From the bestselling author of The Circle and The Monk of Mokha comes a taut suspenseful story of two foreigners role in a nations fragile peaceTightly written carefully designed to wrongfoot preconceptions and astute An intensely gripping story Evening StandardAn 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 stateTwo 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 presenceWith echoes of J M Coetzee and Graham Greene this timeless novel questions whether we can ever understand another nations war and what role we have in forging anyones peaceCertainly his best book since What is the What The sound of a major writer finding his mature voice Spectator
