During the First World War Rob Deakin receives catastrophic wounds, and it looks like his short life is coming to an end. Lying stricken, he has a chance encounter with a mysterious stranger – a man that Rob will come to know as the Medic – and he undergoes a miraculous recovery. The war ends and Rob takes up a number of jobs including chancing his arm in New York where he works for a local gangster. While there it becomes apparent to Rob that he cannot die, nor, indeed, age. And as the 20th and then 21st centuries roll round, Rob takes to the road, all the while hoping to track down the shadowy figure of the Medic. Newcastle-based author Richard Ayre has produced a high-concept novel that is also deeply humane – like one of William Boyd’s “full life” novels married to an H.G. Wells flight of fancy – and the result is a page-turning treat. RM

Published by Burning Chair