Untold wealth and a global business empire. An American family, fiercely proud of its Ulster-Scots Presbyterian pedigree and its founder's part in the American Revolution. How could the Mackinnons go wrong? What more could Fiona Mackinnon, the steely head of this family, possibly want in her life?

The answer is continued, unchallenged power and influence. And that's why conflict erupts when her feisty, strong-willed, stunning daughter, Katie, defies her mother with a serious relationship that crosses the social and religious divides. Partly set in the sectarian crucible of Ulster, their battle nearly unravels the Mackinnon dynasty forever.

Disobedience, broken promises, blatant sectarian bias, blackmail and dark deeds over land linked back to the Irish Famine - and the hard-bitten world of the super wealthy and the corporate predator - form the potent ingredients of a first-rate novel.

Sweeping historical backdrops in Ulster and America from the mid-eighteenth century, a brilliant feel for landscape and an incisive insight into the ways of the mega rich make A Serpent's Tooth a must-read for lovers of intrigue and romance.

Peter O'Hara, who is involved in business, was born and grew up in the Glens of Antrim. Historical research and non-fiction work led him to write A Serpent's Tooth, his first novel.