May looks like a prolific writer but I've never read him before. Written 15 years ago but not published until now, this a scarily close prediction of a world in the grip of a pandemic, although the fictional one is much worse than ours. I like MacNeil, another in the genre of the lone law enforcement determined to act in the face of the apocalypse. It's grim and sad but not gory, and there are several likeable characters. It does tend to hit all the stereotypes - the psycho killer, the criminal mastermind, woman in distress, and of course the stoic lawman hiding his pain. I had a good time trying to guess the identity of the boss guy and got it wrong. Lots of atmosphere, lots of tension. A personal quibble would be that May introduces a interesting character almost 3/4 of the way through the book. I really would have liked to see more of her. I also appreciated that it's a standalone. I can see why it wasn't published then, I'm sure it made it now only because of the pandemic angle, but it is still pretty fun to read.

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