The Last Days of the Midnight Ramblers

A Novel

By: Sarah Tomlinson

Narrated by: Helen Laser

This audiobook features original music and performances by Joshua Grange with backing vocals from Eric Blanchard and Eric Dion.

Perfect for fans of Daisy Jones & The Six and Almost Famous, a gripping debut about the complicated legacy of a legendary rock band and the ghostwriter telling their story

Three Rock & Roll icons. Two explosive tell-all memoirs. One ghostwriter caught in the middle.

Anke Berben is ready to tell all. A legendary model and style icon, she reveled in headline-grabbing romances with not one but three members of the hugely influential rock band the Midnight Ramblers. The band members were as famous for their backstage drama as for their music, and Anke is the only one who fully understands the tangled relationships, betrayals, and suspicions that have added to the Ramblers’ enduring appeal and mystique. That is most evident in the mystery around Anke’s role in the death of Mal, the band’s founder and Anke’s husband, in 1969.

When Mari Hawthorn accepts the job to work with Anke on her memoir, she is dead set on getting to the truth of Mal’s death. She has always been deft at navigating the fatal charms of celebrities, having grown up with a narcissistic, alcoholic father. As she ingratiates herself into the world of the band, she grows enchanted, against her better judgment, by these legendary rock stars. She knows she can’t get pulled in too deep, otherwise she’ll compromise her objectivity—and her integrity.

Filled with all of the glamour and attitude of rock and roll, The Last Days of the Midnight Ramblers is a bighearted work that will appeal to fans of Daisy Jones & The Six and Almost Famous.

A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books.

©2024 Sarah Tomlinson (P)2024 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“An exploration of the many ways celebrities can wield their wealth and power, especially against each other.”—Booklist

“The Last Days of the Midnight Ramblers is an irresistible foray into the private lives of the world's most famous rock icons, as observed by the woman hired to curate their secrets. Sarah Tomlinson writes with devastating insight and intimacy about what it takes—and what it takes from you—to be a ghost. I couldn’t look away from this story about art, ambition, power, and our ultimate human desire: to be known.”—Katie Gutierrez, bestselling author of More Than You'll Ever Know

“A racy, modern, fast-paced read that is equal parts murder mystery, psycho-study of ghost writers, and the extravagant lifestyles of rock’n’roll royalty. Tense, scary, and joyous all at once. California, booze, caffeine, drugs, murder, the desert, Vegas, and rock’n’roll. A fast-paced joy to read.”—John Doe, musician, actor, writer, and founding member of X

Glamorous, fun, compelling and emotionally moving!

I couldn’t put this book down! I listened to the entire book in one day. The narrator is exceptional. I love the ghost-writer angle as a metaphor for how life feels sometimes: are you living your own life or through someone else’s? The locations are quintessentially Southern California and tie to the romantic history and current creative elites obsession with Palm Springs and the high desert. Great fiction about a rock and roll legacy, a mystery book about an unsolved murder and ultimately, a moving narrative about a young woman finding empowerment. I loved this book! Glamorous, fun, compelling and emotionally moving!

Not great but not bad

I went to book thinking it was going to read like Daisy Jones and the Six, with multiple perspectives being told throughout the chapters so unfortunately, I was a little disappointed that the narrator stayed the same throughout this whole book.
Overall, I have the story was slightly boring, at no point did I find myself needing to flip the page to find out what happened next. That’s not to say the book was bad, it just wasn’t my favorite. I wish there had been a little more drama or mystery. The narrator did a great job with different character voices though.