the author wrote this on his site about the book:

I was born in the east end of London. At the age of 10, my parents got divorced and I made an unconcious decision not to love any more.

At the age of 13 I had started stealing. By 15 I was put in a detention centre (a youth prison). I left home having been released. My only qualification was stealing, so that's what I did.

At 19 I was in prison again and because the way I dealt with my pain was with anger, I was always fighting. They put me on 23 hour solitary confinement and I came out of there even more angry and bitter.

"I liked fighting so I thought I might as well get paid for it"

I started bouncing round the east end and west end of London. I liked fighting so I thought I might as well get paid for it! I met some guys who seemed to have everything and I started to work for them. Before long I found myself working with them instead of for them. These were the guys who ran most of the organised crime in London. To my shame I was involved in massive drug deals, protection rackets and vicious crime of all sorts.

I had what I thought was everything. Money, power, girls, drugs the lot. But yet there was something missing... This struck me more than ever, when I thought I had killed someone. I knew I had to change my life...