In the Library District, publishing houses open telephone lines to coincide with the release of their most popular novels. In the sheds scattered across the city, actors play characters featured in the selected titles; engaging the endless stream of callers at premium rates. The industry is home to a syndrome known as Trespassing, where actors ‘go over’ into character, sometimes never to be reclaimed.

C.W. Sisle’s In Search of Infinite Relief has not been in print for over thirty years. Its story lives on through a few surviving copies and the phoneline, manned by men employed to play the part of its passionate author. When the contract is sold and the phoneline allocated to the brilliant but soulless Mr. ****, he begins to feel the temptation of Trespassing for the first time.

Molly is young, self-destructive and desperate to find happiness. She is given a copy of the book in a bar. Drunk, she begins a series of phonecalls with Mr. **** and a journey that will prove to have far wider effects than either of them can imagine.

This fantastical tale unfolds around the fate of a missing woman and child, leading to an exciting, if unsettling, denouement. Molly & the Cyclops is a daring and inventive debut; part urban fantasy, part thriller, it’s an episodic adventure that along the way riffs on the personal, the psychological and the spiritual.

Ailbhe Keogan, a native of Tralee, is currently studying for a Masters degree in Interactive Media at the University of Limerick. This is her first novel.