I’m not sure what possessed me to want to read Lockdown in the middle of lockdown but this is Peter May, so let’s say it’s curiosity rather than madness! This was written in 2005 when H5N1 avian flu posed a threat but was rejected by publishers as unrealistic - little did we know. This is a conspiracy thriller set in London at the epicentre of pandemic. Workmen at Archbishops Park uncover a bag containing a child’s bones which unleashes a chain of events that sinister forces lethally attempt to cover up. DI Jack MacNeil in his final hours as a working police officer is charged with identifying the child and who killed her and why. Jack is helped in his investigation by forensic officer Tom Bennet and Amy who is a forensic odontologist. The story is told from the perspectives of Jack, Amy and Pinkie who is hired by the mysterious Mr Smith to shut down the enquiry by any means.

The story is very well written, there are some scary scenes throughout the drama and a very exciting conclusion with London providing an atmospheric backdrop. The characters are really good especially Jack MacNeil who has his own tragedy to deal with. He is a complex character as he keeps a lot of emotion hidden as befits his Highland Presbyterian upbringing but there is much more to him than meets the eye. He’s brave and prepared to do what it takes to get to the truth. There is some powerful imagery especially towards the end and the section that features the London Eye was especially good. Some of the actions of Pinkie towards the end stretch credulity but did make for compelling reading.

Overall, an interesting plot which is different in many ways to our current scenario and an exciting thriller from the excellent Peter May.

Thanks to Quercus Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It is well known that Peter May's long ago written novel was not published because the notion of pandemic sweeping modern day Great Britain was deemed too unrealistic. The idea of a pandemic of the sort written about in this novel may have been the stuff of dystopias, or alternative histories, but not crime fiction. Now we know different. In recent weeks, fiction and truth have collided to the extent where the two have become indistinguishable. Whilst we live in the midst of the devastation wreaked by COVID-19, not knowing what the future holds, May's 'Lockdown' may not be everyone's taste. Nevertheless, there is enough distance in May's novel between truth and fiction, as we know it at present, to reassure the reader that the backdrop of 'Lockdown' is still safely in the realm of a dystopian nightmare. In May's nightmarish vision of a contemporary London crippled and destroyed by a version of bird-flu with an 80% mortality rate, civil society has ceased to exist, perhaps indefinitely. If any law is said to exist in this ravaged society, it is the law of jungle. The Prime Minister is dead, an antidote to the virus remains elusive and the organs for the enforcement of law and order are barely functioning. Amidst the spectre of political infighting, looting, violence and the dubious machinations of big pharma, a child is found dead. It is up to the renegade figure of D.I. Jack MacNeil to find out the truth behind the little girl's death, in a society which no longer has the emotional and practical capacity to deal with the death of innocents. Not when they continue to die in their droves, anyway. MacNeil, reluctant at first to carry out the now anachronistic functions of modern-day, pre-virus policing, is initially indifferent to the death of one young girl amongst the innumerable deaths of the many. As he learns more about the circumstances behind the murder of the child, it becomes clear that her death was not some random act of violence. Facing a truth too big to comprehend, MacNeil is drawn into a vast conspiracy that stretches from the now stymied political apparatus of democratic Britain to the greed and twisted pragmatism of big pharma.

'Lockdown' is an engrossing novel, written in the inimitable style of Peter May. Perversely, I enjoyed every page. Tautly-plotted, with an intricate conspiracy at its heart, this is a must-read for fans of both thrillers and dystopian fiction. It is thought-provoking, achingly realistic and addictive read. I devoured this in one-sitting, and praise Peter May for the unerring prescience of his writing. Let's just hope his nightmarish vision stays firmly in the realm of fiction....

When I saw this book on netgalley I thought it was perfect timing but when I read it I was less convinced. Could be too much gory detail for my taste or maybe I’m just “pandemic-ed” out at the moment but I found the story too dark to entertain me. Amazed when I discovered it was written years ago. Too chillingly possible at the moment.

This was a great read. Bought to life more given the current global situation.
Full of themes of a global pandemic, lockdown and stretched health services. A brilliant fictional insight into people’s minds as they are dealing with the situation

I’ll start by confessing I’m a big Peter May fan so when I saw this book I was so excited. The fact that it is set during a Lockdown in London in the midst of a Pandemic was a bonus. All that aside this is a really good book. It has everything a good police thriller should have, a lovable rogue of a leading detective, a proper bad guy, and a believable story.

It is a really fast-paced thriller. DI MacNeal is working out his last 24hrs with the police when he is tasked with finding the killer of a young girl whose bones have been found on a building site in London, whilst a hitman is tasked with making sure no evidence is left that can lead the police to the the identity of the child and how she died.

This story takes the reader on a fast-paced journey through a London at the centre of a global pandemic that not so long ago would have seemed liked science fiction rather than a believable police thriller,

I would like to thank Netgalley and Quercus Books for an advance copy of Lockdown, a stand-alone thriller set in a London ravaged by a flu pandemic in 2005.

London is locked down with curfews and army checkpoints to keep the population safe. In the middle of this a bag of bones is found on a building site and DI Jack MacNeil on his last day in the job is assigned the case.

