Frustrated, cynical and a big disappointment to his family, Slorach is also a man of great intelligence and deep knowledge, a British Rail timetables call-centre guru who just happens to be addicted to gambling machines. Welcome to the world of the quiz-machine casual. The Begbie family gather in Edinburgh for a terminally ill woman's last Christmas, but everyone needs to be on their best behaviour, and that includes her. Son Frank, recently released from prison and trying to forge a new life as an artist. Also present is his brother Joe, who arrives in a state of alcoholic dissolution.
The ultimate nightmare family Christmas looms, where secrets and lies explode like fireworks. Thousands of thirsty Englishmen assemble in the city ahead of a football match against Belgium, their behaviour monitored by two media professionals who spout different politics but share the same interests. S Tommy Johnson and a small crew of purists run the gauntlet in Germany, eager to join the fun.
As order breaks down and the media goes into overdrive, we are left to identify the real beasts of the story. Maverick, free-thinking fiction for the 2020s. The View From Poacher's Hill. Featuring new novellas by Alan Warner, Irvine Welsh, and and John King. Three literary chums, three more doses of bold contemporary fiction.
A reluctant teenager is taken to live on the Costa Blanca by her parents, but despite the villa, pool and palm trees as enjoyed through designer shades, Lily struggles to adapt to her new life in Spain. All is not well in paradise. The dull existence of disenfranchised Edinburgh youths is eased by the more seductive worlds glimpsed on the likes of Instagram. With drugs, porn, junk food and single-parenthood their everyday obsessions, this romping comedy of no manners asks if our onscreen lives can ever compensate for having nothing in real life.The arrival by narrowboat of former lorry driver Merlin and his goat Gary attracts a curious crowd to a canalside pub in West London, but with rival football firms represented and a local man on a mission to stop the Devil and his sorcerer from entering the city, the peaceful drink planned may not go according to plan. Seal Club 2: The View From Poacher's Hill.
Uncensored and unapologetic, the second part of a trilogy from Warner, Welsh, King.