“This road, this hungry road, eating us up”.

A post-apocalyptic novel, set in a bleakly beautiful and desolate Ireland. In the first scenes, we are introduced to the mysterious Orpen who is making her way from the West coast to the East coast together with a grey skin Maeve who is lying unconscious in a wheelbarrow. Why is Ireland abandoned, and who is Open and where exactly does she think she is going? All of these are answered over the course of a fast-paced and quite short novel. Of course, there are even more questions by the end, suggesting that this may be the first in a series perhaps?

This novel has a strong sense of place and characters and both scream Ireland; uses simple but evocative language and description; and cleverly has built a world of human devastation, zombie-like skrakes, banshees, and breeders with what seems like little or no effort on the authors part.

Recommended for those looking for a dystopian post-apocalyptic Irish drama. Maybe something a little different for your St Patricks Day reading.