‘A mesmerisingly powerful book’ SALLY ROONEYIlluminating the lives of outcasts, misfits and malcontents, this is the darkly funny and moving second book from the award-winning author of Young Skins.A quiet night in the neighbourhood pub is shattered by the arrival of a sword-wielding fugitive. A funeral party teeters on the edge of this world and the next, as ghosts won''t settle. A shooting sees an everyday call-out lead a policewoman to confront the banality of her own existence.In his new collection of stories, Colin Barrett takes us to the barren backwaters of County Mayo, via Canada – always with an eye for the abrupt and absurd.''Superb... There is so much life in these pages'' DOUGLAS STUART''Fierce, tender...unforgettable'' BRANDON TAYLOR''Addictive, stylish and violently funny... Outstanding'' KEVIN BARRY