Ghosts of Belfast Summary
Stuart Neville

Ghosts of Belfast Overview

Neville's The Ghosts of Belfast follows the story of Gerry Fegan, an ex- hitman for the Republican party who is haunted by the spirits of the people whom he has killed. Fegan, in order to appease his ghosts, begins to kill the men who ordered him to kill in the first place. He launches a killing spree that targets the key members of the now- peaceful Republican party. His growing friendship with the estranged niece of one of his targets, a single mother ostracized from her Republican community for marrying a cop, gives him hope for a new life even as he attempts to eradicate the perpetuators of corruption and violence to whom he has given most of his life. Set in the early days of the Stormont agreement, The Ghosts of Belfast focuses on themes concerning the nature of guilt and redemption, relationships between parents and their children, the corrupt nature of politics, and the inability to escape one's past.