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Runaway

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Since Author May is a veteran of the TV mills and decades of thriller- and mystery-writing, he's developed that habit of story-telling and be damned if you, reviewer, wish for something a bit more textured, true to life. As this particular novel is a standalone and is based in part on some of the author's own lived experience, well...maybe it's all down to that specialty of the old, the tidying-up of the past.

Peter May Books | Waterstones Peter May Books | Waterstones

As for being a crime ‘thriller’– I couldn’t have cared less about the initial murder and none of the characters cared about the decades old one, which meant the story was an enjoyable adventure rather than a gripping thriller. That said, I liked the denouement, despite the drop of unnecessary sweetness at the end! Each had their own reason to leave and their experiences test the bonds of friendship, eventually taking a tragic turn. Of the five who left Glasgow, only three will return. I have just finished reading ‘Runaway’ and while I have read counless books over many years I’m struggling to recall feeling so moved.The two journeys, 50 years apart, allow May to show the changes across the country in that time, and he does so very well. Both journeys take the form of road-trips, punctuated by accident and disaster, but lifted by a healthy dose of humour. Along the way, the boys rescue Maurie's cousin from her drug-dealing boyfriend and she becomes one of the gang as they finally arrive in London and start looking round for the streets paved with gold. And at first, when they are given lodgings and a job by a man who promises them a chance to cut a demo disc, it looks as though they have landed on their feet. But it's not long before things go wrong and start to spiral out of control.

Latest News from Peter May, Scottish author of The Lewis Latest News from Peter May, Scottish author of The Lewis

Caricatures and lazy stereotypes in the lives of the characters persist throughout the book: the altercation between the main character and his love interest over her use of Heroin and her subsequent, almost effortless, cold turkey; the tripped out kid who thinks he can fly; the improbable job offer; the adoption of the characters into a bohemian collective mere hours after their arrival in London; the abandonment of the Glasgow end of the storyline half way through the book; the arrival of an antagonist out of nowhere to precipitate the event that is presumably the whole point of the story but which feels like an afterthought; and even the denouement, ultimately all ring false. This is a good road trip story and I particularly enjoyed the parallels between the two trips. ‘Runaway’ provides an interesting glimpse into life in 1960s London and could well serve to remind us all to grasp at life, rather than allowing it to drift by. Flats that, once renovated, are still lived in today, while those they built to replace them have long since been demolished.I have never felt the need to say anything to any author before and don’t really know how or what to say now.

Runaway by Peter May | Goodreads Runaway by Peter May | Goodreads

I’ve worked through most of his books now – I have Coffin Road and all except the first of the China Thrillers to catch up on (the list being longer than I’d like) – and I can honestly say I have yet to be disappointed. The Enzo Files weren’t quite what I had been hoping for, yet they were still fun. None of them have managed to live up to the brilliance of the Lewis trilogy, but I’ve still be pleased with them all. With Runaway, we have his usual four-star standard.

But... 50 years later, a brutal homicide will unbury that dark period of their Past — it was time for the inevitable confrontation!... The settings are finely drawn. The characters believable, three dimensional and empathetic. I love their mission, and the ending has more than a few twists. This is more than a work of crime fiction, this is more than just a contemporary narrative, this is more than the sum these elements … so much more. This is a story of life, of death, of adventure, of the potential of youth and the potential of older age and mostly this is the story of enduring friendships. And this is about pain, without pain you have nothing.

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