The Flood

Special paperback copy. 12mo. Pp. xvii, 251. Pictorial wraps. In the printed dustwrapper. A "not for sale", special p/b copy, issued prior to the publication of the A format trade issue, out on 09.08.06 at £6.99. Re-issue of the author's debut novel originally published in 1986 by Polygon, a student-run press at Edinburgh University in a limited print run of 300 hardbacks (200 according to the author) and 750 trade paperbacks. With a new introduction by the author.

A coming-of-age story set in a decaying mining village in Fife, Scotland, where the author was born and raised. Written while he was working towards his doctorate in Scottish literature, it "started life as a short story, but soon took on a life of its own". While not an Inspector Rebus novel, it nevertheless clearly displays some of the latter series' characteristic trademark elemental themes.