In the gripping first pages of this taut thriller by Craig Robertson which is set in the Faroe Islands, we find John Callum lying on a stone slab on Torshavn’s harbour, unable to remember how he got there.
Callum, who is in Faroe Islands to escape from an incident in his past, is a former teacher from Glasgow haunted by terrifying, violent dreams about an incident involving one of his former pupils.
The nightmares together with Callum’s guilt about the past and his fear that he might be the killer or know who the killer is keep the reader guessing to the very end of this tense thriller.
When Callum finds work with a local fisherman, Martin Hojgaard, he determines to put the past behind him but before long he makes some dangerous enemies among the locals and when a murder is committed, he’s the main suspect.
But is Callum guilty? And, if he isn’t, who is the killer?
Violence is never far from the surface in The Last Refuge and Robertson keeps the reader guessing to the end. A strong plot, believable characters, some good dialogue and the beautifully evoked Faroe Islands landscape combine to make The Last Refuge a satisfying read.
The Last Refuge by Craig Robertson is published by Simon & Schuster in the UK. ISBN 9781471127731 An Advance Readers Copy (ARC) was provided via Netgalley.com for the purpose of this review.