 Skinner knows this with reasonable certainty, as he dies at Brian's hand.The book marks a departure for Welsh in that, although ecstasy, cannabis and cocaine are mentioned in passing, there is little reference to the dance club scene of most of his other work.On the contrary, it is alcohol abuse which punctuates the novel, along with the themes of personal identity (touched upon in "Marabou Stork Nightmares") and romantic love ("The Undefeated", from "").