From the bestselling author of The Circle and The Monk of Mokha comes a taut suspenseful story
of two foreigners' role in a nation's fragile peace. 'Tightly written carefully designed to
wrong-foot preconceptions and astute . . . An intensely gripping story' Evening Standard An
unnamed country is leaving the darkness of a decade at war and to commemorate the armistice
the government commissions a new road connecting two halves of the state. Two men foreign
contractors from the same company are sent to finish the highway. While one is flighty and
adventurous wanting to experience the nightlife and people the other wants only to do the
work and go home. But both men must eventually face the absurdities of their positions and the
dire consequences of their presence. With echoes of J. M. Coetzee and Graham Greene this
timeless novel questions whether we can ever understand another nation's war and what role we
have in forging anyone's peace. 'Certainly his best book since What is the What... The sound of
a major writer finding his mature voice' Spectator
