Lockdown by Peter May
Published by riverrun books, 2020
A dark and disturbing novel described as a “crime thriller that predicted a world in quarantine”.
Whilst researching for another book in 2005, the author had the idea of writing about the breakdown of society, the result of a world wide pandemic (based on the, then, Bird flu outbreaks). Editors at the time thought the premise was too far fetched and so the book remained unpublished until last year, when lockdown prompted the author to dust off his manuscript.
This is a difficult read, although I should stress it’s not about Covid 19; in the book a previously unknown virus provides background to the investigation of a murder.
London is in lockdown, far more wide reaching than anything we can imagine, and when the remains of a child are discovered by construction workers, DI MacNeil is sent to investigate. With private armed guards protecting areas lived in by those rich enough to pay, drug dealing on the rise, mass looting, buildings boarded up, travel restricted, with few clues and martial law in operation, finding the murderer requires all his determination, as he seeks to solve the case before his imminent departure from the police force.
This is a fast paced but difficult read, especially when it touches on MacNeil’s private life and it’s frequently depressing but, as the author says, it serves to demonstrate what happens when law and order break down.
Extreme violence and adult themes
Statement from the author: “I have taken the decision to donate the money from the advance that I have received for Lockdown to various charitable organisations involved with supporting health workers, victims and others suffering as a result of Covid-19.”
Sent from my iPhone