Tom, a successful businessman in Chicago has gone to Northern Michigan on a hunt. His childhood friend has gone missing and Tom is determined to find him. The search for the lost man begins as a mystery and evolves into an act of redemption. Tom will stop at nothing to find his friend and discover the truth behind his disappearance.
Peter Robertson was born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland, graduated from the University of East Anglia in the U.K., and came to the U.S. at age 23. After traveling in the States, he settled in Chicago, where he has been a book reviewer for daily papers and magazines, stay-at-home dad, soccer coach, university student, and elementary and middle school teacher. An enthusiastic guitar player and cyclist, Robertson is married and the father of two adult children.
Firstly, I need to say that this book is one that I won on a Goodreads giveaway. I was delighted to receive a signed copy as promised and began to read it the same day.
The author is an ex-Brit like myself and part of the story is in Scotland and part in the USA. The scenes and reminisces of the UK and life were very well done and I recognised much that was in many ways similar to my own experiences, having also grown up in a working class village. I enjoyed the author's memories and insight into the ways people are and reasons why.
The story begins in Chicago where the business man, Tom, reads of a missing person, one he knew at school in Scotland. He now lives and works in Chicago but as soon as he reads of the missing Keith Pringle, he instinctively knows that Keith is dead and almost impulsively decides to see if he can find out what happened. Thus begins the story, with flashbacks to growing up in and later visits to Scotland, and the last times he can remember seeing Keith.
The story is very well written and I loved Peter Robertson's style of writing. He has some great descriptive sentences of places and characters. His writing also includes much that is to do with the emotions of his characters and the effects of events on such. He has delightful sentences such as ; 'an accent thick and warm enough to wrap yourself in.' Words and combinations of words that are delicious and cause emotions and resonance within the reader.
I would love to read the next two books in the series but at this time it seems my library system do not keep them. I will be asking them to consider this new talent.
One of the best mystery books I have read for awhile and definitely worth 4 stars. Those who know my reviews know I don't give 4 stars unless I consider the book good enough to re-read at some future time. I highly recommend this book and look forward to more from this author.
Enjoyed this one, Tom a weathly Chicago resident travels to Northern Michigan to find an old friend from his youth who has turned up missing. Infedility, gun shots, cold pizza and prime lake front real estate find their way into this tale to discover the truth.
Actually purchased the second novel which take place 15 years after this one, will read it shortly.
I purchased this book after meeting the author at a local farmer's market while visiting my sister (they know each other!). I like supporting down-home artists, so picked up his first two books from Amazon. I'm glad I did. The plot kept me interested and entertained. I'm looking forward to the next title in this series.
This book began as an intriguing mystery but wandered off track and lost some steam after the first few chapters. I liked the author’s style at first but thought he became wordy and bogged down with unnecessary character descriptions. Hope to read another of his novels for comparison.
I'm not really sure what I thought of this signed copy of a goodreads win by Peter Robertson. "Permafrost" is a very deceiving title. Maybe I took it to literally.
The story line itself was OK but I found it to be a bit long winded and filled with unnecessary information which was disappointing because the first couple of chapters were really good then the story some how seemed to loose track of itself. It kind of picked up again when it got to the actual reason for the story, finding his acquaintance.
If it had been cut down and the unnecessary stuff taken out it would have made a fabulous novella. Peter I think you have a lot of potential and hope you keep writing. I look forward to reading your work again.