The Last Beekeeper

By: Julie Carrick Dalton

Narrated by: Dylan Moore

Julie Carrick Dalton's The Last Beekeeper is a celebration of found family, an exploration of truth versus power, and the triumph of hope in the face of despair.

"Fans of Delia Owens will swoon to find their new favorite author.” (Hank Phillippi Ryan)

It’s been more than a decade since the world has come undone, and Sasha Severn has returned to her childhood home with one goal in mind—find the mythic research her father, the infamous Last Beekeeper, hid before he was incarcerated.

There, Sasha is confronted with a group of squatters who have claimed the quiet, idyllic farm as a way to escape the horrific conditions of state housing. While she feels threatened by their presence at first, the friends soon become her newfound family, offering what she hasn't felt since her father was imprisoned: security and hope. Maybe it's time to forget the family secrets buried on the farm and focus on her future.

But just as she settles into her new life, Sasha witnesses the impossible. She sees a honeybee, presumed extinct. People who claim to see bees are ridiculed and silenced for reasons Sasha doesn't understand, but she can't shake the feeling that this impossible bee is connected to her father's missing research. Fighting to uncover the truth could shatter Sasha's fragile security and threaten the lives of her new-found family—or it could save them all.

Sasha's journey is a meditation on forgiveness and redemption and a reminder to cherish the beauty that still exists in this fragile world.

Also by Julie Carrick Dalton:

Waiting for the Night Song

A Macmillan Audio production from Forge Books.

©2023 Julie Carrick Dalton (P)2023 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Filled with meditations on the fragile beauty of nature and the power of hope and resilience, this heartfelt novel will keep readers turning the pages late into the night."—Angie Kim, internationally bestselling author of Miracle Creek

"Dalton weaves an intricate story of friendships carefully made and tended when mere survival would seem to make such bonds impossible. The Last Beekeeper is ingeniously plotted, both clever and tender on every page. I couldn’t put it down."—Rebecca Scherm, author of A House Between Earth and the Moon

“The Last Beekeeper is a moving novel about how radical hope can be kept alive in the face of personal grief and global loss."—Matt Bell, author of Appleseed

What a great story

Thoroughly enjoyed this read. Exciting and believable story. I’ll be sending it to both my daughter and my mother!

It could happen

This is a dystopian story that seems believable and not in the too distant future. The characters are interesting enough that I might like to find out what happened next, but I’m not sure the rest of the story is developed enough to carry second book. The narration was terrible, so painfully slow that I had to speed it up, which I never do. There were a lot of areas where the pronunciations were clipped and robotic and so unlike the way people write and speak that it made me wonder if it was created using AI (apparently not). Overall okay, but think I might have enjoyed reading it more given the bad narration.

Great narrator

Loved this story. I have had the hardcover for awhile and had not read it. I am very happy with the audio version and will look for more from this author

So creative and engaging!

Dalton does an excellent job of weaving a tale that not only entertains but slips in knowledge of the natural world in a way we appreciate. A good listen!

Hidden truth

Loved how the hidden truth came full circle. Too bad the recording was choppy in some areas.

Took a chance definitely not something I would usually read.

Took a chance definitely not something I would usually read. Overall I commend the author, seems like a lot of research had to go into writing this. The title is what sucked me in.
However the book kind of reminded me of the bee movie lol to sum it all up we need bees. I feel like this book took forever to get to the end although we all kind of knew the end.

Climate SciFi with a Heart

Kept me on the edge of my seat! The twenty-something protagonists start out with so much hurt and loss, and deal with high stakes and powerful antagonists. You’ll like it if you appreciate nature, bees, longing, love, and personal growth written with beauty and heart.

THE LAST BEEKEEPER also has some amazing lines. Similar to PARABLE OF THE SOWER: “The truth flowed like honey, easy and slow. She couldn’t take it back. She didn’t want to.” Similar to THE GRAPES OF WRATH: “They had failed the land, and now, beyond her small bit of earth, the land was failing them… The Agri New Deal served the few and broke the many.” And the narrator, Dylan Moore, doesn’t disappoint, delivering lines with nuance and aplomb, as appropriate. Nicely done.

loved it

I hope there is going to be a sequel. I really enjoyed this book. It was was captivating and kept me on my toes

Ban lawn chemicals!

And agricultural chemicals! This book looks into the frightening future without food stability we are creating for ourselves. It was a page turner that I could not stop listening to!

Sense of Family

The relationships between the characters, especially between father and daughter, were well crafted. I loved it.