The Down Days: A Novel

In the aftermath of a deadly outbreak--reminiscent of the 1962 event of mass hysteria that was the Tanganyika Laughter Epidemic--a city at the tip of Africa is losing its mind, with residents experiencing hallucinations and paranoia. Is it simply another episode of mass hysteria, or something more sinister? In a quarantined city in which the inexplicable has already occurred, rumors, superstitions, and conspiracy theories abound.

During these strange days, Faith works as a fulltime corpse collector and a freelance "truthologist," putting together disparate pieces of information to solve problems. But after Faith agrees to help an orphaned girl find her abducted baby brother, she begins to wonder whether the boy is even real. Meanwhile, a young man named Sans who trades in illicit goods is so distracted by a glimpse of his dream woman that he lets a bag of money he owes his gang partners go missing-leaving him desperately searching for both and soon questioning his own sanity.

Over the course of a single week, the paths of Faith, Sans, and a cast of other hustlers--including a data dealer, a drug addict, a sin eater, and a hyena man--will cross and intertwine as they move about the city, looking for lost souls, uncertain absolution, and answers that may not exist.