I thoroughly enjoyed Lockdown which is an exciting read with a relevant background to our current world. In his forward Mr May says that he wrote the novel in 2005 but it was deemed too far fetched to be published. Oh, how times have changed! He imagines a virus that is both infectious and deadly, although at 1.4 R0, not as infectious as our Coronavirus, which is currently rated at 2-2.6 R0. The fear, the panic and the lack of equipment are all there although the (delayed) response is rather more draconian and not beyond the bounds of possibility. Still, the author deserves 9/10 for his imagination and prescience. There are some nice touches throughout the novel, for example, a citizens’ militia protecting their own small space and the checkpoints manned by teenage soldiers.

The plot is interesting as MacNeil focuses entirely on the bones and step by step builds up his store of knowledge. Some of it is serendipitous, some of it is a product of what seems like a bygone age and some of it is sheer determination but it’s absorbing and moreish. It gets exciting as he goes rogue and manoeuvres against the system put in place to protect the citizenry. The novel does get a bit conspiratorial towards the end but, as with most conspiracy theories, it could be true and is certainly not impossible as you only have to look at some of the current ones. Another touch of prescience?

Lockdown is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

A very appropriate book to read in the current circumstances, as we are in lockdown at home due to the Covid-19 virus. This book tells the story of another global pandemic raging the world and London, the epicentre of the pandemic, being in lockdown. At a building site for a temporary hospital, construction workers find a bag containing the bones of a murdered child... and the killer will do anything to stop the bones being identified. D. I. Jack MacNeil investigates, but could he be in danger from the killer? Or could the virus get him first? A captivating thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat and gives us all something to read and think about as we sit at home under our own quarantine... A recommended read.

Wow this one heck of a real gritty thriller set in London in the grip of a a global pandemic and it is certainly a very topical read and one that is completely relatable to and told in brilliant way right from the first page.
DI Jack MacNeil is on his last day at work when some bones of what seems to be a child are found and it’s a race to try and find out who this child is and what is the reason for their death. With London on lockdown and many areas are a no-go MacNeil is not having an easy time but he is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery before he leaves his job for good. I liked MacNeil he was a great character and I really enjoyed the book as I said it’s a topical read and one with plenty of action with a non stop race to the finish. My first Peter May book and it want be the last I’m sure.
My thanks to NetGalley and Quercus Books, Riverrun for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Lockdown is a timely,and I suspect rushed , release of a book Peter May wrote 25 years ago but couldn't get published. That doesn't sound overly promising but it's really very good . In the Foreword May tells how his efforts to get his book into print were thwarted when none could take the idea of a pandemic and London in Lockdown seriously and feared readers wouldn't either. Sadly current events,as May points out from his own Lockdown in France, make the book not only topical but an insight into the "worse case scenario" of a pandemic and a society broken and largely out of control and under a form of martial law.

This isn't however purely the story of a pandemic,it's a murder mystery set in one.
A holdall full of human bones is found on a building site and D.I. Jack MacNeil , on his last day in the police force, investigates . MacNeil is a man with a complicated private life , he's estranged from his wife and is involved in a custody battle for the right to access to his son Sean. Despite life in the ravaged city around him being a matter of life and death for everyone MacNeil is determined to crack the case ,to identify the deceased and bring to justice the murderers. With a bit of help from his friends,and a sprightly elderly American epidemiologist MacNeil follows the clues and discovers that there's a whole lot more to the case than a simple murder.

It's a great story,full of twists and turns that sometimes reads as a travelogue of London as the case takes MacNeil all over the city,from Soho ,where dodgy clubs still operate under the radar,the the gentrified Isle ofDogs where rich residents have an enclave protected by armed guards. to name a couple of locations. Disease-ridden London is superbly ,and worryingly, brought to life with the Millennium Dome being amongst the public places pressed into service as extra hospitals and Battersea Power Station being run as a 24 hour crematorium so great are the number of casualties. There are some great characters as well,from rough diamond MacNeil himself to Pinkie,the hitman from hell and my favourite, the feisty Doctor Castelli.

I'm not sure if this could be considered cashing in on a crisis ,or as Peter May says in his Foreword, something to make people "realise how much worse things could actually be" but it's a great read and a mystery as to why it wasn't published years ago, in my opinion it's May's best book outside of his Lewis Trilogy.

Thanks to Peter May, Quercus and Netgalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

A really good book, but at time of review with the covid 19 happening it hits really close to home. I would recommend this book.

3. 5 stars

You might think that now is not the time to be reading about London in lockdown and global pandemics.... but the story is safe in Mays hands.
He luckily tells a story that is so far from where we're at that I just got lost in it.
Jack the main character is a driven man,and on his last day as a police officer is determined to find who murdered a young girl.
Ther is action a plenty in this,and some grisly stuff ,there's also a great double act forming towards the end of the book.
Set to a backdrop of a London in turmoil,I raced along with the characters and was more than happy with the conclusion.

This book was quite intense read it so quickly as we are currently in a flu epidemic its was like living In the real world reading it