Accidental Shepherd

Gavin Dobson s latest book completes the quartet of Geordie Kinloch short stories. (Tales of a Free Spirit, The Novice; Chicago Burns and Other Side Trips) Together they suggest that however fast you run, attempt to outwit the past or strive for perfection, life s jack-in-the-box will probably be waiting around the next corner to pop up and mock you. Each of the fifteen stories in The Accidental Shepherd should be read on its own merits as a stand-alone vignette in the life of Geordie Kinloch. Some were inspired by experiences and observations of the author and his friends; others are too far-fetched to be autobiographical. The Accidental Shepherd is set in the questionable gentility of rural Scotland, and the canvas lights up with flashes of San Francisco, Texas, New York, Chicago, London and the Pyrenees. Bowser s Last Stand illustrates how best intentions can have disastrous consequences; Amarillo Nights brings an unexpected intrusion into Geordie s settled household, The Percy Arms dwells on unrequited longings of distant youth. The paranormal themes of The Ley Line and Kinwhirrie Cat may make the reader feel uneasy. After a career in fund management Gavin Dobson wrote The Global Investor, a financial textbook published in 1994, and in 2011, The Price of Redemption, a fast-moving thriller about financial skulduggery rampant in London and Wall Street.