The rugged west coast of Ireland seems like the perfect place for a
holiday. Then everything starts to go wrong. Colin is aware of an awful
smell coming off the land, a smell of death and decay... Colin and Prill
were looking forward to a holiday of fun and adventure in Ireland. It
would have been perfect if only they hadn't had to drag along their
"odd" cousin Oliver. But Oliver, it turns out, isn't their biggest
problem. Almost from the moment they arrive, Colin feels sick from an
awful smell, so powerful and horrible that it seems to be rising from
the land of the dead. At the same time, Prill is visited by a strange
creature creeping into her dreams. Who is she, and what does she want?
Only Oliver seems untouched by the danger. As the hot summer days
continue, their terror mounts and their baby sister becomes critically
ill. Oliver links the present horror with the terrible famine in Ireland
of the 1840s - and the strange occupant of the nearby caravan, whose
land was lost then through eviction - and he must bring about the
reconciliation to save himself and his cousins.