In the last hours of the 1916 Easter Rising, 20-year old Charlie Saurin came face to face with his Commander-in-Chief, Patrick Pearse.

In a final gamble, Pearse had a desperate plan to save the collapsing rebellion.

It required the sacrifice of Saurin and his comrades.

The Scrapis the true story of the rising, from first-hand evidence, as seen by one rebel unit - F Company, 2nd Battalion - following them from the first skirmish in Fairview to the inferno of the GPO.

Told in the context of some of the major events of that week, the story of F Company brings alive the excitement, the humour, the horror and the contradictions of that decisive moment in the creation of the Irish state.

Gene Kerrigan was born and lives in Dublin, where he has covered politics, crime and scandals for over thirty years. He wrote forMagillmagazine and theSunday Tribune, and currently writes for theSunday Independent. Among his non-fiction books are the bestsellingHard Cases,Another Country, This Great Little NationandThe Big Lie: Who Profits From Ireland's Austerity?He is also the author of four novels, the latest of which,The Rage, won the UKs top crime fiction award, the Gold Dagger for Best Crime Novel, at the 2012 Crime Writers Association awards.