This is not my usual genre and I am so glad I was given the opportunity to read it.
It is a real page turner, a really good murder mystery set in a post- apocalyptic world. This is the story of a group of survivors all holed up in a hotel. A really good read with a touch of the Agatha Christie. I just had to keep on reading. Again this is a new author for me and I will be looking out for more of her work.
I would like to thank the author Hannah Jameson, Penguin Books UK and Net.galley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for giving an honest review.

I loved the idea of this book and was immediately engrossed within the first couple of pages. Very glad that there wasn't too much detail on the nuclear attacks - you were left to think what you wanted. The author focussed more on the relationships between strangers and how they reacted under such desperate circumstances. Part dystopian, part thriller. part mystery, although the book didn't suffer from being across different genres. My only disappointment was the section just before the end, however I did like how the author concluded the book.

I really loved this book. It is a cross-genre murder mystery/post-apocalyptic novel with a real heart. I became totally engrossed in the story, despite the far from perfect narrator! It covers so many themes, and is utterly page-turning despite the very dark premise. I thought the style was excellent, and it is one of the few books I have read lately with a truly original theme. I shall remember this novel for a very long time and keep a close eye out for the author’s next novel. Highly recommended.

So the basic premise is that the world has ended. Our protagonist is Jon, an American, who's at a conference in Switzerland when nuclear war breaks out. Washington is taken out, and then more and more of the big cities. People flee the hotel he's staying at. Clouds of radiation start to form everywhere; the sun never breaks through anymore. Jon ends up in the hotel with around twenty other survivors. Several are members of staff, and between the twenty of them are a couple of Americans, some Germans, some French, some Japanese people. They're not sure how many other survivors there are around and they decide the best thing to do is to hunker down and survive.

Jon volunteers for a bunch of things around the hotel, mostly to keep himself busy and to stop himself thinking about his family. He doesn't know whether his wife and daughters survived in San Francisco or not, and he's driving himself a bit mad with all his regrets.

The story of the end of the world would be interesting enough by itself, and indeed, it made me think a lot about the type of person I would be in that kind of crisis. Honestly, I don't think I have much of a survival instinct so hunkering down in a hotel is probably what I'd do. One of my other favourite books about the apocalypse is Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel, where a flu epidemic wipes out most of the population. Here it's nuclear war, and I liked to read the things that were similar and things that the authors had imagined differently. I think one of the main things would be medical issues, which are highlighted in The Last. We're so lucky to just be able to buy painkillers over the counter and access antibiotics when needed, and those things run out fast.

But The Last doesn't just concentrate on the apocalypse. Jon volunteers to look in the water tanks on the roof with Dylan and Nathan who are both members of staff, and while they're up there they find a body in one of the tanks. Jon starts to look into the murder, but strange things start to happen and Jon starts to doubt his own sanity. The hotel itself has a strange pull, and threats from outside are looming all the time...

Jon is an unreliable narrator for sure, and he's not always the most likeable of people either. I felt like the ending was a tiny bit unresolved for me, but I also think that it was how a book of this nature had to end, because the world itself was ending. How hopeful could it be?

I really recommend the book, I thought it was really well done and compulsive reading, I couldn't stop reading! It's out in January 2019. I'd definitely read something else by Hanna now!

This is an extremely interesting novel, which combines a storyline about the end of the world, alongside a more traditional mystery. American, Jon Keller, is at a conference at a hotel in Switzerland, when news comes that nuclear war has broken out. As guests sit at breakfast, news of whole cities being wiped out appears on the television. Glued to any screen available, people are first of all shocked and then afraid. Panic breaks out and many guests leave immediately; heading into the unknown, with no air travel and the situation unsure. The author does a wonderful job in this early part of the novel – combining the mundane situation of a hotel breakfast with the shocking news of nuclear war. Jon is unsure what to do and, like some others, decides to stay put for the moment and see whether anyone comes. Nobody does.

As the sun is hidden, the trees die and birdsong is silenced, the remaining guests, and staff, gradually find some kind of comfort in the familiarity of the hotel. However, when a young girls body is found, Jon decides to investigate. Some of the group think it hardly seems to matter – law and order have been wiped out, along with much of the world, and what is one child, among so many dead? Yet Jon seems to think that it is necessary, or, perhaps, it just gives him a reason amongst a situation of surreal unreality? He is something of an unreliable narrator, as he carries out his search to who was responsible and whether they are still among the group at the hotel. An academic, he is keen to write everything down and this is looked upon with some suspicion.

