`Mouse' is an orphan, living with his older brother and forced to be involved in a series of robberies. But at heart Mouse is an adventurer: he wants to break out of his sordid life, achieve something, and make his fortune. And when an old man tells him there is a fortune to be made, not faraway, Mouse runs away to become the Bottle Boy. Stephen Elboz's novel is full of drama, bizarre characters. action and humour. Mouse's story is set against that of the other characters in the book, in particular the haunted Polish refugee, Joe, and his own history.