interview with p.m. terrell
Could you tell us about any research trips you took for this story? Which places did you visit, and what made them essential to your writing?
I hadn’t intended to write a book set in Poland during World War II, but I dreamed the entire story one night. The next day, as I pondered the thousands of details that were presented to me, I knew this was a book I needed to write. However, the war in Ukraine posed an unexpected challenge to traveling to Eastern Europe, so I ended up researching everything online. I relied heavily on historical societies, government websites, universities, and nonprofits dedicated to different aspects of the people affected by the war.
What's the strangest thing you've ever had to research online for your book?
I suppose it was the angel, Abaddon. I dreamed his name and was astonished to discover he was mentioned throughout the Bible. (Maybe it was my childhood Sunday school rising from my subconscious.) The image I saw in my dream was exactly the image described in the Bible. Let’s just say he’s the angel that nobody wants to meet. However, since he works for God, I’m very appreciative that somebody that bad-ass has our backs.
What research (history, mythology, science) goes into your world-building?
I love research almost as much as writing. For Padlocked, I spent as many as fifteen hours in research for each hour of writing. The book takes place in Poland during World War II, and fortunately, there was a concerted effort to preserve facts and sites, so I had an incredible amount of material to rely on. I listed some of the videos and websites on which I relied on my website at https://pmterrell.com/wp/behind-the-scenes-of-padlocked/.
Do you write in the same genre all the time?
My writing career has evolved over the years. I began writing fiction with thrillers based on my experience as a contractor for federal and local law enforcement. I used to jokingly call myself a “conspiracy theorist,” but when conspiracies became part of mainstream life in America, I switched to historical fiction. I found that I enjoy writing about the past. I can write the same level of drama and suspense and learn something about a specific place and time in the process.
If so, have you ever consider writing in another one?
I would love to write a pure fantasy someday, but I came close with A Thin Slice of Heaven.
Which character, supernatural or human, do you enjoy writing the most and why?
I enjoy characters that have multiple layers. For example, Rafe in Padlocked was particularly interesting. He is a photojournalist who covered the Spanish Civil War and the rise of fascist leader Franco. He considered it a clash of ideas until Guernica, when Hitler first tried Blitzkrieg. Afterward, he became convinced that World War II, which came on the heels of Franco’s victory, was a battle between good and evil. He quotes the Bible, has the foulest language of anyone else in the book (by far!), and can’t be pigeon-holed. He also provided laughter in serious situations.
About the Author:
My full name is Patricia McClelland Terrell, and I have been writing under the pen name p.m.terrell ever since a publisher presented me with my first fiction book cover. The graphic designer had also entered my name in lower-case letters; my editor hated it, and I loved it. It’s been p.m.terrell ever since.
I began writing when I was nine years old, inspired by a schoolteacher and elementary school principal. Scott-Foresman published my first book, a computer instructional for universities, in 1984. Scott-Foresman, Dow-Jones (Richard D. Irwin branch), Palari Publishing, Paralee Press, and Drake Valley Press have published 27 books to date.
Before embarking on a full-time writing career, I founded McClelland Enterprises, Inc., in the Washington, D.C., area in 1984, specializing in workplace computer instruction. I opened another business, Continental Software Development Corporation, in 1994, which focused on custom application development, programming, website design and development, and cybersecurity.
I was honored to be the first female President of the Chesterfield County/Colonial Heights Crime Solvers. Since moving to North Carolina, I served on the boards of the Robeson County Friends of the Library and the Robeson County Arts Council.
I launched The Book ‘Em Foundation with Waynesboro, Virginia, Police Officer Mark Kearney, and assisted in Virginia, New Hampshire, and South Carolina events before establishing the Annual Book ‘Em North Carolina Writers Conference and Book Fair, chairing it for several years before turning it over to Robeson Community College in Lumberton, NC.
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