The writing style is solid and again, very much like reading a first person interview. It reminded me of "Interview with the Vampire" by Anne Rice, in its style, but Rob’s unburdening of self is less story and more ‘police report”...”I did this, and then I did that, and then I went here…”.

I absolutely adored this story. Everything about it. The good, the bad, the ugly, the sad, the heartbreaking, and the redemption.An extraordinary novel with a simple philosophical premise. Who wants to live forever and if this were possible, would you wish for this, and how would it affect you and want would you do. The primary theme is as much a philosophical reflection on humanity and the sometimes sordid, sometimes mundane details of living, loving, and dying as it is a rote recital of events and people from a seemingly disengaged and disinterested main character. Rob comes off as mechanical and emotionless even before he is changed by his mysterious interaction with The Medic.

It was one of those books that made me forget I was reading - it was that well crafted and involving. It wouldn’t take him long to discover that the medic he met had imparted eternal life to him. He would never age and he would never die. He emigrated to America where he was involved in running rum during prohibition. He knew that he must keep traveling to hide his condition. He saw that people kept their distance from him. He pretended that it did not bother him and pretty soon, he began to realize that it really did not bother him. Through the years, he saw much of the world. He did many jobs. He learned several languages. He found lust and he found love.What follows is a cursed journey through a century of incredible change, seen through the eyes of a man immune to death, while he searches endlessly for the answers to what makes him so unique. Okay, that’s not entirely true. There are probably readers out there who’ll enjoy this book, but they certainly aren’t reading the same things I am. Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-life-eternal-richard-ayre/1137644772?ean=9781912946099 Is it a gift or a curse to be immune to death, to be chosen to live forever? An eternal life, unable to die, to be killed, to live on in perpetuity while all around you age and die... R.F. Kuang, Sue Lynn Tan, Rebecca Ross, Kate Heartfield, N.E. Davenport, Saara El-Arifi, Juno Dawson and Sunyi Dean

The development of Rob Deakin from broken ex soldier to adventurer, doomed man, loving husband and finally, wise soul is cleverly and convincingly written. This book truly shows the talents of Fullerton; a modern John le Carre mixed with a hint of Clive Cussler. All in all a fabulous, well-researched, gripping thriller. This book should be a movie; it has everything needed.

This fascination with endless life is what drew me into this story, and it was what kept me reading when I became a little weary of the main character. Rob Deakin is equal parts everyman and no-man, but is ultimately generally unlikeable and his “glass half-empty” personality made the times he lived through, and the people he interacted with more ‘history textbook’ and less ‘historical novel’. While the subject matter was sometimes confronting, I found Shadow of the Knife an enjoyable and engrossing read. I'd recommend it to any reader who enjoys gritty historical crime fiction - this is no cosy and refined parlour mystery - and/or has an interest in the early history of modern crime investigation.