Last Night of Freedom

One Weekend. One Hunt. One Survivor.

De: Dan Howarth

Narrado por: Aubrey Parsons

On a stag party in a remote part of the Lake District, four old university friends are dragged into a bizarre local ritual. Immersed in a fight for their lives - only one of them is guaranteed to make it home…

Fifteen years after graduation, four old university friends get together to celebrate Luke’s stag party. Tucked away in a remote village in the Lake District, they expect a weekend of real ale, log fires and gentle hikes – but a stag party of locals have other ideas.

Unwillingly drawn into one-upmanship and animosity, the four friends find themselves being hunted across unfamiliar ground in a game of deadly consequences. With only one of them guaranteed to survive, old wounds and resentments threaten to tear them apart as much as their pursuers.

Can the four friends unite to fight back, or will they fall, divided and broken?

©2024 Dan Howarth (P)2024 Dan Howarth

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Imagine the worst thing that could happen on a stag, then multiply that by a factor of several thousand. Last Night of Freedom preys on the rivalries, bravado, and toxicities on display as unchecked, booze-fuelled egos spiral out of control. This is a novel that takes place at a furious pace across a nightmare weekend, and I loved every desperate second of it.” (David Moody, author of the Hater series and Shadowlocked)

“Last Night of Freedom is Dan Howarth’s grimy, dread-laden portrait of toxic masculinity and the English countryside. An unflinching depiction of a fetid, primal face of human nature, where barbarism hides behind the rotting mask of tradition. I couldn’t put it down.” (Kev Harrison, author of Shadow of the Hidden and The Balance)

“Deliverance meets Dead Man’s Shoes… Does for stag parties what Jaws did for swimming.” (W.A. Kelly, author of Safe Hands)

A story well-told and well-performed

Dan Howarth's novel concerns four friends who travel to the countryside for a stag party only to find themselves hunted by the locals.

What I think separates Howarth's story from other with similar plots--man hunting man--is his characters. First, in the opening scene Howary deftly draws multiple characters quickly. While I didn't necessarily like all of the characters, I did like following them through their story. Howarth quickly drew me in, made me feel like I'd enjoy hanging out with them at the pub. Second, once the hunt starts, it quickly becomes apparent that the first, most important battle they will fight is the one against themselves. Their lifelong quibbles and grudges become major impediments to their cooperation in dealing with the dangerous situation they've found themselves in. The novel focuses as much on the characters trying to reconcile their long-held hard feelings toward each other as it does their pursuit by the locals. The tension is ratcheted up because, in order to survive the immediate physical danger, they are forced to contend with their genuine attitudes toward each other. Counter-intuitively, the latter grow to feel an equal, if not greater, obstacle to their survival. Because of this setup, the ending feels much stronger than similar stories, as well.

This is a novel about men being hunted but also a race to see if they can grow wise before old. Or dead.

The performer, Aubrey Parsons, feels perfect for this novel. He sounds like he has lived among and knows these characters, their dialects, their personalities. I generally prefer reading to listening to novels. When I do go with an audiobook, I always appreciate when the performer adds something to the story I would not have gotten out of reading it myself. Parson delivers.