A murderer's confession - devastating, unblinking, poignant, unforgettable - which reveals a story of class, education and the inescapable workings of destiny. Ah Hock is an ordinary, uneducated man born in a Malaysian fishing village and now trying to make his way in a country that promises riches and security to everyone but delivers them only to a chosen few. With Asian society changing around him, like many he remains trapped in a world of poorly paid jobs that just about allow him to keep his head above water but ultimately lead him to murder a migrant worker from Bangladesh. Ah Hock's vivid and compelling description of the years building up to this appalling act of violence is a portrait of an outsider like no other, an anti-nostalgic view of human life and the ravages of hope. "Aw is a writer of great power and delicacy, as able to conjure stampeding crowds as the glow of fireflies." DAILY MAIL.