I can’t actually recall reading a novel quite like this and, for no other reason than the setting, it is an interesting book. There is much to muse about, on the way the group come to terms with events. As time goes on, divisions emerge, blame is apportioned and some members of the group are seen as more useful than others. As time passes and there is no internet, the group are cut off, undecided about whether to stay put or try to find others. Is there safety in numbers, if a murderer is among them? This would be a good choice for book groups, with much to discuss, even though I, personally, found the murder mystery part of the novel less successful than the storyline about the end of the world. Personally, I think the group dynamics were interesting enough without adding the crime element into the book, but, overall, a really good read. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

Jon is at a convention in a Swiss hotel when the world ends. As a historian he starts to document the events around him whilst waiting to see what happens, cut off from the outside world. The numbers in the hotel dwindle rapidly - people flee early on, and many others commit suicide later - but several of those who remain band together to try to survive. Jon and two of the others find the body of a dead child, and he starts to investigate, interspersed with rare trips to the outside world to try and find supplies.

It's a clever premise, reminiscent of Station Eleven - how would we react at the end of the world? It could be a little faster paced, the middle section dragged a little, and the full explanation of Jon's relationship with his wife was a little unsatisfying. But the relationships formed within the group at the hotel were good, albeit occasionally a little confusing as I sometimes struggled to keep their different stories straight. Worth a read if you like dystopian fiction!

This is not my usual type of book but I am so glad I chose it. This is an end of the world story with a minor murder mystery. I found this fascinating with what would they do, how would they adapt. I enjoyed the story of them all in the hotel. It was only towards the end I became a little disappointed, the ending got a little weird and rushed. Whilst it left plenty of unanswered questions which could lead to a sequel book I think I'd rather decide their fate and not know of the authors intentions. As I said the ending seemed rushed first to suggest there was something going on but never materialize, a small side line earlier in the book became a major part to the ending but I'm not sure why and it didn't go into a lot of detail. Some of the main characters just faded- no ending for them, their final journey was more of a statement rather than part of the story.
I did however enjoy the approach to writing so it was an account from one of the survivors.

I can't quite make my mind up on this one. It was gripping, dark and certainly scary - I read it with a sense of apprehension. But I always had a sense that we were waiting for something that didn't quite develop. In the same way, some of the characters were clear, relatable, understandable. But others always seemed a bit shadowy. It was mostly well written, it painted a good picture of the situation and it was an interesting concept. But maybe just lacking something.

This novel explores a dystopian view of the future. An American president has been elected who, it seems, has precipitated a nuclear war (there are many such nods to the current state of play in politics). Many of the world's major cities have been wiped out and survivors are isolated, unable to use the internet and unsure about the state of the rest of the world. One such group of survivors are based in a remote Swiss hotel and it is one of this group, Jon, whose journals tell the story.

I chose to read this because I was under the impression that there was a murder mystery element to the plot (my usual genre of choice) and I was intrigued about the situation presented. However, the mystery didn't really grip me and - instead - the focus is more on the grim survival story of those in the hotel. And it is really grim.

Although I kept reading to see what happened, I think it would be fair to say that the ending is disappointing. I did like some aspects of the novel, for example the tension and a few of the characters, but it mostly felt like a great idea that didn't really come off well.

Overall, if tales of dystopia and survival against the odds are your thing, you might like this. It's engaging enough that you will want to see what happens, but it is a shame that it doesn't live up to its initial promise.

Post apocalyptic world set in a Swiss hotel with a few disparate guests and staff left; given the lack of mobile or internet coverage, survivors elsewhere unknown. Throw a murder of a child some time before into the mix. The story left me feeling distinctly depressed about the future of human society. This particular bunch seemed more tuned with how to get and use more 'drugs, sex and rock and roll', and murder, themselves than pulling together to survive. There was some soul searching and regrets by a few, especially Jon the self declared 'writer of the event and aftermath'. This had moments of thought provocation for me, but only moments, before they were off on some other rampage. Maybe humans would behave like this is such an event, if so we deserve to go the way of the dinosaurs. The one saving grace was that they did, eventually, leave the hotel and find another group of survivors who, at least, had made attempts at surviving together. Perhaps there is hope for the species after all. No hope for this book from me though, sorry but I appreciate NetGalley and the publishers offering me the opportunity to read and review it.

Although it is set in post apocalyptic alpine refuge it reads more as personal journey and the investigation of a crime than an dystopian story. Not so much a struggle for survival as a personal reevaluation in the context of the end of the destruction of the familiar world. This is a curiously passive novel for its context but none the less compelling. This is a beautifully written, reflective novel which is also strikingly original.

The Last is a brilliant idea for a book. Imagine the end of the world comes while you're staying in a hotel full of people you've never met before. Throw in a murder and a lot of suspicious past lives and you have The Last. The end of the world seemed really belivable and the book is written as one man's historical account for future readers which felt apt and worked well with the story.

