'A few moments later, a small, angry man burst in from a side-door. He glared at me and demanded my business.'

'A climate of frivolity was intended, but the tension was palpable.'

‘If the wisdom gleaned abroad is made central to one’s new life, it builds on this valuable knowledge rather than wastefully bracketing if off like some invalid reality'

'Ellie is literally shot into space in a device modelled on an alien bath-tub.'

'We’re talking angry zombie ducks – the kind of avian scum that have ruined many a gentle summer evening around the village pond.’

'The South American country is teeming with drug traffickers on the look-out out for travellers who can be bribed or tricked.'

'Cerro Rico is less a mountain than a mass grave'.

'But surely her real beauty had been more than skin deep, however much more skin there now was'