Status
Checked out
Due 17 Jul 2023
Genres
Description
"Written over fifteen years ago, this prescient, suspenseful thriller is set against a backdrop of a capital city in quarantine, and explores human experience in the grip of a killer virus. 'They said that twenty-five percent of the population would catch the flu. Between seventy and eighty percent of them would die. He had been directly exposed to it, and the odds weren't good.' A city in quarantine. London, the epicenter of a global pandemic, is a city in lockdown. Violence and civil disorder simmer. Martial law has been imposed. No-one is safe from the deadly virus that has already claimed thousands of victims. Health and emergency services are overwhelmed. A murdered child. At a building site for a temporary hospital, construction workers find a bag containing the rendered bones of a murdered child. A remorseless killer has been unleashed on the city; his mission is to take all measures necessary to prevent the bones from being identified. A powerful conspiracy. D.I. Jack MacNeil, counting down the hours on his final day with the Met, is sent to investigate. His career is in ruins, his marriage over and his own family touched by the virus. Sinister forces are tracking his every move, prepared to kill again to conceal the truth. Which will stop him first - the virus or the killers?"--Publisher.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member smik
After what we have all been through in 2020, and are still undergoing, this novel set in a global pandemic of bird flu is one that most of us can approach with some understanding. Self-isolation, public panic, and permits restricting us to our homes and local areas all ring bells. But this
Jack MacNeil has decided that there has to be life outside his work, and so he has resigned, and now has only about 24 hours left to his working career. The bones in the bag will very likely be his last case and he is determined to solve it. When coincidences indicate that someone is tracking his every move, even protecting him against attack and robbery, he has to ask why.
At times the scenarios strained credibility but the characters and plot threads felt real enough. And with what we know of the "China virus", we might even ask some cynical questions about what has been happening in our world.
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pandemic, admittedly not Covid-19 in origin, didn't just happen. Someone, something, caused it. And the world is waiting for a vaccine.Jack MacNeil has decided that there has to be life outside his work, and so he has resigned, and now has only about 24 hours left to his working career. The bones in the bag will very likely be his last case and he is determined to solve it. When coincidences indicate that someone is tracking his every move, even protecting him against attack and robbery, he has to ask why.
At times the scenarios strained credibility but the characters and plot threads felt real enough. And with what we know of the "China virus", we might even ask some cynical questions about what has been happening in our world.
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LibraryThing member Eyejaybee
In his preface to this book, Peter May explains how, back in 2005 when the wrote the novel, the idea that a pandemic might be so serious as to throw modern societies into lockdown was seen as too ridiculous. As a consequence, publication was abandoned, and May put the manuscript aside for a while.
I have read and enjoyed several books by Peter May, who has been one of the most prolific writers of recent years, although most of his early output was in the form of television crime shows. That apprenticeship has been very valuable, because it has taught him how to grab his viewers’ or readers’ attention right from the start.
Like Michael Connelly, may does not worry about literary frill. He just tells a story, and tells it well. Which is not to say the books aren’t well written. Again like Connelly, May writes with clarity and drive, and the reader is drawn into the story immediately.
In this instance, the scenario has the added savour of currency. London is in the grip of a serious outbreak of bird flu. Hospitals are overwhelmed, and the public have been subjected to curfew with people only allowed out for limited reasons. Urgent construction work is under way to convert a building site into a temporary hospital. While foundation piles are being sunk some human bones are discovered. Even the most cursory examination shows that they are of a child, and one who died only very recently. Harry MacNeil, who is on the cusp of retirement, is tasked with leading the investigation which is hampered rather than assisted by the emptiness of the London streets.
Macneil is a troubled man, with a broken marriage behind him, and a heavy burden of guilt weighing him down. His woes soon become far worse, although that serves merely to sharpen his focus.
As mentioned above, May’s writing is sharp and clear, which helps the reader’s suspension of disbelief. There are no diversions into consideration of characters’ personalities – the focus is on action, and the story moves rapidly forward. I don’t really have much more to say about this: it was a competent, page-turning thriller.
