Smaller And Smaller Circles - Softcover

"Hailed as the first Filipino crime novel, Smaller and Smaller Circles is a fascinating snapshot of a country still struggling to come to terms with the poverty, corruption and brutality of the Ferdinand Marcos era." --Irish Times

"This is a good, old-fashioned serial killer novel set in Quezon City. The narrative is serviceable, but what's fascinating is the glimpse into a conservative and pious society, full of obstructive officials, both clerical and secular, who are more interested in preserving the status quo than in revealing uncomfortable truths." --The Guardian

"Exposure of these obscenities can only be a good thing, and they certainly make the basis of an interesting story. The protagonists are engaging characters; their progress is rapid." --Crime Review

"Some of the best crime novels have been inspired by a burning sense of injustice. It is the driving force behind Smaller and Smaller Circles by FH Batacan, which has been hailed as the first Filipino crime novel. The book evokes the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in Manila, children who scavenge on rubbish tips to make a living. They are easy targets for a ritualistic killer in an unusual novel where the investigators - a forensic anthropologist and a psychologist - also happen to be Jesuit priests." --The Sunday Times

"This is a book of healing. It reminds us that truth not only exists at the end of a story, but continuously through the present moment, woven as traces, hints and clues to be grasped at even as they pass." --The Spectator

A GROUNDBREAKING WORK OF FICTION; THE FIRST FILIPINO CRIME MASTERPIECE

This harrowing murder mystery, winner of the Philippine National Book Award, follows two Catholic priests on the hunt for a serial killer in the notorious Payatas dump city of northern Manila.

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. So when the eviscerated bodies of teenage boys begin to appear in the dump heaps, there is no one to seek justice on their behalf.

In the rainy summer of 1997, two Jesuit priests take the matter of protecting their flock into their own hands. Father Gus Saenz has been a priest for three decades, but he is also a respected forensic anthropologist, one of the few in the Philippines, and has been tapped by the Director of the National Bureau of Investigations as a backup for police efforts. Together with his protégé, Father Jerome Lucero, a psychologist, Saenz dedicates himself to tracking down the monster preying on these impoverished boys.

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.