Prophet Song is a terrifying book - this much you'll have gathered from peer blurbs, readers' reports and media reviews. Paul Lynch's fifth novel comes direct from the can't-happen-here school of near-future dystopian, but the book's real mojo originates not with the plausibility of the premise (the Republic of Ireland deteriorating rapidly from right-wing populism to outright civil war), but the crawling-on-skin effect of the language.
Prophet Song is a 300-page panic attack. It starts with a hum of dread, as the main protagonist Eilish's denial gives way to the realisation that her country's government is morphing into a murderous regime. Her husband, a union leader, has been interned by authorities, and her eldest son is eligible for conscription. Eilish repeatedly talks herself out of evasive action (in this case, the chance to flee the country), because she's paralysed by disbelief and dismay.
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