Welcome

Rebecca Burrell's writing sends the reader deep within a labyrinth of secrets and lies, exploring rarely-glimpsed settings and featuring characters who feel like friends and family from the first page turn.  Excerpts of her work are available on this site.

An Affair In Echoes (Completed) [Read Chapter 1]
Delaney Nichols gets through life with cheerful cynicism and some rather-unorthodox methods for drowning out the ghostly voice in her head. Years earlier, while coping with the inexplicable murder-suicide of her parents, she traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia, hoping to find a way to convince herself their happiness wasn't an illusion. Instead, she found a ghost in her hotel room. The ghost, trapped by regrets over her family's involvement in the Revolution-era murders of two little boys, swears that together, they can rewrite history. Thinking she's stumbled on a new mission in life, Delaney agrees to help. Little did she know the ghost was using her to lure another recruit – the troubled priest-turned-spy guiding Delaney's trip to Russia.

Father Jonas MacNeil is searching for redemption, after the Cold War machinations of a Vatican cardinal nearly destroyed his belief in God. Heartened by Delaney's readiness to help no matter the personal cost , he begins to see a last hope for salvation in her arms. The ghost transports them to 1918 Petrograd, where they find themselves reliving her last days, struggling to outwit the secret police and rescue the soon-to-be-murdered boys. As they delve deeper into the mystery, Jonas begins to see connections between the historical events, his vocational woes, and even Delaney's family tragedy. Once he uncovers why the ghost sought them out, he realizes they have two additional souls to save: their own.

Resurrecting Micah (Work in Progress) [Read Chapter 1]
Boston-based physician Micah Timmerman wants three things. She wants the kids who come to her West Bank clinic to stop pelting soldiers with rocks. She wants her husband, Nate, to stop worrying about her all the time. And more than anything, the former refugee wants to see life improve in the camps.

Today isn't Micah's day: A devoted Palestinian father takes his own life to save his injured son. Before he dies, he whispers three words in Micah's ear. Gdar aqbr Injeel. The Wall of the Gospel Tomb. The incident lands Micah on the radar of an Israeli security officer who believes she's become too cozy with the local population, restless and on the brink of another intifada. She arrives home late after a tense interrogation, covered in the father's blood, and determined to unravel his final secret.  When a bomb goes off hours later in Jerusalem, Micah fears her idealism led her astray - badly.

Three days later, Nate thinks she's dead, she's under detention by Shin Bet, and she's got a sneaking suspicion her recent bouts of nausea have nothing to do with the food. Micah has no intention of rotting in jail, so she strays from her oath to stay neutral in the conflict, infiltrates the camps as a spy, and tries to turn herself from pawn to powerbroker.  When her plan goes south, she turns to Nate.  Overcome with relief she's alive, he'll do anything to protect his family – except risk losing Micah twice.