Declan Burke fled Ireland 40 years ago and never looked back. Now settled in New York, he thinks he's put the old country behind him, until he reads the obituary of one Cathal Murphy. But the obituary is not about Murphy at all. It's a coded indictment of Burke's own life - and an announcement of his impending death. Halifax lawyer Monty Collins begins to investigate Burke's IRA past. From the farms of Ireland to the tenements of New York City, Monty is confronted by a cast of enigmatic and suspicious characters.