Book Review - The Fell Walker by Michael Wood

The author, Michael Wood, lives in Bassenthwaite. He uses this wonderful landscape around to provide a basis for this novel. Not content with concentrating on the Lake District the plot also involves the Scottish Highlands and Manila.

This is a fast moving, and occasionally very brutal thriller. The story begins when a government minister is found dead in the Lake District. A lonely Scotsman leaves his isolated croft and travels to steamy Manila.

"These apparently unconnected events are the first sketches on a large canvas, soon to be smeared blood-red by a brutal killer," notes the commentary on the back cover.

The plot thickens when it becomes apparent that these crimes are being ignored by the police. At this stage of the plot a part time journalist working for the Keswick “Tribune” begins to get involved. Subseuently he is drawn into a world of technology and politics, love and obsession, and finally to a living nightmare – a terrifying personal race against time.

I must admit that this is the first novel I have read for many years. I generally have a passion for factual books on a wide range of subjects but rarely do I visit a bookstore in search of fiction. However after and initial struggle to get started, I was soon keen to learn the next stage of the plot. This was particualrly interesting as I has visited the three key locations featured in the novel.

The detail is good, with technical assitance from both the Keswick and Assynt Mountain Rescue Teams. Thbe author sees this as a “thinking person’s thriller” and I tend to agree with this view.

Verdict : a great read for those who know the Lake District and it might make your next walk in these hills a different type ofexperience!

The Fell Walker by Michael Wood. ISBN 1-905621-02-7. Price £7.99. Available from most good book shops including Waterstones, Tescos and Amazon.

Review date - 25th October 2007 - Reviewed by LJ