No Horizon: Pressure Books

In 2011, punk traveller Mitch Jones is hitch-hiking through Turkey with his best friend Brit when a drunken altercation in Istanbul sees them drawn into a vicious street fight. After being knocked unconscious, Mitch comes to and realises he is in handcuffs, while a strange man lies bleeding on the ground. To his horror he is blamed by the police for an assault he did not commit. On the dubious evidence of a coerced witness, he is refused bail and taken directly to the notorious Maltepe prison on the city's outskirts.

Although Mitch has experienced the Australian justice system as a young political activist, his first Turkish prison encounter is a terrifying one. Strip-searched and beaten by the guards, he is held down and his purple mohawk forcibly shaved off - supposedly for his own protection. But after being introduced to the cell block he will share with twenty-one other men, his initial fear and aggression soften into a cautious curiosity. He discovers that Maltepe prison is home to a strange ecosystem of social power and a diverse collection of international inmates. Mitch is quickly befriended by Ilya, a young Russian drug dealer who loves to lift weights. He plays homemade backgammon with his Azerbaijani cellmate Nimet, and is taken under the wing of Michael, an ageing British gangster whose hard-earned wisdom proves invaluable.

The kindness he is shown by others, however, cannot subdue his rising panic and frustration. As the weeks drag on and tensions rise inside the cell block, a confrontation with another prisoner emphasises the danger of Mitch's uncontrolled temper. Before he can plead his case in the courtroom, he will need to accept that the greatest threat to his wellbeing might come from how he handles his own emotions.

Told with wit and passion, No Horizon is an unforgettable memoir about discovering that righteous anger is not the same thing as wisdom. Drawing on lessons learned the hard way in a Turkish prison cell, Mitch shares his reflections on rebellion, responsibility and the difficult process of growing up.