Entry Island is a terrific blending of two story lines: the classic murder investigation in Canada, and the Highland Clearances on the Isle of Lewis in the 18th century. Both are so well written that I couldn't tell you which is the stronger, but I can say that the scenes on the Isle of Lewis are beautiful, brutal, and heartstopping. May has always been a skilled storyteller, but since he's begun writing of the Outer Hebrides, it's as though his heart and his emotions are flowing right onto the page. (His Lewis Trilogy is not to be missed!)
The two story lines run side-by-side, and events gradually converge without any obvious signs of how they're coming together. Sime is the perfect conflicted detective and part of an investigative team that includes his ex-wife-- a very uncomfortable and painful situation. May skillfully creates tension with his two main characters. While Mackenzie is a man the reader wants to support completely, the object of his obsession is clearly not as trustworthy to us as she is to the detective.
The marvelous sensory feast of place (both Scotland and Canada), a strong and intriguing main character, two vivid plot lines... part mystery, part historical novel, part romance... Entry Island is a powerful novel that should not be missed.
The two story lines run side-by-side, and events gradually converge without any obvious signs of how they're coming together. Sime is the perfect conflicted detective and part of an investigative team that includes his ex-wife-- a very uncomfortable and painful situation. May skillfully creates tension with his two main characters. While Mackenzie is a man the reader wants to support completely, the object of his obsession is clearly not as trustworthy to us as she is to the detective.
The marvelous sensory feast of place (both Scotland and Canada), a strong and intriguing main character, two vivid plot lines... part mystery, part historical novel, part romance... Entry Island is a powerful novel that should not be missed.
Book Description
Marilyn Stasio in The New York Times raved: "Peter May is a writer I'd follow to the ends of the earth." Now Peter May takes us to a small island off the coast of Québec with an emotionally charged new mystery.
When a murder rocks the isolated community of Entry Island, insomniac homicide detective Sime Mackenzie boards a light aircraft at St. Hubert airfield bound for the small, scattered chain of Madeline Islands, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, as part of an eight-officer investigation team from Montréal.
Only two kilometers wide and three long, Entry Island is home to a population of just more than 100 inhabitants, the wealthiest of whom has just been discovered murdered in his home. Covered in her husband's blood, the dead man's melancholy wife spins a tale for the police about a masked intruder armed with a knife.
The investigation appears to be little more than a formality--the evidence points to a crime of passion, implicating the wife. But Sime is electrified by the widow during his interview, convinced that he has met her before, even though this is clearly impossible.
Haunted by this strange certainty, Sime's insomnia is punctuated by vivid, hallucinatory dreams of a distant past on a Scottish island 3,000 miles away, dreams in which he and the widow play leading roles. Sime's conviction soon becomes an obsession. And despite mounting evidence of the woman's guilt, he finds himself convinced of her innocence, leading to a conflict between the professional duty he must fulfill and the personal destiny he is increasingly sure awaits him.
My Review
Peter May is one of my favorite authors. I have read his Lewis Trilogy and China Thrillers and have enjoyed them very much. Entry Island switches from a present murder investigation on Entry Island to the past historical Highland Clearances of the Scots on Lewis Island. What I most like about Peter May's writing is that he has the ability to draw you into his stories and characters in a way that you can feel like you are experiencing everything he describes. This book has it all, mystery, history and a bit of romance which makes for a very intriguing novel. I would highly recommend this book to those who have read his Lewis Trilogy and those who are interested in the past history of the Highland Clearances. My hope is that Peter May can somehow write some more books about the Hebrides as this is one beautiful part of the world that I can never get tired of reading about.
Marilyn Stasio in The New York Times raved: "Peter May is a writer I'd follow to the ends of the earth." Now Peter May takes us to a small island off the coast of Québec with an emotionally charged new mystery.
When a murder rocks the isolated community of Entry Island, insomniac homicide detective Sime Mackenzie boards a light aircraft at St. Hubert airfield bound for the small, scattered chain of Madeline Islands, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, as part of an eight-officer investigation team from Montréal.
Only two kilometers wide and three long, Entry Island is home to a population of just more than 100 inhabitants, the wealthiest of whom has just been discovered murdered in his home. Covered in her husband's blood, the dead man's melancholy wife spins a tale for the police about a masked intruder armed with a knife.
The investigation appears to be little more than a formality--the evidence points to a crime of passion, implicating the wife. But Sime is electrified by the widow during his interview, convinced that he has met her before, even though this is clearly impossible.
Haunted by this strange certainty, Sime's insomnia is punctuated by vivid, hallucinatory dreams of a distant past on a Scottish island 3,000 miles away, dreams in which he and the widow play leading roles. Sime's conviction soon becomes an obsession. And despite mounting evidence of the woman's guilt, he finds himself convinced of her innocence, leading to a conflict between the professional duty he must fulfill and the personal destiny he is increasingly sure awaits him.
My Review
Peter May is one of my favorite authors. I have read his Lewis Trilogy and China Thrillers and have enjoyed them very much. Entry Island switches from a present murder investigation on Entry Island to the past historical Highland Clearances of the Scots on Lewis Island. What I most like about Peter May's writing is that he has the ability to draw you into his stories and characters in a way that you can feel like you are experiencing everything he describes. This book has it all, mystery, history and a bit of romance which makes for a very intriguing novel. I would highly recommend this book to those who have read his Lewis Trilogy and those who are interested in the past history of the Highland Clearances. My hope is that Peter May can somehow write some more books about the Hebrides as this is one beautiful part of the world that I can never get tired of reading about.
