A NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEARA TLS BOOK OF THE YEAR Nealon returns to his family home in Ireland after a long time away, only to be greeted by a completely empty house. With no sign of his wife or child anywhere, it seems the world has forgotten that he even existed. The one exception is a persistent caller on the telephone, someone who seems to know everything about Nealon's life, his recent bother with the law and, more importantly, what has happened to his family.

All Nealon needs to do is talk with him. But the more he talks the closer Nealon becomes tangled in the very crimes of which he claims to be innocent.