Stewart O'Nan, a gifted and ambitious writer with a knack for investing his characters with real and strange depths, has created a dark, wonderful statement of terrible purpose with A Prayer For The Dying. His tragic hero, Jacob Hansen, is a scarred, guilt-ridden Civil War veteran who moves to the prairie settlement of Friendship, Wisconsin, to start fresh with his new bride and baby girl. To give his life structure and some small meaning, he takes upon himself the duties of the town constable, preacher, and mortician, occupations he views as different aspects of a consistent and unified life. But when a nameless drifter brings diphtheria to town and three people die of the disease almost instantly, Hansen's duties conflict, and his beliefs no longer seem relevant. As he burns the houses of the dead, watches his family for signs of infection, and enforces a cruel but necessary quarantine, his mind moves slowly from sanity and structure to despair. A Prayer For The Dying is a powerful book, sparsely written, haunting, and incredibly immediate thanks to O'Nan's use of a challenging second-person narrative which, for readers of a certain age, may unfortunately suggest choose-your-own-adventure books for the first few dozen pages. The sense of dread and mounting helplessness invite questions on the nature of responsibility, faith, and hope, ultimately accomplishing a feat that's both impressive and inspirational.