"Lockdown" By Peter May: Review/Giveaway

by Terrance McArthur

Suppose you were a writer, and it was 2005, and people were worried about the Bird Flu. While doing research on the Spanish Flu of 1918-1920, you learned things about the Bird Flu, and you had some ideas which became a story about a pandemic that hit and isolated London. You wrote it, but publishers wouldn’t print it. They thought it was too far-fetched—deserted streets, luxury apartment blocks patrolled by armed guards who shoot intruders on sight, the Prime Minister in a hospital.


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Suppose it’s now 2020. COVID 19 has cities quarantined in China, masks everywhere, and toilet paper is worth its weight in gold. Somebody mentions to the writer, “You should write a book about a pandemic,” and you realize, “I did.” Do you think you would dust off that manuscript? Do you think a publisher would want to print it?

You betcha.

That’s what happened to Peter May and his book Lockdown, a rattle-bang thriller that drags you through a nightmare with no end in sight, made scarier by the knowledge of what’s happening in the world outside your window.

MacNeal is a short-timer, on the last day before his retirement, when he is called to investigate a bag of bones found on the construction site of an emergency overflow hospital. He enlists the wheelchair-bound Amy to reconstruct the face that belongs to the skull, with help and snark from Tom her co-worker and friend. As they struggle to put the pieces and bones together, a killer known as Pinkie is assigned to eliminate all the loose ends that might lead to the mysterious “Mr. Smith.”

This book is a trip to London with the Grim Reaper as your tour guide. It’s bloody, messy, and—if you have triggers—prepare to have your buttons pushed. People are shot, burned, sickened, dropped, beaten, and bad words are spoken. Conspiracies are revealed, and society disintegrates. It is unpleasant, harrowing, repulsive, and worth every moment spent on it.

Just one warning...Do not read it with the news channels on in the background.

To enter to win a copy of Lockdown, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line "lockdown,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen July 18, 2020. U.S. residents only and you must be 18 or older to enter. If entering via mail please include your mailing address in case you win, it will not be used for any other reason. You can read our privacy statement here if you like. We delete all emails after the contest is over.

Check out other mystery articles, reviews, book giveaways & mystery short stories in our mystery section in Kings River Life and in our mystery category here on KRL News & Reviews. And join our mystery Facebook group to keep up with everything mystery we post, and have a chance at some extra giveaways. And check out our new mystery podcast which features mystery short stories and first chapters read by local actors! A new episode went up this week!

You can use this link to purchase the book. If you have adblocker on you may not be able to see the Amazon link:



Terrance V. Mc Arthur is a Librarian in Fresno County, California. He is also a storyteller, puppeteer, magician, and maker of pine needle baskets. On top of that he writes stories that range from rhymed children's tales to splatterpunk horror. He's an odd bird, but he's nice to have around.

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.









Comments

  1. What a neat backstory.Count me in!

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