A review by reads_eats_explores
This Plague of Souls by Mike McCormack

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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 mother died at the time of his birth) and where he later lived with his wife of three years Olwyn and young child Cuan. The house is cold and uninhabited, but barely through the door, and he receives calls from an unknown person who seems to know a lot about Nealon, saying he knows there's information they can share.

In the first chapter, Country Feedback, we get the bones of Nealon’s life, his time with his father, and his marriage, including how he abducted Olwyn from a Dublin crackhouse! All the while, these anonymous calls continue.

We move on to No Traffic and a Dry Road, where Nealon spends time reflecting on Cuan, on the deterioration in his marriage when he was in prison, and on his time in prison where National Geographic became his link to the world. All on the backdrop of an unspecified but rapidly evolving national security alert with Ireland plunging into an almost lockdown state.

In the third instalment of This Plague of Souls takes place in Dublin as Nealon and his persistent caller meet. This man tells Nealon what he has pieced together of his life, which helpfully fills some gaps in the story Nealon has so far spun while also proposing his view on Nealon’s involvement in a large scale and, in all honesty far fetched insurance fraud, which seemingly was globally philanthropically motivated.

It's hard to say more without spoilers, but suffice to say this was my first McCormack book, and it won't be my last!

This Plague of Souls is beautifully written and highly compelling. It is a truly fascinating short metaphysical thriller with a timely feel of society in 2023 with growing security threats (actual and perceived) and how both state and society react to them. Global actions have local consequences whether we always realise it or not.

My only complaint? I didn't want the story to end, and at under 200 pages, there was certainly scope for more. 4.5⭐

Thank you to the publisher for both a NetGalley ARC and for sending me a physical proof copy.