Taut, lyrical and utterly gripping - a headrush of a debut novel about four boys coming of age on the deprived outskirts of Oslo

'A shot in the arm: equally brutal and soulful, the most vivid, vital book I've read in ages' Lisa McInerney

‘A powerful portrait of youth and young manhood - unexpected and beautiful’ Michael Magee

Last night i got woke up by marco ringing, and he was crying, he said, he died ivor, he died, and i didnt need to hear who to know, i just hung up.

Ivor and Marco have been getting high since they were thirteen, started dealing at fourteen, by fifteen they were carrying knives. At sixteen years old, they hurtle from one trip to the next, one fight to the next, always watching their backs. Ivor dreams of getting out - finishing school, becoming a lawyer, marrying the girl he loves from the corner shop - but the path he's on only leads one way.

In flashes of firecracker prose, shot through with rare empathy, irrepressible wit and gut-punch pathos, Oliver Lovrenski gives voice to young men growing up in a brutal and chaotic world.

Translated by: Nichola Smalley