Cold Metal

Armed with four academic degrees, including an MBA, Tito worked in banking and never worried about money. His comfortable lifestyle included traveling around the world, from the Florida Keys to Tokyo. Ultimately, though, he trusted the wrong people when he decided to start his own business, despite warning signs. Several bounced checks later, Tito was arrested in a street roundup for failing to produce identification, beginning an odyssey he never could have imagined, in a place where the stench alone nearly overpowered him. Enter Dubais Muraqqabat and Al Awir jails, where people of every race, language, and ethnicityChinese, Lebanese, Pakistani, Filipino, African, Syrian, Indianare confined for crimes ranging from indecent exposure to financial misdeeds to homicide. Meet Joey, who loved to impersonate action stars from old movies; Neil, terrified and on the edge of a breakdown; Joseph, who reputedly earned nearly $10,000 a month while incarcerated; Khalid, the swaggering bully who tearfully recounted what happened to the woman whose love changed his life. Tito puts human faces on stereotypes of Christian and Muslim, gay and straight, Arab and Chinese. Stories of loyalty, small kindnesses, and selflessness unfold along with those of deceit and intimidation, and it is here that Tito learns about pure love, true friendship, and his ability to survive. Cold Metal opens the door to a world that is sometimes sad, sometimes harsh, sometimes heartwarming, and always fascinatinga world most of us will never see firsthand, but will never forget.

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