An eight-year-old orphan is living off the streets and through the kindness of strangers. His home is a shack in the slums of Kinshasa. Harbouring deep feelings, and wants of a better life. He plans his escape which he must accomplish against all the odds. Soon he gets the opportunity, a charming stranger presents an opportunity to him. He makes his escape but does not get what was promised. For he has now found his way, not in a family home, but a coltan mine. The kind stranger was a child trafficker who would lure his victims with outrageous promises of a better life. Over the years to come, the orphan despite being so young, would work as hard as any adult. This served however, to make him stronger. He would learn about life, and about what is tearing his country apart.

Into the Abyss tells the story of an orphan, born in the slums of Kinshasa, who escapes only to find himself trapped in a coltan mine. But where this life would take him, would be anyone’s guess. Set in The Congo, this is a book about conflict, poverty, dreams, hope, and generosity.