[R.G. Cordiner]

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Here is an excerpt from the beginning of the book:

The sea crashed relentlessly against the rocks, in a hopeless attempt to destroy them. Further up the cliff face a lone gull huddled deeper into its feathers in a desperate attempt to stay warm as the storm drove bitter stakes of cold into it. At the peak of the sheer rock wall sat a lone building like the last fortress against evil. The wind whistled through the holes in the fragile timber boards as it crept inside and attacked the people within. The building was so much a part of its surroundings that it seemed almost grown from the top of the cliff. The voices within the pub strained to be heard over the howling storm and the creaking boards. The owners of the voices were a varied bunch of ruffians and thugs whose stories were etched on their faces and carved into their bodies … with two notable exceptions.
The youths were too young to drink, yet old enough to try. The publican had been in this situation many a time before. He figured that they were not just buying their first pint, but a lifetime of enslavement to the amber drop, and where better to become addicted, than in his ‘fine’ establishment. The two teenagers gratefully handed over their coins and quickly retreated to their alcove, lest the owner have time to reconsider. As they slowly sipped at their drinks they felt as if it was a form of magic elixir that immediately transformed them. No longer did they feel trapped in the chasm between child and adult. In one sip, they believed they had made the leap from one to the other without all of that impatient waiting. Their bony chests swelled out and they broke out in enormous grins. Little did they know that it was mostly flavoured water that they were drinking.