'Oh come now, Mr Buchanan. When one goes out into the world, one always ends up smelling of something or other.' Fergus Buchanan has led a charmed life: a doting family, a loving sweetheart and the respect of his neighbours. All is as it should be and nothing stands between him and the limitless happiness that is his destiny. But then he is sent from his remote island to retrieve the cursing stone, and his adventures in the wild world beyond cause him to question everything he thought he knew. Succeed or fail, nothing will be the same again. This modern quest is a story of courage, duty and revenge, of family ties and loves lost and found, of dragons and postcodes.

Since escaping the East Midlands to find his fortune in the big city, Adrian Harvey has combined a career in and around government with trying to see as much of the world as he can. He lives in North London, which he believes to be the finest corner of the world's greatest city. The Cursing Stone is his second novel. He previously wrote Being Someone.