The main probem is that there are too many peripheral characters who don't make enough of an impression and therefore confuse rather than clarify the plot. If you're able to cope with lots of characters, each with their own individual story, then it won't be a problem.

The Last tells the story of a group of survivors following the breakout of nuclear war. Set in a hotel in Switzerland it deals with the impact on the group of living with their new reality.

Told from the point of view of Jon in diary/ record format we see the group trying to co-exist despite differing nationalities and political tensions. Interestingly despite the small number of survivors divides still exist, partly due to language barriers and partly due to a blame game whereby the Americans are blamed for the action of their president.

When a body of a young girl is discovered Jon becomes obsessed with finding out who she was and what happened. In the process he questions who he can trust and his own sanity.

Overall this book wasn’t for me. I was not a fan of the format and felt myself wanting more from the story and the characters. You could very much feel the nod to current political situations and it did make me question what I would do in that situation but I found I was not invested in the outcome for the characters and I found the ending disappointing :(

This book sounded just the type of novel I would enjoy but unfortunately I have been disappointed. None of the characters is particularly pleasant, some elements of the story seem redundant whereas others have not been developed to my satisfaction. I found the ending a bit sudden and, for me, the conclusion was unsatisfactory, leaving me feeling a bit cheated and left "up in the air".
Not one for me.
Thank you to the publishers and to Netgalley for giving me a copy in exchange for this honest review.

I absolutely could not put this book down and found myself looking forward to bedtime so I could pick it up and dive back into it! It's a real blend of murder mystery and post-apocalyptic/dystopian horror - though I almost want to avoid using the term 'horror' as so much of the content seems totally plausible given the current global crisis. In fact, it's so plausible that I spent most of the book wondering what I would do if I were in the same situation - the way it's written is so evocative and descriptive that it really feels as if you are living through it with them (I also really liked the 'journal-style' format and the concept of the protagonist documenting the events as they played out). There were so many twists and turns and I loved getting to know the characters and following the plot as it developed, it was very skilfully dealt with in the way that it evolved. I would absolutely read more from Hanna, and I can see this being made into a film - I think it would be great on the big screen.

This is an interesting mashup of suspense thriller and post-apocalyptic SF tale.

Historian Jon Keller has been doing something academic-y in a hotel in Switzerland when the bombs land. Through TV/phones/internet they can see that all the major cities have gone. Most people leave the hotel to try and get to airports and train stations, though it seems unlikely any planes will fly.

20 or so remain at the hotel, frightened of what's out there, or what isn't. Jon has no way to find out whether his wife or children are still alive, though it seems unlikely.

Then they discover the body of a young girl in a water tank, who probably died around the time of the bombs dropping. Jon is appalled and intrigued and decides to investigate - who would have done such a thing, and are they still at the hotel?

I found the book was quite a good page-turner - I stayed up late to get to the end. The tension at the hotel is depicted quite well as the number of inhabitants lowers and suspicion increases.

A few elements frustrated me - Jon was not hugely likeable. Also, I couldn't quite understand why they didn't explore much further than the hotel for so long. Finally, I didn't like the resolution of the crime plot. May have just been me, though!

The concept of this book is brilliant, following the story of residents of a somewhat remote hotel after a mass nuclear event. Unfortunately, for me, the execution didn't live up to the promise. The first half or so is pretty good, and there are some really interesting looks at society throughout. But it meandered and I found increasingly that I just didn't care all that much about the protagonist or most of the characters. So it was fine, but it felt like it could have been so much more.

It was an interesting idea about what wouold happen if you were in a remote Location when the world ended. The idea that a killer could also be on the loose throws a real Twist in it. However, all we get is meandering through our main characters hazy thoughts, the killer Story goes nowhere, and even the end of the world is just alluded too. He is too busy with his new relationships in the Hotel, that are also not going anywhere. The ending is a fizzer, it was like he just decided to stop writing.

I really enjoyed this book. It is scary to think how quickly people would turn on each other in the fight for survival. Jon documents what is happening in an easy to read way that makes you feel part of what is happening.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

“You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave...” (Hotel California)

It’s business as usual at the Hotel Post-Apocalypse, where staff just seem to be carrying on as normal. In fact, for Dylan, there seems to have been a promotion: from Head of Security to Leader of the Remaining World.
As for the guests …fear and lack of ambition keeps them holed up without an internet connection, blaming each other for voting for a (barely disguised) Trump and dispensing harsh justice and painkillers.
At times puzzling, at times shocking, The Last flirts with the genres of horror and whodunnit but ultimately finishes with several narrative threads unresolved and the over-riding thought – that was weird!
Weird-good or weird-bad? I’ve not decided yet but I have already thought of someone I think would enjoy the book…
I’ve read lots of post-apocalypse/ dystopian books lately but this one was certainly unique.
Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for this ARC.