Mike McCormack Books in Order

Sixteen stories explore violence, alienation, and disturbing impulses in contemporary life. Young bombmakers, an artist who mutilates himself, and children who murder their parents inhabit a world where everyday frustrations give way to grotesque and unsettling acts.

Raised by an eccentric grandfather in rural Ireland, Crowe grows into an isolated man and leaves for the city. Love and a diagnosis of a fatal aging disease transform his outlook, prompting questions about existence and the stories people tell.

After his best friend's death, JJ volunteers for an experiment testing deep coma as an alternative to imprisonment. Monitored aboard a ship in an Irish harbor, he becomes part of a public spectacle that raises questions about identity and control.

Twelve stories follow people trying to preserve their identities as reality becomes strange and unstable. A prisoner plays a mysterious game, a child fears becoming a killer, and family tensions expose the uneasy connections between love, violence, and control.

On All Souls' Day, Marcus Conway sits at his kitchen table recalling life in rural Ireland. His memories of family and civil engineering expand into reflections on economic upheaval, political power, and the fragile systems connecting individual lives to history.

Nealon returns from prison to an empty house in western Ireland, finding no trace of his wife or child. A stranger who claims to know their whereabouts demands a meeting, drawing him into a conversation about secrets and international violence.