I have no idea how I feel about this book. Is that the whole point? As many other reviewers have said it is the type of book to read in one (or 2 as I did) sittings as the author does have a flow and intriguing style of writing. The story starts as the blurb suggests and ultimately what you get is a recounting of a bizarre collection of occurrences wrapped in a little - albeit lacking - background. You are frustratingly left with more questions than answers at the end and I guess that means I didn't get it? Was there something to get?! There is clever use of prose to build suspense and generally the atmospheric writing is spot on. I was intrigued, I wanted to finish the book, but I wanted more. I know it's popular for authors to let the readers take their own stance on stories but I feel this one leaves way too much open. May be necessary to re-read as one reviewer says they are going to do the same to look out for 'clues' - I clearly missed them all first time round! And here I am, I realise, leaving a review as forthcoming as the book itself!! ( )

I honestly do not know how to describe this book: the writing is stunning, the mystery of the disappearances remains a mystery, the narrator, an Irish priest at a time when the Catholic Church in Ireland was in the midst of sex abuse scandals, may be reliable...or not. The well-drawn characters--the maybe married couple, the maybe daughter, the maybe exhibitionist twin sister of the maybe wife, the unscrupulous developer, the developer's randy nephew estate security guard, the priest--come together during a few weeks at the end of summer in the collapsed aftermath of the Celtic Tiger economic/real estate bubble. One-by-one characters disappear. Is the priest responsible? Is the strange maybe daughter around whom the entire tale revolves responsible? And responsible for what? Is it the delusional fears and repressed sexuality of the priest? And what about the evidence? A fascinating read brilliantly executed despite the lack of resolution. ( )