Trash

By: Andy Mulligan

Narrated by: Chris Nunez, Elissa Steele, Everette Plen, Fred Sanders, Michelle Gonzalez, Ozzie Rodriguez, Ramon DeOcampo

Raphael is a dumpsite boy. He spends his days wading through mountains of steaming trash, sifting it, sorting it, breathing it, sleeping next to it.

Then one unlucky-lucky day, Raphael's world turns upside down. A small leather bag falls into his hands. It's a bag of clues. It's a bag of hope. It's a bag that will change everything.

Soon Raphael and his friends Gardo and Rat are running for their lives. Wanted by the police, it takes all their quick-thinking, fast-talking to stay ahead. As the net tightens, they uncover a dead man's mission to put right a terrible wrong.

And now it's three street-boys against the world...

Critic reviews

One of the most exciting and original novels of the year . . . It's a tight, thrilling story, told from various characters' perspectives and has a Slumdog, feel-good pulse beating through it. A genuine treasure find (Sally Morris)

One of my favourite novels of 2010, now in paperback with a new cover look. Reminiscent of Slumdog Millionaire, three dumpsite boys take on the world in this gripping and intensely moving story . . . Harrowing, exhilarating, humbling and quite brilliant (Fiona Noble)

Outstanding, hotly anticipated thriller . . . an exceptionally satisfying plot (Amanda Craig)

Great stuff: taut, plausible and thought-provoking (Toby Clements)

Trash is a thriller with moral weight and a complex structure . . . Without ever moralising, Mulligan raises issues of corruption, poverty, waste and excess in an exciting, but also grimly sad tale (Suzi Feay)

Wonderful - an exciting story with engaging characters told in a clever way with spare but lyrical prose . . . Trash comes highly recommended by me, and I don't have time to say any more about it because I'm off to read it again. And after that, I might read it again. And then again. You read it too

A superbly original tale (Natasha Harding)

This is a highly entertaining and very satisfying book which should be recommended to all. It needs to be read. (Marilyn Brocklehurst)

Harrowing, exhilarating, humbling and quite brilliant

Headlong and heart-stopping, this is an adventure you just can't put down (Julia Eccleshare)