A review by serendipitysbooks
This Plague of Souls by Mike McCormack

challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

 This Plague of Souls won’t be a book for every reader but I really enjoyed the reading experience. The book opens with Nealon returning home after a long absence to discover no sign of his wife and young son. He then starts receiving phone calls from a stranger who seems to know a lot about Nealon’s life and keeps insisting they meet up. The story is told in three distinct sections. Each has a different focus but revels more about who Nealon is as well as a national emergency which is unfolding. I found the story to be quiet yet compelling. It is the sort of book that you read for the vibes, especially the mysterious atmosphere and the tension which McCormack artfully ramps up. It’s also a great book to read if you admire the craft of writing. McCormack excels at it. I’d add that you need to be comfortable with ambiguity and crypticness. If you need definitive clear-cut answers this is probably not the book for you. I won’t claim to have figured out everything that was going on but I certainly enjoyed the process of fitting together those pieces that I could. This is definitely a book that would reward a reread. I did note the nods and references to Solar Bones - particularly the peal of the angelus bell - and look forward to the third book in this planned triptych. While the first two can be read as standalones I just know there will be meaningful connections linking all three waiting to be discovered.