The Last

By: Hanna Jameson

Narrated by: Anthony Starke

For fans of high-concept thrillers such as Annihilation and The Girl with All the Gifts, this breathtaking dystopian psychological thriller follows an American academic stranded at a Swiss hotel as the world descends into nuclear war - along with 20 other survivors - who becomes obsessed with identifying a murderer in their midst after the body of a young girl is discovered in one of the hotel’s water tanks.

Jon thought he had all the time in the world to respond to his wife’s text message: I miss you so much. I feel bad about how we left it. Love you. But as he’s waiting in the lobby of the L’Hotel Sixieme in Switzerland after an academic conference, still mulling over how to respond to his wife, he receives a string of horrifying push notifications. Washington, DC, has been hit with a nuclear bomb, then New York, then London, and finally Berlin. That’s all he knows before news outlets and social media go black - and before the clouds on the horizon turn orange.

Now, two months later, there are 20 survivors holed up at the hotel, a place already tainted by its strange history of suicides and murders. Those who can’t bear to stay commit suicide or wander off into the woods. Jon and the others try to maintain some semblance of civilization. But when the water pressure disappears and Jon and a crew of survivors investigate the hotel’s water tanks, they are shocked to discover the body of a young girl.

As supplies dwindle and tensions rise, Jon becomes obsessed with investigating the death of the little girl as a way to cling to his own humanity. Yet the real question remains: Can he afford to lose his mind in this hotel, or should he take his chances in the outside world?

©2019 Hanna Jameson (P)2019 Simon & Schuster

A Wild Ride

Interesting set up with occasional problems. A murder mystery that felt somehow unfinished even after the truth was revealed, a paranormal element thrown in for atmosphere more than payoff, and several characters who seemed to exist purely to give our protagonist something to write and think about beyond his own fears and very human flaws. At times the side plots felt like nervous distractions from a strong core story that was fascinating enough on its own. There were a few action scenes that had me on the edge of my seat, but as many have said, a rushed ending that didn't entirely satisfy.

The narrator of this audio book was excellent. Anthony Starke knew precisely how to play the dramatic tension woven with occasional beats of startling humor throughout the novel. And his talent for switching smoothly between multiple characters, all with different national accents, throughout many emotional switches and dialogue-heavy scenes was truly impressive.

The story felt undone

Some Spoilers. Holding back character details and distributing them at all the best moments makes or breaks a story. This main character turned himself into a mostly unreliable narrator when the author gives over far far too late in the tale, almost at the very end, that he’s a habitual philanderer. We find that out through his reminiscences. The end of the world doesn’t make that habit a minor character flaw. Since this book is first person driven, by the philanderer, it’s an odd choice to show us only through his own voice, only through his own imagination and evaluation of that experience what it means. What the hell. Mix in some weirdly placed mysticism and the ending was, well, weird. I’d begun to care some about the characters. I’d begun to see them as making efforts at being the right kind of human in a world that’s nuked its humanity. The setting descriptions were interesting and compelling. Lots of thought provoking moments about living without electricity, with limited supplies of meds and food, without the connection we’ve all come to expect from the internet, without up to date information about the outside world, without access to loved ones maybe ever again. Much of that was undone by the way the author tried to resolve the main characters feelings about fucking around on his family as a habit before he got stuck in Sweden at the end of the world. Very less than. I went from caring about the characters to hoping there’s no sequel.

Couldn’t put it down

I loved this book. Scary, dystopian, page-turning perfection. The narrator was AMAZING. I’m so glad I read it, so bummed it over now.

End of the world meets The Cecil Hotel

Good but not great. I wouldn't listen to/read it again. If you know the story of The Cecil Hotel, then you know one of the major plot points of this story. There are times where the story gets interesting but it was rather disappointing overall.

Intriguing and sublimely written

There is such a special quality to the writing of this author. The story is very intriguing and i loved the social aspect of the book. The ending is a bit disappointing mainly because it is abrupt. The author could have easily written a few more chapters before ending the book. Pity she hasn’t.

The Last should be your 1st apocalyptic novel

A truly great Performance of this unusual, strange book. It is amazing how Mr. Starke can transform his voice into so many characters with perfect foreign accents. Bravo.

Excellent Narrater!

Anthony Starke made this book come alive for me!
I’ve been listening to books for 20 years, Narraters can make or break a book.

Compelling with minor flaws

I found this book difficult to put down, for its compelling story and creepy setting. There were a few minor flaws, the worst for me being that this is a book written in the first person and narrated by an American character, and yet British terms were sometimes used, such as jumper instead of sweater. I also found it inaccuracy in the scene about administering narcan to one of the characters. The standard syringe with narcan and it is intramuscular, not intravenous. I found the narration listenable, although the author needs to work on his pronunciation of some words, such as Samoyed. Would I recommend this book? Yes, to people who like a fast-moving story and it's a general fan of apocalyptic novels. The minor flaws in it are a little annoying, but definitely the story is worth it. I hope you have

A little uneven

The story stumbles through its second half, but enjoyed it overall.

As for the performance - I would happily pay extra to listen to audiobooks where the narrator didn’t pitch their voice up or down to represent characters of the opposite sex, and didn’t mangle accents of foreign characters. Out of all the bad foreign accents butchered in this recording, his falsetto Japanese-lady voice was borderline racist, and definitely skin crawlingly bad.

Just ok

Book was ok, it wasn’t so much about finding out the mystery of the little girl as it was dealing with post apocalypse.