The self-preservation society - Kate Harrison

Staying alive in the 21st century is a full-time job - one which self-confessed scaredycat Jo Morgan takes very seriously indeed. As a little girl growing up near Greenham Common Air Base, she stockpiled baked beans in case of nuclear holocaust; now she works in accident prevention, trying to protect the rest of us from conker injuries, killer tea-cosies and death by chocolate.

But she's happy - well, as happy as anyone can be in these dangerous times. Fortunately her boyfriend shares her outlook on life, so everything they do together involves the minimum possible risk. From their social lives to their sex lives, spontaneity is not in their vocabulary.

Yet when Jo survives a hit and run accident, she realises she's beaten the odds. Maybe a bit of living dangerously is just what Jo needs. But un-learning a lifetime of fears and phobias won't be easy. Jo has a choice: she can carry on living half a life, or leave behind the people she loves. It's the scariest decision she'll ever have to make...