Ink by John Preston (Black Swan, £6.99 in UK)

`You can't have writer's block," he said. "You're not a writer. This is journalism. It doesn't matter if a few words are the wrong way round." When a man drowns himself in the Thames in the middle of the night, the story presents Fleet Street hack Hugh Byrne with a last-gasp chance to save his floundering career. The thing is, can he be bothered to write it? As arts editor and TV critic of the Sun- day Telegraph, John Preston is right there on the inside track of the news business, and this hilarious, yet incisive comic novel describes with deadly accuracy the technical and ideological changes which have overtaken both journalism and journalists. It's more than a comic novel, though: if you've ever wondered how hacks really feel, read this and wonder no more.