Allen & Unwin When Time Runs Out book Fiction English Paperback 320 pages

We Need to Talk About Kevin meets John le Carre at his best.

The world is on the brink of catastrophe, but if we lose our hope in a better future, what remains?A young man is shooting people from a rooftop in downtown Helsinki. An unsuspecting mother is confronted with a horrifying scenario she's powerless to stop. A sister can only watch events unfold from afar. Over the course of a day, one family fractures and with lives at stake each member is forced to examine everything that brought them to this moment. But this crisis goes beyond their small lives; Aslak is not the only boy on a rooftop with a gun today. He is part of an international group set on stopping environmental disaster by killing as many of those they deem responsible - first-world citizens - as possible.Can a desperate mother reconcile her complicated feelings towards her profoundly disillusioned son and reach him in time to avert a catastrophe? This is the story of the lives on the brink and finding hope in the face of despair.

Elina Hirvonen is a Finnish writer, journalist and documentary filmmaker. When I Forgot (2005), her debut novel, was shortlisted for a Torch-bearer award. Her first documentary feature film, Paradise: Three Journeys in this World (2007), won several awards in international festivals around the world.