Synopsis
Nealon returns to his family home in Ireland after a long time away, only to be greeted by a completely empty house. With no sign of his wife or child anywhere, it seems the world has forgotten that he even existed.
The one exception is a persistent caller on the telephone, someone who seems to know everything about Nealon's life, his recent bother with the law and, more importantly, what has happened to his family. All Nealon needs to do is talk with him. But the more he talks the closer Nealon becomes tangled in the very crimes of which he claims to be innocent.
Publisher information
- Publisher: Canongate Books
- ISBN: 9781838859350
- Number of pages: 192
- Dimensions: 198 x 129 x 12 mm
- Weight: 138g
- Languages: English
Customer Reviews
View all
Mystery abounds in this literary thriller
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publishers and Mike McCormack for the ARC of This Plague of Souls. It opens with the protagonist, Nealon, returning home to a... READ MORE
Great return to McCormack land
Mike McCormack’s Solar Bones was a fantastic achievement - and now we find out that his tale of a local authority buildings engineer has a sequel. Not lite... READ MORE
Who knows?
This is a strange book; enigmatic, short, possibly unfinished. A man, Nealon, arrives at the empty house where he used to live. He has been in prison on re... READ MORE
No idea
Nealon returns to his family home after a stint in prison to find the place abandoned, with no sign of his wife or child. The only one who seems to remembe... READ MORE
Fascinating!
Our protagonist Nealon returns, after a lengthy period in prison on remand, to the remote West of Ireland farmhouse where he grew up with his father (his m... READ MORE
Not for me
I haven't read Mike McCormack before and I am sorry to say that this short book did nothing for me. I usually enjoy Irish writers and fiction set in Irelan... READ MORE
A different kind of novel
I was sent a copy of This Plague of Souls by Mike McCormack to read and review by NetGalley. This is a curious but well written novel with some beautiful ... READ MORE
Strongly recommended for those who want a novel which aims to provoke reflection via allusion and ambiguity
Mike McCormack’s wonderful previous novel, the single spooling sentence “Solar Bones” deservedly won the 2016 Goldsmith Prize (as well as the Irish Book Aw... READ MORE