As a baby boomer in his late teens in 1965 this part of the plot resonated so strongly for me. It so replicated my own life it could have been my biography. But my experience of the 1965s was a lot less traumatic than the young men in this story, I am glad to say. It is astonishing how youthful ignorance can put adversity so easily aside to breed baseless optimism.

Runaway: a high-stakes mystery thriller from the master of

The streets of London were not, as in legend, paved with gold, but money walked the pavements and motored the roads. 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.It is easy to imagine that we lived in more innocent times 50 years ago, and that running away from home was not as dangerous then as now.

Runaway: a high-stakes mystery thriller from the master of Runaway: a high-stakes mystery thriller from the master of

The book begins with a murder in 2015. We don't know the identity of the killer or victim until much later in the book.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. Guided by a common dream, 5 boys flee from Glasgow to London. However, less than an year later, 3 of them returned — what happened in London has been buried but not forgotten...

Runaway with Peter May - Shots Mag Runaway with Peter May - Shots Mag

I’ve read four of Peter May’s novels so far, and enjoyed each one of them. There were a few twists that I didn’t work out in this novel until close to the end: I suspect that I was too busy reading to find out what would happen next rather than paying close attention to the detail. I thoroughly enjoyed Runaway by Scottish author Peter May; my first by this author but most definitely not my last! A gripping crime novel, filled with fast paced, heart thumping tension; plus intrigue, emotional nostalgia and flashes of humour throughout. Told in the two timelines of 1965 and 2015 it worked incredibly well in showing the differences fifty years makes. I have no hesitation in recommending Runaway very highly. Five of us had run away that fateful night just over a month before. Only three of us would be going home. And nothing, nothing would ever be the same again. Peter May has done it again. He’s created yet another thrilling read, one that pulls you in from the start until the end.Runaway’ is described in the blurb as a crime thriller but is really a road trip adventure that happens to encompass a crime. Nonetheless, I enjoyed it. What’s it about?