Shooter in a Plague Year: A Kavanagh Story III

In 2018, peace, possibly fair, possibly lasting, is getting far too close for the hardliners on both sides in Northern Ireland. Shooter in a Plague Year, the third Irish historical novel in the Kavanagh saga, describes one possible outcome, a nightmare scenario that completes the gory chapters of the past. What happens if the moderates are eliminated? What happens if the New IRA, just formed on one hand, and the shadowy Core Command on the other, finally square off to determine who owns Ulster, all of it? Both claim the Red Hand of Ulster as their symbol; both claim nationalism as their own high ground. Each is as devious and secretive as the other. Who's marked for death? By whom? Why? Shooter in a Plague Year follows the twists and turns, machinations and prejudices, of these paramilitary groups as they finalize the 800 year old war in the North. High tech weapons are at the forefront; ancient hatreds are the bedrock.

One reviewer described Shooter in a Plague Year as, "an astonishing book. It gallops forward at a remarkable pace and gathers us all up into intrigue, politics, betrayal, and heart rending and scintillating scenes of open-hearted love, half truths, and promises. Author Jim Wills has a literary style that winds a story with thoughtful fire and makes us think, speculate, and figure out the subplots as the lives he follows digest the clues they get as to what is actually happening and who it is they can trust. He pushes us into the future to a time when no one knows what to do with Northern Ireland anymore. Political pressure is subtly and powerfully stamped into every interaction. British pretense is the name of the game and described in a way I have not experienced done so well. It is a great book. Read it!"