Finnegan falls off a ladder and dies, and his wife holds a most unusual wake. But, Lucas wonders, did Finnegan fall, or was he pushed? What happened to his body? And is it possible to reconcile a traditional detective novel with nonlinear storytelling devices and a disintegrated narrative structure?

Before it's all over, Lucas will be questioning not only the rightness of what he's doing, but whether there is any deeper meaning in the world. And it all comes back to Finnegan, his most unfortunate fall, and his most improbable rise.

With the kind of writing that makes people doubt their own reality, it's no wonder The Dublin Times says, "I couldn't understand the vast majority of what was going on, and what little I could comprehend was insulting. It must be art."