The settings are finely drawn. The characters believable, three dimensional and empathetic. I love their mission, and the ending has more than a few twists. This is more than a work of crime fiction, this is more than just a contemporary narrative, this is more than the sum these elements … so much more. This is a story of life, of death, of adventure, of the potential of youth and the potential of older age and mostly this is the story of enduring friendships. And this is about pain, without pain you have nothing. No one can create a more eloquently written suspense novel than Peter May.’ New York Journal of Books Five of us had run away that fateful night just over a month before. Only three of us would be going home. And nothing, nothing would ever be the same again." Beginning with a murder in 2015, both murderer and victim’s identities initially unknown, it forces three friends to face the events that determined the path their lives would take fifty years ago. Each had their own reason to leave and their experiences test the bonds of friendship, eventually taking a tragic turn. Of the five who left Glasgow, only three will return.

REVIEW: ‘Runaway’ by Peter May | Buried Under Books

This is the second of Peter May’s books I’ve enjoyed (my review of ‘Cast Iron’, the final instalment in his Enzo series is here) and I look forward to reading more in time. ‘Runaway’,This was such a joy to read. Peter May captures the essence that was the swinging 60s so perfectly. Add to that the dark underbelly of London of that time and what you have is a compulsive reading experience. I have read a lot of this author's books and enjoyed them very much. This one was a bit different from the rest but it was still excellent. However, 50 years later, the murder of an old man in a seedy London bedsit, makes former vocalist Maurie Cohen, who is dying of cancer, feel compelled to return and confront the ghosts of the past and he persuades his two former bandmates to accompany him.

Runaway by Peter May | Waterstones

The second journey in 2015 with an ailing Maurie in many ways reflects the first, with flashes of humour and heart-wrenching sadness along the way. But for me it is the quiet achiever, Luke, who silently steals the show. The book begins with a murder in 2015. We don't know the identity of the killer or victim until much later in the book.I’ve worked through most of his books now – I have Coffin Road and all except the first of the China Thrillers to catch up on (the list being longer than I’d like) – and I can honestly say I have yet to be disappointed. The Enzo Files weren’t quite what I had been hoping for, yet they were still fun. None of them have managed to live up to the brilliance of the Lewis trilogy, but I’ve still be pleased with them all. With Runaway, we have his usual four-star standard. young men, age 17, have a band in Glasgow in 1965. They runaway from home with the hope of making a big success in the the London music scene. London is the center of a vibrant music, arts and fashion scene. ' The world changed from sepia to psychedelic'

Peter May Peter May

I’ve read four of Peter May’s novels so far, and enjoyed each one of them. There were a few twists that I didn’t work out in this novel until close to the end: I suspect that I was too busy reading to find out what would happen next rather than paying close attention to the detail. Flats that, once renovated, are still lived in today, while those they built to replace them have long since been demolished. Regret is such a waste of energy. You can’t undo what’s been done. But every new day offers the chance to shape it in the way you want”

Guided by a common dream, 5 boys flee from Glasgow to London. However, less than an year later, 3 of them returned — what happened in London has been buried but not forgotten... The book is beautifully written, funny and poignant, and very different from any I have previously read by the versatile Peter May”

runaway, by Peter May | Crime Fiction Lover When I was a runaway, by Peter May | Crime Fiction Lover

The two journeys, 50 years apart, allow May to show the changes across the country in that time, and he does so very well. Both journeys take the form of road-trips, punctuated by accident and disaster, but lifted by a healthy dose of humour. Along the way, the boys rescue Maurie's cousin from her drug-dealing boyfriend and she becomes one of the gang as they finally arrive in London and start looking round for the streets paved with gold. And at first, when they are given lodgings and a job by a man who promises them a chance to cut a demo disc, it looks as though they have landed on their feet. But it's not long before things go wrong and start to spiral out of control.

The Aristokats, with Peter May on the left and Stephen Penn on the right, playing in Glasgow aged 13 or 14. Both timelines have a great feeling of authenticity and, as always with May, the sense of place is done superbly. I hadn't realised May grew up in the Southside of Glasgow (as did I), but the accuracy with which he describes it suggests he must have done. Although he's writing about a somewhat earlier era than my own, the places, attitudes, language and lifestyle are all spot-on. Spookily so, in fact – I kept finding parts of my own life mirrored in the story and spent much of the early part of the book being reminded of events and places in my own past.