The Last
The post-apocalyptic thriller that will keep you up all night
Published on 31. January 2019
Book
Hardback
400 pages
978-0-241-34917-5 (ISBN)
Description
ONE HOTEL. TWENTY SURVIVORS. ONE OF YOU IS A KILLER.
'BRILLIANTLY EXECUTED...HAUNTING...EXTRAORDINARY' EMILY ST JOHN MANDEL
'A CLEVER, ORIGINAL, SCARILY PLAUSIBLE WHITE-KNUCKLE READ' ERIN KELLY
The most exciting literary thriller of 2019, you won't be able to put THE LAST down.
____________________________
BREAKING: Nuclear weapon detonates over Washington
Historian Jon Keller is on a trip to Switzerland when the world ends. As the lights go out on civilisation, he wishes he had a way of knowing whether his wife, Nadia, and their two daughters are still alive. More than anything, Jon wishes he hadn't ignored Nadia's last message.
Twenty people remain in Jon's hotel. Far from the nearest city and walled in by towering trees, they wait, they survive.
Then one day, the body of a young girl is found. It's clear she has been murdered. Which means that someone in the hotel is a killer.
As paranoia descends, Jon decides to investigate. But how far is he willing to go in pursuit of justice? And what kind of justice can he hope for, when society as he knows it no longer exists?
_____________________________
'GRIPPING, AND THOROUGHLY AND FRIGHTENINGLY BELIEVABLE. I COULD NOT PUT THIS BOOK DOWN' JENNIE MELAMED
'DARK, ORIGINAL, COMPELLING' CJ TUDOR
'IT IS JAMESON'S PORTRAYAL, BOTH IMAGINATIVE AND PLAUSIBLE, OF HOW HER CHARACTERS ADAPT TO THEIR NEW LIFE THAT MAKES HER NOVEL SUCH COMPULSIVE READING' TELEGRAPH
'JAMESON DOES AN EXCELLENT JOB OF EXPLORING WHAT NUCLEAR WAR WOULD MEAN FOR US . . . AND WHAT IT WOULD MEAN TO LIVE IN A PLACE WHERE CONSEQUENCES NO LONGER EXISTED' OBSERVER
'STEPHEN KING MEETS AGATHA CHRISTIE IN THIS FANTASTIC AND HIGHLY ORIGINAL NOVEL . . . I LOVED EVERY SECOND . . . THIS IS THE BOOK OF 2019' LUCA VESTE
'A POST-APOCALYPTIC VERSION OF AGATHA CHRISTIE'S AND THEN THERE WERE NONE . . . THE LAST DELIVERS ON ITS INTRIGUING PREMISE AS THE VENEER OF CIVILISATION WEARS AWAY AND A COLLECTIVE SAVAGERY STARTS TO TAKE HOLD' IRISH TIMES
'CHILLINGLY NIGHTMARISH - A GRIPPING READ' SOPHIA TOBIN
'A FANTASTIC SETTING, GREAT CHARACTERS AND A SLOW BUILDING TENSION MAKES THE LAST ONE TO WATCH' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING
'WE DEFY YOU TO PICK UP THE LAST, READ THE FIRST PAGE, THEN PUT IT BACK DOWN AGAIN' STYLIST
'DARK AND COMPELLING' CLOSER 'MUST READS'
'MOVES LIKE A FREIGHT TRAIN WITH NO BRAKES ON AND RACES TOWARDS AN EXPLOSIVE SET OF REVELATIONS' CRIME TIME
'SHOCKING, INTRIGUING AND RAWLY HUMAN. I WHOLEHEARTEDLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK' ONE EMPTY SHELF
'BRILLIANTLY EXECUTED...HAUNTING...EXTRAORDINARY' EMILY ST JOHN MANDEL
'A CLEVER, ORIGINAL, SCARILY PLAUSIBLE WHITE-KNUCKLE READ' ERIN KELLY
The most exciting literary thriller of 2019, you won't be able to put THE LAST down.
____________________________
BREAKING: Nuclear weapon detonates over Washington
Historian Jon Keller is on a trip to Switzerland when the world ends. As the lights go out on civilisation, he wishes he had a way of knowing whether his wife, Nadia, and their two daughters are still alive. More than anything, Jon wishes he hadn't ignored Nadia's last message.
Twenty people remain in Jon's hotel. Far from the nearest city and walled in by towering trees, they wait, they survive.
Then one day, the body of a young girl is found. It's clear she has been murdered. Which means that someone in the hotel is a killer.
