Entry Island

By: Peter May

Narrated by: Peter Forbes

Length: 13 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©2015 Peter May (P)2016 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"May is the master of painting a vivid picture of his chosen landscapes and weaving a fascinating plot. The research he has packed in to this well-paced dual tale is impressive . . . An absorbing read from a writer at the top of his game."—Daily Express

"Breathes fresh life into his writing while allowing many of the themes he likes to explore, such as secrets from the past that carry through to the present, to be revisited."—Crimepieces

"For those who enjoy a historical and social context--I have no hesitation in recommending Entry Island as an exciting, absorbing and moving story."—Lynn Harvey, Eurocrime

Awesome

The story is awesome as is the performance. The whole thing is delivered with aplomb and you feel you are there with the characters.

Great plot

I enjoyed every minute of this Audible book. The story was riveting. The performance was magnificent. I will recommend it.

Captivating

Story goes back and forth between two timelines. At first it was a bit confusing but both storylines became equally intriguing and it was clever how they were brought together. The narrator was amazing in his ability to portray French, Scottish, Irish and Canadian accents. He brought the characters to life!

Outstanding!

An excellent book! Although I’m not usually a fan of books that switch back and forth through centuries, this one was excellent. Very interesting historical information. Peter Forbes did an outstanding job with the narration.

Great narration - fortunately

Where does Entry Island rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

While a compelling listen, the dual story line gets tedious as the historic, remote story is more romance than mystery. The audio is saved by Forbes who does three separate accents and helps the listener keep track of the respective stories.

Have you listened to any of Peter Forbes’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I will certainly look for other books narrated by Forbes.

Any additional comments?

The historical background of the enclosures in Scotland and settling of 19C Canada are very well done and I learned quite a bit. The descriptions of the Hebrides and the Magdelaine Islands made me put those places on my travel list as places I might like to visit.

Peter May links two stories across time and space

Peter May, who is a great storyteller, weaves two stories together in this book, one set in 1800s Scotland (and Canada), and the other a present-day murder mystery in Canada.

I enjoyed both stories, and learned some interesting history. But I felt that the device May used to bridge the two stories, “the diaries,” were too detailed and well written (in English—not their author’s native language) to be believable as the work of a minimally educated crofter’s son in 1847 Scotland.

As to the modern-day murder mystery, the police seemed pretty incompetent—not following up on alibis, and being quick to dismiss potential suspects. I guessed who did it long before they did. And I doubt anyone could function at all with the severity and duration of Sime’s insomnia.

Still, the stories are worth hearing, and the narrator, Peter Forbes, does a wonderful job of bringing the characters to life.

Interesting history.

This is one of those books that kept my interest every step of the way. The story was quite absorbing. I like a story that gives me a surprise and this one did.

Long Tedious

Too much French language. Interesting story but much too long and too involved for this old brain.

Real writing

Even as I enjoy so many books in the "mystery" genre, I do eventually crave books that are spectacularly written. Peter May is my current delight. It is partly his love of the bleak landscapes he gives us and his interwoven, interlocking generations, which he so successfully evokes that make his best books ( and this is one) so rich and substantial.

May & Forbes are riveting combo!

What made the experience of listening to Entry Island the most enjoyable?

Just couldn't pull myself away from this fast paced saga. Peter May is so gifted at carrying us to little known places, tightly interwoven tribal cultures and practices we no longer know.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Loved the time travel from 1800s Hebrides to modern day Entry Island culture. How are these people connected in some murky tragic way? Deepy layered, nothing wasted.

What about Peter Forbes’s performance did you like?

Peter Forbes was the huge draw in this audio experience. I'm mesmerized by his wide range of accents, brogues, gender vocals. Forbes pours life into each character...in the correct time period somehow. His Gaelic is musical. I was enchanted by his vocals and sense of compassion he brings to each person. He made them real for me. He is remarkable at this.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I was deeply moved at the extreme deprivations in olden Hebrides. No shoes in the winter, working barefoot in freezing ocean shores. The ruinous poverty inducing illiteracy that relentlessly barred young love and hope. The abyss between classes so gaping it can't even be explained.

Any additional comments?

Now a forever May & Forbes fan!!