Storyline Presents: Author Talk & Signing with Michael Jerome Plunkett

Storyline Bookshop is thrilled to welcome Michael Jerome Plunkett for a discussion of Zone Rouge. Michael will be signing copies of the book after the conversation.

About the author:

Michael Jerome Plunkett is a writer from Long Island. He served in the United States Marine Corps and worked as an EMT in South Carolina. He is the Co-founder and Executive Director of the Literature of War Foundation and hosts its podcast, The LitWar Podcast. He led the Patrol Base Abbate Book Club for veterans and was a 2021 VCCA Fellow. Zone Rouge is his debut novel.

About the book:

Ferrand Martin and his team of démineurs spend their days combing the scarred landscapes of Zone Rouge, on the fringes of present-day Verdun, France. Their mission: to clear the land of the deadly remnants of World War I—one shell, one shard, one buried bomb at a time. Their work isn’t counted in days or years, but in generations. A century has passed, and still, the end is nowhere in sight.

Then, during what should have been a routine recovery of a half-buried shell, they uncover something far more haunting: a fully intact human skeleton. As Ferrand and his team dig deeper into the poisoned soil, they are reminded that history never stays buried for long.

The discovery sets off a chain of events that draws new life to the normally desolate Zone Rouge. Scholars, politicians, and local residents descend on the site, sparking debates over memory, legacy, and the unresolved trauma of war. Zone Rouge is a haunting, modern-day reimagining of the Sisyphus myth—an evocative meditation on war, climate, class, and the ghosts we carry with us.

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