As paranoia descends, Jon decides to investigate. But how far is he willing to go in pursuit of justice? And what kind of justice can he hope for, when society as he knows it no longer exists?
_____________________________
'GRIPPING, AND THOROUGHLY AND FRIGHTENINGLY BELIEVABLE. I COULD NOT PUT THIS BOOK DOWN' JENNIE MELAMED
'DARK, ORIGINAL, COMPELLING' CJ TUDOR
'IT IS JAMESON'S PORTRAYAL, BOTH IMAGINATIVE AND PLAUSIBLE, OF HOW HER CHARACTERS ADAPT TO THEIR NEW LIFE THAT MAKES HER NOVEL SUCH COMPULSIVE READING' TELEGRAPH
'JAMESON DOES AN EXCELLENT JOB OF EXPLORING WHAT NUCLEAR WAR WOULD MEAN FOR US . . . AND WHAT IT WOULD MEAN TO LIVE IN A PLACE WHERE CONSEQUENCES NO LONGER EXISTED' OBSERVER
'STEPHEN KING MEETS AGATHA CHRISTIE IN THIS FANTASTIC AND HIGHLY ORIGINAL NOVEL . . . I LOVED EVERY SECOND . . . THIS IS THE BOOK OF 2019' LUCA VESTE
'A POST-APOCALYPTIC VERSION OF AGATHA CHRISTIE'S AND THEN THERE WERE NONE . . . THE LAST DELIVERS ON ITS INTRIGUING PREMISE AS THE VENEER OF CIVILISATION WEARS AWAY AND A COLLECTIVE SAVAGERY STARTS TO TAKE HOLD' IRISH TIMES
'CHILLINGLY NIGHTMARISH - A GRIPPING READ' SOPHIA TOBIN
'A FANTASTIC SETTING, GREAT CHARACTERS AND A SLOW BUILDING TENSION MAKES THE LAST ONE TO WATCH' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING
'WE DEFY YOU TO PICK UP THE LAST, READ THE FIRST PAGE, THEN PUT IT BACK DOWN AGAIN' STYLIST
'DARK AND COMPELLING' CLOSER 'MUST READS'
'MOVES LIKE A FREIGHT TRAIN WITH NO BRAKES ON AND RACES TOWARDS AN EXPLOSIVE SET OF REVELATIONS' CRIME TIME
'SHOCKING, INTRIGUING AND RAWLY HUMAN. I WHOLEHEARTEDLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK' ONE EMPTY SHELF
Reviews / Votes
The Last is a brilliantly executed novel, and the questions Jameson poses-who will be with you at the end of the world, and what kind of person will you be?-are as haunting as the plot itself. This is a chilling and extraordinary book -- Emily St John Mandel, author of 'Station Eleven' Dark, original, compelling -- CJ Tudor, author of The Chalk Man It is Jameson's portrayal both imaginative and plausible, of how her characters adapt to their new life that makes her novel such compulsive reading * Daily Telegraph * A clever, original, scarily plausible white-knuckle read -- Erin Kelly, bestselling author of 'He Said, She Said' A brilliantly imagined tale of suspicion, betrayal and survival in a world on the brink of extinction. One of those books that you can't stop reading - but don't want to end -- TM Logan, bestselling author of 'Lies' Stephen King meets Agatha Christie, in this fantastic and highly original novel that I'll be recommending to readers for a long time to come. I loved every second of it! This is *the* book of 2019 -- Luca Veste, author of 'The Bone Keeper' Chillingly nightmarish - a gripping read -- Sophia Tobin, author of 'The Silversmith's Wife' Gripping, and thoroughly and frighteningly believable. I could not put this book down -- Jennie Melamed, author of 'Gather the Daughters' Jameson does an excellent job of exploring what nuclear war would mean for us . . . exploring what it would mean to live in a place where consequences no longer existed. * Observer * We defy you to pick up The Last and put it back down * Stylist *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Penguin Books Ltd
Dimensions
Height: 222 mm
Width: 138 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-241-34917-5 (9780241349175)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
01/2019
1st Edition
Penguin Books Ltd
€8.99
Available for download
Person
Hanna Jameson wrote her first book at the age of seventeen. Q Magazine described her as writing like 'an angel on speed'. She travelled the USA, Japan and Europe for many years, developing a particular interest in the US, which led to her studying for a BA in American History. She wrote The Last, her first book for Penguin, during the fallout from the 2016 presidential election. She has the skillset of a wild west gunslinger and you would want her on your zombie apocalypse team.