In the late 1970s, a pyromaniac runs amok in rural Norway. As homes are burnt to cinders, panic spreads as neighbours wonder who amongst them could cause such fear and anguish. Born in to this chaos, Gaute Heivoll is indelibly linked to this disturbing time, and to the arsonist intent on such destruction. Before I Burn is a fictional exploration of the true events of Norway`s most dramatic arson case. By juxtaposing the pyromaniac`s story with his own, Gaute Heivoll lays bare the insanity that lies just beneath the surface of the human psyche, and the triggers that may flip any of us into madness. Written in fluid, vivid prose, and with a shattering honesty and humanity, Before I Burn is a literary sensation.