Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling's debut adult novel certainly won't be retaining many child Potter fans; the book is packed with foul language and graphic descriptions of sex, drug-taking and self-harm. Though the British writer shot to fame with her family-friendly wizard franchise, she has taken the opportunity to indulge her dark side in new book The Casual Vacancy, which is released on Thursday (September 27th).

Details of Rowling's first foray into the adult market have been kept top secret in publishing circles, but Sky TV's speed-reader Anne Jones was allowed to breach the ring and review the novel upon its release, finding herself shocked at the contents. Jones has claimed that she found the second half of the novel packed with curse words and explicit scenes of sex and drug abuse. The horror.

She told Sky News, "The second half of the book is much better than the first, and (contains) some of the things we aren't used to from J.K., like graphic descriptions of sex, the drugs side of it, the (swearing), the cutting and so on. But I am seriously impressed by her range. I really didn't think she could pull it off. It really is very good - you will want to find out what happens to the main characters at the end. I was desperate (to know)."