This book charts the life of Nealon as he returns from a lengthy remand, having been acquitted of a crime.

It describes his return to his empty house, after his wife and son have deserted him, and he is called by an unknown man who knows all about him, and who wants to meet up to discuss something to their mutual benefit.

It then slowly unfolds Nealon’s backstory as it moves inexorably to a meeting with the unknown man. At end, you are left with feeling of not really knowing Nealon and whether the accusations are real and his motivations.

I haven't read Mike McCormack before and I am sorry to say that ths short book did nothing for me. I usually enjoy Irish writers and fiction set in Ireland but this one left me confused and cold. I still have no idea what the book was really about, especially as there is no real ending. Thankfully is was short so didn't take too much of my time!

As others have said, This Plague of Souls is a difficult book to review. The opening section is particularly compelling, propelled by McCormack's skilled writing, as we attempt to understand the isolation of the protagonist, Nealon, following his return home to rural Ireland after a lengthy absence. We learn of his childhood, his problematic marriage - his wife and child are absent throughout the novel but constantly present in his thoughts - and the narrate is repeatedly interrupted by phone calls from an unknown caller, who seems to know too much about Nealon. This all creates an unsettling tone as the novel moves towards the inevitable meeting between the two against the vaguely-drawn backdrop of a terrorist incident. Whether you enjoy or admire the novel depends on how much you can cope with having a great deal of important information remaining withdrawn and the very open ending will disappoint some. It is undeniable that the novel does not deliver on its opening, but that was almost certainly McCormack's aim.

The publisher's blurb describes it as an 'existential noir' which seems a bit lazy. It is more a collection of associations, relating somehow to issues like the pandemic (plague) and to McCormack's acclaimed novel, Solar Bones, in which the angelus bell with which this novel ends also plays an important part. The references to other characters, who never reappear, at the chapter ends, also hint at a larger connectivity that the concluding conversation between our protagonists also gestures towards. Early in the novel, the caller tells Nealon "we need to compare our stories and arrive at a single version we can both agree on". This need is something the novel explores and resists as it appears to offer explanations that never arrive. If that appeals, you'll likely find it a remarkable and intriguing, if slightly frustrating, novel. If not, you would be better off looking for another book.

Mike McCormack's "This Plague of Souls" is rather like Schrödinger's cat, it's impossible to say whether there is anything there or not. There is style in abundance. I can certainly understand why many will be drawn to his writing style. It is atmospheric, evocative, even seductive. However I could not find the/a story. By the end it felt like having observed a balloon being inflated and inflated and inflated......there is a definite balloon, but is it anything substantive, or is it just a lot of hot air? Special thanks to Canongate and NetGalley for a no obligation advance review copy.

This is a beautifully written, descriptive, novel that I read in one sitting.

The beginning is fantastic; a man, recently released from prison arrives to his home in Ireland to find it empty. Where is his wife and child?
Then, he receives a strange phone call from a man who, not only claims to know what’s happened to his family, but, who appears to be able to see him.

This is a strange, atmospheric read and I enjoyed it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Canongate books for the opportunity to preview.

Short novel, well written, keeps you wondering what the answers are. A bucolic setting, a divided family, a mysterious man...it will keep you reading!

When I first started to read this book I was hooked. It intrigued me because it is about a man and his thoughts and feelings.
The story really aroused my curiosity - how did he get where he is today? did he do it? how did the case get to its resolution? where are the family? and other questions that I won't write to cause spoilers.
There were odd paragraphs at the end of chapters that did not match the context of the story and I felt weren't relevant to anything mentioned in the book.
The final chapter totally lost me and the Author did not answer any of my earlier questions. It was confusing and I felt that it had totally lost the plot. I found the blonde newsreader and her stalker were far more interesting than the two fat blokes talking in the bar. There was too much other stuff going on that smothered the main character and his 'friend'.
I did consider re-reading the final chapters but decided against it as the Author didn't explain it to me first time I felt it didnt warrant my time for a second longer
This is the type of book that would be found on bookshelves in lounges of bars or hotels to read on holiday and not bring home.

I am finding it hard to review this new novel by Mike McCormack. I loved the writing style and the language used. I liked the way the book was divided into three parts each of which gives clues to the backstory. I was however completely confused by the end. I expect the author intended the ending to be open so that we as readers can form our own conclusions. Unfortunately I found it unsatisfactory.

A wonderful, mysterious and intriguing tale of self-discovery and reckoning with the past, the present and the future. The protagonist-narrator is persuasively allusive, never transparent, oddly touching: a lonely, dangerous, damaged man? The novel is divided in three narrative blocks progressively disclosing context and layers of the protagonist’s story… there is a totally entrancing, beautiful writing that sustains the unreality of the atmosphere. The final section a brilliant, unexpected situation that reads as a metaphor, lifting the whole onto an even more intriguing plane. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, despite finding the title at first pretentious. It actually isn’t!! but an actual clue as to some of the aims behind a rather “thrilleresque” way of presenting this life. I had never read a book by Mike McCormack and I am going to read his previous works. Recommended - loads of food for reading delight and actual thought.

This book is in three parts, and although by the end it is clear what the question is, it is not clear what the answer is.
The reader can add his own views to what has happened and what is happening.
A clever short novel, easily read in one sitting.
I loved it.
My thanks to the publisher for an advance reader's copy for honest review.

Nealon, newly released from prison, returns to his home to find it empty. A phone call from a stranger who will not identify himself says he will explain all if Nealon agrees to meet for one conversation...

This Plague of Souls has the propulsive essence of a thriller and the literary writing one expects from McCormack, author of the superb Solar Bones. This is another very fine novel, one I devoured in a single sitting. It is tense, lean, and emotionally gripping. McCormack doesn't spell things out to the reader, he lets you experience them as Nealon does, and this immersion into a strange yet somehow familiar but not quite world is perfect. I was never sure where this novel was going to go, and whilst there will be some who find it ultimately frustrating not to be given all the answers, readers that love works which allow the reader to imagine and engage with a novel will be right at home here.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one and I say thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.