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Well, unfortunately history has proved those prospective publishers’ prejudices to be entirely misfounded, and we know all too clearly how devastating a pandemic can be.I have read and enjoyed several books by Peter May, who has been one of the most prolific writers of recent years, although most of his early output was in the form of television crime shows. That apprenticeship has been very valuable, because it has taught him how to grab his viewers’ or readers’ attention right from the start.
Like Michael Connelly, may does not worry about literary frill. He just tells a story, and tells it well. Which is not to say the books aren’t well written. Again like Connelly, May writes with clarity and drive, and the reader is drawn into the story immediately.
In this instance, the scenario has the added savour of currency. London is in the grip of a serious outbreak of bird flu. Hospitals are overwhelmed, and the public have been subjected to curfew with people only allowed out for limited reasons. Urgent construction work is under way to convert a building site into a temporary hospital. While foundation piles are being sunk some human bones are discovered. Even the most cursory examination shows that they are of a child, and one who died only very recently. Harry MacNeil, who is on the cusp of retirement, is tasked with leading the investigation which is hampered rather than assisted by the emptiness of the London streets.
Macneil is a troubled man, with a broken marriage behind him, and a heavy burden of guilt weighing him down. His woes soon become far worse, although that serves merely to sharpen his focus.
As mentioned above, May’s writing is sharp and clear, which helps the reader’s suspension of disbelief. There are no diversions into consideration of characters’ personalities – the focus is on action, and the story moves rapidly forward. I don’t really have much more to say about this: it was a competent, page-turning thriller.
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LibraryThing member janerawoof
DI MacNeill and a forensic expert solve the murder of a little girl amidst a pandemic in which London is locked down. Another pulse-pounding novel by this author; he's become one I enjoy in this genre.
LibraryThing member arubabookwoman
I bought this as a cheap Kindle deal because I loved the author's Lewis Trilogy. This book is set during a pandemic, and it was written many years ago, long before the covid pandemic. However, apparently no one would publish it then because it was considered too "far-fetched." Apparently, after
Here, London is the epicenter and ground zero of the pandemic, and civilized society there is collapsing as the deaths mount and public services decline. Despite the prevalence of the pandemic and many pandemic deaths, this is nevertheless a murder mystery. The police become involved when the bones of a child are found during the excavation of the building site of a temporary hospital facility. As the investigation proceeds, it becomes apparent that there may be some connection between the victim, the murderer, and the pandemic itself.
It may be true that years ago when this was written there was not a publisher willing to publish this, but I don't think it was because a pandemic and its consequences was too far-fetched. The book is just not very good. May has written much, much better books. I think it was brought back out of the closet to publish it post-covid to capitalize on both May's name and on its topicality, which would lead to sales despite its poor quality. Although May apparently had done a lot of research on pandemics, and I think that the aspects of the book relating to the pandemic were decently done, the murder mystery itself is implausible and far-fetched. Not recommended.
1 1/2 stars
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covid, it was decided to go ahead and publish the book.Here, London is the epicenter and ground zero of the pandemic, and civilized society there is collapsing as the deaths mount and public services decline. Despite the prevalence of the pandemic and many pandemic deaths, this is nevertheless a murder mystery. The police become involved when the bones of a child are found during the excavation of the building site of a temporary hospital facility. As the investigation proceeds, it becomes apparent that there may be some connection between the victim, the murderer, and the pandemic itself.
It may be true that years ago when this was written there was not a publisher willing to publish this, but I don't think it was because a pandemic and its consequences was too far-fetched. The book is just not very good. May has written much, much better books. I think it was brought back out of the closet to publish it post-covid to capitalize on both May's name and on its topicality, which would lead to sales despite its poor quality. Although May apparently had done a lot of research on pandemics, and I think that the aspects of the book relating to the pandemic were decently done, the murder mystery itself is implausible and far-fetched. Not recommended.
1 1/2 stars
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