I'll Keep You Safe

By: Peter May

Narrated by: Anna Murray, Peter Forbes

Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

Friends since childhood, and lovers and business partners as adults, Niamh and Ruairidh are owners of a small Hebridean company, Ranish Tweed, that weaves its own very special version of Harris Tweed. Although it's a small company, their fabrics have become internationally sought-after as a niche brand in the world of fashion and haute couture.

But the threads of their relationship are beginning to fray. As they prepare for an important showing at the Première Vision fabric fair, held in Paris every year, Niamh accuses Ruairidh of having an affair with Irina, a Russian fashion designer they work with - a fight that ends with Ruairidh storming off and getting into Irina's car. Moments later, Niamh watches in horror as the car containing her life partner explodes in a ball of flame.

With Niamh a prime suspect in the murder, the Parisian police hound her even after she returns to Harris to bury the pitiful remains of her lover and business partner. Amid the grief and struggles that follow, she begins to suspect that things are not what they seem; and when there is an attempt on her life, she becomes convinced that what looked like a terrorist attack on her lover might be something more personal by far....

©2018 Peter May (P)2018 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"May, the author of the critically acclaimed Lewis trilogy, set in the Outer Hebrides, mixes the rough Hebridean atmosphere with the glitter of Paris in his fourth stand-alone thriller." (Booklist)

Absolutely ridiculous

Aside from the utterly unbelievable and impossible premise and ending, this book is still garbage.

Disappointing

I’m a great admirer of Peter May’s books especially the Lewis Trilogy. But I found this standalone disappointingly cliché-ridden. And the development of the issues around the female characters made me wonder in decade the book was written. Peter Forbes’ narration was, as ever, fantastic.

Don’t waste your time

What a preposterous plot line! And the book never escapes the shallowness of it. One can’t be kept safe from the banalities, the cliches, and the general disappointment of it.

Another page turner.

Peter May does not disappoint. I intended to only listen on my drive to and from work. Turns out I listened any time I have five minutes.

Descriptions of the land and sea never disappoint !

Peter May makes the outer Hebrides sound so enticing it’s amazing we readers aren’t all flocking there! And maybe we will. Meanwhile, the story seemed more to me a construct to hold those gorgeous descriptions and a lesson about the famous Harris Tweeds, and that actually didn’t bother me.

Another great book from Peter May

I have read a lot of Peter Mays book and really enjoyed this stand alone thriller. The narration was e

Bizarre final twist

I liked the main characters and descriptions of Harris & Lewis Islands and life there. I don’t really like multi-reader style audiobooks. And the final explanatory twist wasn’t really believable. Disappointed. I’ve liked his other books better.

Major disappointment [spoiler alert]

I am a big fan of Peter May and of Peter Forbes as a reader. I loved the Lewes Trilogy and many other books by May. I was ready to love this one. And for a while it was enjoyable -- the same rich description of the Isle of Lewes complemented by action scenes set in Paris. The play of memory and the present for the major characters -- all features of his other books. But the last part of the book was contrived, overly complicated, requiring more than a drawn-out Agatha Christie type ending. Many of the (expected) red herrings strewn throughout the book were shown to be distractions. But the main plotlines stretched the credulity of the most generous reader. Also, a low grade misogyny that infected the narrative made me re-think other books I had passively enjoyed. And in this book he compounded the misogyny by making the "fatal attraction" style villain a deranged lesbian. As for the reading, the sections read by Anna Murray were not well integrated, but that was a fault of the book itself.

Come on, Peter May, you can do better.

The Hebridean accents made the book for me!

Maybe this wasn't fine writing, as others have mentioned, but I loved the accents so much!

Vintage Peter May

This novel is vintage Peter May: rich in plot, characters, Hebrides culture and landscape. Flawless dialects enhance the listening experience.