Niall, a zoologist, goes to Northern Ireland under the pretext of studying magpies. What he's researching is nothing less that the science of free will, the genetics of fate and destiny. But as he roams the seashore observing the lives of the magpies, he becomes increasingly troubled by half-remembered events, by apparently familiar faces and by the names of people long dead. Niall is drawn into complex relationships not just with the local villagers, but with two beautiful women, Nadia and Eddie. But as he grows more obsessed with his magpies, his grip on reality starts to weaken and he becomes implicated in a murder charge.

ISBN 0-552-97712-9 Black Swan 1998

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