Man I loved the first half of this book. His research was good and the characters were great but the last 40 pages read like a B movie thriller. I did not like it at all. I found almost none of it believable. It doesn’t help that I guessed the mystery on like the 4th page. On the strength of the first half of this book I don’t regret reading but I would have a hard time recommending it and I love Peter May. ( )

I bought this as a cheap Kindle deal because I loved the author's Lewis Trilogy. This book is set during a pandemic, and it was written many years ago, long before the covid pandemic. However, apparently no one would publish it then because it was considered too "far-fetched." Apparently, after covid, it was decided to go ahead and publish the book.

Here, London is the epicenter and ground zero of the pandemic, and civilized society there is collapsing as the deaths mount and public services decline. Despite the prevalence of the pandemic and many pandemic deaths, this is nevertheless a murder mystery. The police become involved when the bones of a child are found during the excavation of the building site of a temporary hospital facility. As the investigation proceeds, it becomes apparent that there may be some connection between the victim, the murderer, and the pandemic itself.

It may be true that years ago when this was written there was not a publisher willing to publish this, but I don't think it was because a pandemic and its consequences was too far-fetched. The book is just not very good. May has written much, much better books. I think it was brought back out of the closet to publish it post-covid to capitalize on both May's name and on its topicality, which would lead to sales despite its poor quality. Although May apparently had done a lot of research on pandemics, and I think that the aspects of the book relating to the pandemic were decently done, the murder mystery itself is implausible and far-fetched. Not recommended.

1 1/2 stars ( )

Kids solving murder mysteries is weird for me. So this book was slightly on the unbelievable side. Since they are at a boarding school, I guess it gives it more grounds but some of the plot pulled me out of the book due to it being teens and me being like wtf. Overall it was a well written mystery, I wasn't able to pick out the true killer so that is always a win in my book. But looking back I can definitely see the hints scattered throughout the story. All of the characters have many depths to them, and are all high school relatable. ( )

‘Lockdown’ is a hard book to classify. Written in 2005 but only published this year, it’s a whodunnit set in an imaginary London that has been locked down following an outbreak of bird flu that has killed thousands. If it had been published in 2005 it might have been marketed as science fiction (or at least speculative fiction) and indeed it didn’t make it to the shelves then because Peter May’s publishers felt the setting lacked credibility. Fast forward to 2020, of course, and it all feels normal. In fact, I suspect May’s previously reluctant publishers couldn’t get this oven ready lockdown thriller out quickly enough.
The book’s hero is gruff, tough Scots cop Jack MacNeil. It’s his last day on the London Metropolitan police and he’s investigating the discovery of a child’s skeleton on the sight of a new hospital that’s being hastily erected to cope with the thousands of flu cases needing treatment. London is in complete lockdown, the streets deserted and normal life on hold. Helping Jack in his investigation is a brilliant, disabled forensic scientist.
May had clearly done a lot of research and conjures up an eerily familiar picture of a locked down city. The bird flu in his book is more lethal than Coronavirus, meaning the government action taken to contain it is stronger, with armed soldiers on the streets. Many other elements ring true though, there are illegal raves, the Prime Minster has caught the virus, the army are delivering food to people. Jack is still able to get a decent haircut somehow, but I’ll let that slide.
Given that it is set in 2005 rather than 2020 and features a different virus, the book ends up feeling like an alternative history thriller akin to Robert Harris’s ‘Fatherland’ or Len Deighton’s ‘SS-GB’. As is common with this kind of book, the investigation ends up going to the heart of the matter. The plot can feel a bit formulaic at times, but it’s a formula that works and it kept me gripped. As a mystery, it ends up relying perhaps a little too much on fortuitous coincidences rather than actual detective work but it’s still efficient and enjoyable.
Jack and Amy are engaging leads and there’s an excellent villain in Pinkie. Like his namesake he’s determined, chilling, seemingly unstoppable and yet strangely sympathetic. In the second half a new character, Dr Castelli, introduces some needed humour as the plot rattles along to genuinely thrilling conclusion.
Dr Castelli introduces some needed humour in the second half
‘Lockdown’ is a winner then, even if it took the terrible events of 2020 to get it into bookshops. It’s gripping, convincing, humorous and moving.

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DI MacNeill and a forensic expert solve the murder of a little girl amidst a pandemic in which London is locked down. Another pulse-pounding novel by this author; he's become one I enjoy in this genre. ( )