Four friends, one weekend, gallons of whisky. What could go wrong? Driven by amateur whisky-nut Adam, four late-thirties ex-university mates are heading to Islay - the remote Scottish island world famous for its single malts - with a wallet full of cash, a stash of coke and a serious thirst. Over a weekend soaked in the finest cask strength spirit, they meet young divorcee Molly, who Adam has a soft spot for, her little sister Ash who has all sorts of problems and Molly's ex-husband Joe, a control freak who also happens to be the local police. As events spiral out of control, they are all thrown into a nightmare that gets worse at every turn. A wild trip to the Scottish Highlands, Doug Johnstone's debut on the Faber crime list is a classic violent thriller, doused with black humour.

Virginia is for lovers, but in the heartless and unforgiving streets of Virginias 7even Cities: where disillusioned hustlers pitch narcotics on project blocks without a conscience, disgruntled stick up kids terrorize the streets with their ambitions attached to ski masks and twin pistols, and dispirited young females strip themselves of their self-worth and sell their most sacred possessions all for a piece of the Devils Pie, love is an ideal often spoke about, but seldom seen. The 7even Cities, where the disenfranchised take to the streets to obtain the American Dream of lavish homes, luxury automobiles, and tailored garments, while the aristocracy relentlessly aim to squander their hopes with oppressive laws and a multi-million dollar penal system. This is Virginia through the clairvoyant eyes of Marquis Cream Cureton in his classic debut novel, When the Smoke Clears: An Urban Novel. Inspired by true events, Cream narrates the story of Secoya Smoke Harris, a promising college basketball player with ambitions as vast as the oceans are blue, who tip-toed the fine line between success and the streets. Originally from the gang infested streets of Compton, California, Smoke cant resist the lure of the underworld of the 7even Cities, and in one costly decision finds himself incarcerated in Virginias Department of Corrections and marked for death by his big homie. His basketball career ruined and future bleak, Smoke apprehensively makes the decision to dive head first into the streets and get money the only way he sees possibletrafficking marijuana. Beef inevitable, bodies dropping, and indictments looming, Smoke drowns himself in a cloud of haze from the finest bud California has to offer in order to escape the harsh reality that in the streets nothing last forever, and no one ever wins; there are only those that survive the game and live to tell about it behind penitentiary walls, and those that lose, taking their last breath in the streets. Which side will Smoke find himself? Only God knows, When the Smoke Clears.

With its unparalleled coverage of English slang of all types (from 18th-century cant to contemporary gay slang), and its uncluttered editorial apparatus, Cassell's Dictionary of Slang was warmly received when its first edition appeared in 1998. 'Brilliant.' said Mark Lawson on BBC2's The Late Review; 'This is a terrific piece of work - learned, entertaining, funny, stimulating' said Jonathan Meades in The Evening Standard.But now the world's best single-volume dictionary of English slang is about to get even better. Jonathon Green has spent the last seven years on a vast project: to research in depth the English slang vocabulary and to hunt down and record written instances of the use of as many slang words as possible. This has entailed trawling through more than 4000 books - plus song lyrics, TV and movie scripts, and many newspapers and magazines - for relevant material. The research has thrown up some fascinating results

If you're interested in learning about how to write, how to be a writer, or about the writing life in general, what greater resource and pleasure than frank, in-depth interviews with best-selling authors? Len Wanner returns with the second in hisCrime Interviews series, this time featuring:• William McIlvanney• Tony Black• Doug Johnstone• Helen FitzGerald• Quintin Jardine• Gordon Ferris• Craig Russell• Douglas Lindsay• Ray Banks• Denise Mina• So much more than a collection of writing tips,The Crime Interviews Volume Two is brimming with pithy, witty and sometimes just plain weird revelations. It provides a unique and unforgettable insight into how authors think... and how they write."Fascinating stuff, whether you are a fan of any particular author, or of the genre as a whole, or even of the wider world of Scottish and British Literature in contemporary times. In fact, I may just have to go back and read both volumes again..."-from the foreword by Ian Rankin See also The Crime Interviews Volume One for nine more interviews. What they said about Volume One..."This is fascinating reading and a real treat. A rare insight into the minds of a diverse group of crime writers, writing in one genre, living in proximity, but all with utterly different, individual voices."-Peter James, author ofDead Like You "Len Wanner is the perfect interrogator, subtle, accommodating and incisive, and these interviews elicit many layers of deep, dark and vital intelligence."-John Banville author of The Sea

Fourth edition, fully revised and updated. 101 Whiskies to Try Before You Die is a whisky guide with a difference. It is not an awards list. It is not a list of the 101 'best' whiskies in the world in the opinion of a self-appointed whisky guru. It is simply a guide to the 101 whiskies that enthusiasts must seek out and try in order to complete their whisky education. Avoiding the deliberately obscure, the ridiculously limited and the absurdly expensive, whisky expert Ian Buxton recommends an eclectic selection of old favourites, stellar newcomers and mystifyingly unknown drams that simply have to be drunk. The book decodes the marketing hype and gets straight to the point; whether from Canada, India, America, Sweden, Ireland, Japan or the hills, glens and islands of Scotland, here are the 101 whiskies that you really want. Try them before you die - Slainte!