Vatanescu, an impoverished Romanian construction worker, wants a future for himself and a pair of football boots for his son. So he decides to head north to a cold, dark country where there is money to be made. Finding his way in Finland, he takes up with Russian human trafficker Yegor Kugar and joins the bottom rung of a begging ring. Before long Vatanescu is on the streets of Helsinki, earning a small percentage on spare change. But Yegor - a crook interested only in status and screwing - has strict views on what it means to be a beggar, and when Vatanescu enjoys a sumptuous feast from the contents of a dumpster, a conflict ensues. Soon he is on the run from both an international crime organisation and the Finnish police. Striking up a friendship with a fellow outcast, a hare fleeing Helsinki pest control, Vatanescu travels the length and breadth of Finland, crashing into other people s lives, fumbling his way from the streets into the upper echelons of Finnish politics... This strange, compelling fable about Europe, capitalism and the human heart is unlike anything else you will ever read.