Long Way Down

Brought to you by Penguin.

''Can I explain why I wanted to jump off the top of a tower block?''

For disgraced TV presenter Martin Sharp the answer''s pretty simple: he has, in his own words, ''pissed his life away''. And on New Year''s Eve, he''s going to end it all ... But not, as it happens, alone. Because first single-mum Maureen, then eighteen-year-old Jess and lastly American rock-god JJ turn up and crash Martin''s private party. They''ve stolen his idea - but brought their own reasons.

Yet it''s hard to jump when you''ve got an audience queuing impatiently behind you. A few heated words and some slices of cold pizza later and these four strangers are suddenly allies. But is their unlikely friendship a good enough reason to carry on living?

Nick Hornby''s hilarious bestseller about strangers and secrets, now a major motion picture starring Rosamund Pike and Pierce Brosnan.