In northeast Manila's Quezon City is a district called Payatas - a 50-acre dump that is home to thousands of people who live off of what they can scavenge there. It is one of the poorest neighbourhoods in a city whose law enforcement is already stretched thin, devoid of forensic resources and rife with corruption. Cited as the first Filipino crime novel, Smaller And Smaller Circles is a poetic masterpiece of literary noir, a sensitive depiction of a time and place and a fascinating story about the Catholic Church and its place in its devotees' lives and communities.
