A straightforward synopsis of Mike McCormack’s latest book, THIS PLAGUE OF SOULS, might prove near impossible. It’s not that things don’t happen in the story; they certainly do. It’s just that the action, even as it simmers with violence and the potential of violence, is somehow muted. Or perhaps it feels distinct or apart from the contemplations of the protagonist, a man who has lost so much and is about to lose even more.

The moment Nealon steps into his house, his phone rings. He has been in prison but has now been released (on some technicalities) and is looking forward to a reunion with his wife, Olwyn, and young son, Cuan. Still, he seems unsurprised that they are not there; his house had been tended to but now is clearly abandoned. The house is a character unto itself, and McCormack reveals much about it before he goes into detail about the people who have lived there: Nealon and his father, and later Olwyn and Cuan.

"THIS PLAGUE OF SOULS is strange and beautifully written.... It is a slow-burn thriller and an emotional ponderance of home, responsibility, ethics and self."

The days go by, and Nealon settles back into the house and into freedom. The place is too empty, but his mind is full of memories, worries, realizations and questions. That phone call is from a man who seems to know a lot about him.

Nealon was born early because of a terrible act wrought against his mother. He was fairly isolated at the farm with his father until his art took him to university and mysteriously beyond. These years are cloudy at best both to readers and to the man on the phone. Toward the end of that time when Nealon may or may not have been involved in shady activities, he meets Olwyn. He takes her to the farm, already parceled off for rent, to detox from heroin. They begin their life there and soon enough have Cuan. But then Nealon is arrested for crimes that seem to have had their roots in his years of wandering. Maybe he is part of a network or is a lone operative. The man who won’t stop calling him has ideas but not all the answers Nealon desires. And he wants to meet.

Nealon’s wife and son don’t return to the house. His curiosity and need for both information and connection get the better of him, so he meets with the man on the phone. As they sit face to face, a terrorist act is taking place. They manage their anxiety as they engage in a puzzling conversation. It seems that Nealon’s past threaded through what is now happening.

THIS PLAGUE OF SOULS is strange and beautifully written. It is enigmatic at best and opaque at worst. While McCormack’s narrative style and pacing make the reading easy and enjoyable, he is a demanding author who requires readers to work in order to puzzle out meaning. Nealon’s Ireland is dark, violent and lonely at every turn. Is he a villain or a hero? Is the world changing for the better or moving into a more dangerous reality?

Cryptic, philosophical and serious, this novel is challenging to figure out and describe. It is a slow-burn thriller and an emotional ponderance of home, responsibility, ethics and self.