Last of the Line John MacKay 9781910021910

When Cal MacCarl gets a phone call to his bachelor flat in Glasgow asking him to come to the bedside of his Aunt Mary, dying miles away on the Isle of Lewis, he embarks on a journey of discovery. With both his parents dead, his Aunt Mary is his only remaining blood link. When she goes he will be the last of the family line and he couldn't care less. In the days between his aunt's death and funeral he is drawn into the role of genealogy detective. In a place where everyone knows everything about everybody, Cal finds that secrets are buried deep and begins to understand that Aunt Mary was not the woman he knew and he might not be the person he thought he was.

John MacKay was born in Glasgow in 1965 and has drawn on the oral traditions of his Hebridean background to write this Hebridean set trilogy. John MacKay is a journalist and newsreader for STV and presents Scotland Today (6-6:30pm Mon-Fri on STV). Also by John MacKay: The Road Dance, ISBN 1 842820 24 9, Heartland, ISBN 1 842820 59 1 and Last of the Line, ISBN 1 905222 55 6.

Where MacKay differs from most other Hebridean-based novels is in his obvious research into the geography, and meticulous background into island traditions and cultures. THE STORNOWAY GAZETTE

The Hebridean scenes are powerful. THE SUNDAY HERALD

There is a tightly plotted story here, together with some lovely details of remote island life. THE INDEPENDENT

A strong modern story of personal conflict.NORTHWORDS NOW