Peter May – Runaway

Another random pick from Library – Runaway by Peter May.

I have not heard of Peter May and did not try to find out about him till I read ‘Runaway’. When I read the synopsis and realised that its story of gang of old men in their late 60’scoming together and ‘running away’ again after 50 years to sort an unsolved mystery – I got inquisitive. Interesting plot, (at times bit slow in few chapters) – good amount of drama and the book is not just about the murder except at the beginning and end . Its heart warming story of 5 teenagers who decided to runaway from their home in Glasgow in the year 1965. May’s story telling move between 1965 and 2015 giving us a good image of what life and place was like in Glasgow, Leeds and London in the specific time period. The story gives a good idea about how the socio economic, religious, cultural, music, fashion factors influenced people’s life.Through this story and the characters the author very skilfully weaves the issue of unemployment, the govt’s schemes to help people in need of food and shelter, issues of old aged people, the growing gap between the rich and poor in the country - without preaching or being judgemental. 

Brilliant story telling. After reading the book I felt a good part of the story was more autobiographical and that how I decided to read more about the author and realised he is a well established author in his late 60’s and he did runaway to London from Glasgow in 1967 as a teenager ! Will surely pick up another Peter May book soon J