Product Description

This humour-tinged romantic adventure follows the experiences of a young Scottish veterinary student called Doogie O'Mara, who takes a year off his studies 'to get his head together' following the death of his parents, but also to escape the claustrophobic influence of the daughter of his elderly home-town vet, who assumes that Doogie will not only become his partner, but his daughter's as well! Doogie sets out to start a job as a tour rep in Africa, with hopes of finding time to study the wildlife too. Instead, he finds himself on the Spanish island of Mallorca, thust in at the deep end of the madcap package tour business - a hapless fish out of water, for whom the nearest thing to wildlife appears to be the hordes of rowdy holidaymakers pouring off the gannets (charter planes) from the UK.He is taken under the wing of Angie, a world-weary rep who's taken all the knocks and has a fatherless toddler to prove it, and is befriended by Catalina, a pretty young Mallorcan girl working for the same tour company, but from a country background similar to Doogie's own. The outlook gets better still when Angie is posted to Ibiza and leaves Doogie her flat and her little car. Unfortunately, she also leaves her toddler in the care of her dotty old neighbour, to whom Doogie is now living next door. Problems are bound to arise, and they do, with Doogie right in the middle of them! Despite everything, however, his relationship with Catalina develops, and when the time finally comes for him to leave the island, Doogie must decide if there may be more to life than a secure, though potentially claustrophobic, career as a vet back in Scotland.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #45719 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-21
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 244 pages

Edinburgh Evening News, August 11, 2008
With humour the essential ingredient, Kerr comes up with another sure seller.

Review
Entertaining style, sensitive character delineations and crafty plotting ... the Peter Kerr ingredients are all there.

Review
Peter writes in an easy-to-read manner, which gently captures the reader ... as you are transported into this amusing tale.

Customer Reviews

This Gannet Soars!
I'm an avid fan of Peter Kerr's books and I also love Mallorca, so I was naturally drawn to this book. However, I did have second thoughts about buying it when I saw reference to 'romance' in the blurb. I'm strictly a non-lovey-dovey guy when it comes to reading material

I needn't have worried, though, because Peter certainly hasn't gone all Mills & Boon on us. This has all the usual wry Kerr humour, combined with his keen eye for the portrayal of characters - and what a diverse mix there is, from the likeably naive through comically eccentric to the downright nasty.

Right from the start, you can relate to young Doogie, the main character,and you want to know what's in store for him. This is always the sign of a good story, and Peter Kerr proves again here that he has few equals when it comes to telling one of those.

The descriptive passages capture the scenery and atmosphere of Mallorca just as vividly as in his 'Snowball Oranges' series, while the action sequences are as gripping as those in his 'Bob Burns Investigates' trilogy. Yet there are tender moments in this that recall the most moving aspects of what is, for me, perhaps his most endearing book to date, 'Thistle Soup.

So, even although there has been a change of direction in some ways, I give a definite thumbs-up to Peter Kerr's latest offering. It's a truly delightful read, a rare blend of humour, poignancy, suspense and - well, OK then - 'romance'. But not of the lovey-dovey kind, lads!

A fun and touching sunshine romp!

Peter Kerr is a very witty and entertaining writer at the best of times but even more so in this very touching and fast paced, humorous romp set in Mallorca. The story follows the fortunes of hapless Scottish would-be-vet, Doogie O'Mara as he takes up a position with a UK tour operator based on the island. It's a book full of mad and bad characters, some very lovable, and of course there's a great romance evolving which might put the oxygen back into Doogie's every step. Who knows? Find out in Peter Kerr's latest fun and absorbing read that will cheer you up and put a smile on your face wherever you are...sunshine or rain!

Another hugely entertaining gem from Peter Kerr
Those who have already read Peter Kerr's Mallorcan saga (Snowball Oranges being the first book in the series) will know he's an outstandingly good writer with an exquisite sense of humour. Just like his true-life Mallorcan adventures, The Gannet has landed is set on the holiday island and, except for the odd episode, you will find it hard to believe this is fiction: the landmark of a great writer is to make fiction seem like real-life! Be warned that once you start reading this book you might not have the willpower to put it down until you've read it until the last page, so perhaps best not to dip into it before you're due to meet a deadline of some sorts.