Set in the nationalist Creggan housing estate in Derry during the Troubles, Chasing Shadows centres on the life of the youth Seamus Doherty, a `simple bastard' whose father was, he suspects, an informer for the British army. But Seamus shows promise at school and gives indication that he might make more of himself than his difficult background suggests. As the Troubles unfold and Seamus moves from adolescence to manhood, however, he becomes increasingly involved in the violence of the time, in the shape of riots against British troops, while also starting a relationship with a young Protestant woman. When shadowy figures from his father's past appear on the scene, Seamus gets drawn more deeply into the power struggles being fought out in the North.