TIM PARKS COULD talk underwater about the strangely exhilarating feeling of hanging upside down in a kayak. 'You go into the dark and your mind lights up,' he says. 'You become extremely alert.'

A self-confessed addictive personality type, Parks is careful about the things he tries. He has never dared go near his son's shoot-the-terrorist video games, insisting 'they're too exciting'. So Parks should have known better than to sign up for white-water rafting lessons. Two or three times a week the British expat kayaks in the mountains near his Verona home. Writing is the only addiction Parks has never fought. To lessen his guilt at becoming hooked, Parks worked his experiences running rapids into a novel.