I highly recommend The Last and was lucky enough to receive a copy via Net Galley. The Last made me think of a cross between The shining and the passage. This book sucks you into Jon’s world now that the world has in fact ended. We learn there has been a murder, how people cope (or don’t) with the end of the world and wonder if Jon is sane. Each character in the Last is so well written, you can almost touch them! You feel like you know them and you want to know who will survive and who simply isn’t going to make it........................

Thank you to NetGalley and Publisher, Penguin, for approving me an ARC.
This book is quite a departure from my usual reading of detective mysteries in the main, and I actually feel rather privileged to have had access to it - because it was so very, very Good!
This was a satisfyingly long read and I was so enthralled by the excellent writing, character development, dialogue and storylines, I really didn't want it to finish at all. I could 'feel' the atmosphere being created and developed through the thoughts and actions of the survivors at the end of the world. The imaginative intertwining of the changing group dynamics, personal relationships, paranoia and initial loss of hope, with the main character Jon's determination to solve a murder to the point of doubting his own sanity, was inspired.
It's not an easy read in terms of how the characters come to terms with the flaws in their own humanity and the shocking actions they sometimes need to take under extraordinary circumstances. The story I felt was also a lesson on how reliant we've become on the internet and social media, almost more worrying than the loss of basic services and utilities, or whether the sun could shine or birds could fly.
I liked the conclusion to the book - I would really like to know what happens next!
What can I say, Brilliant.

Couldn’t put it down ! The American elections go horribly wrong and world peace shatters with a nuclear war. Stuck in a Swiss hotel Jon tries to document the survival of the few soles who stay behind.

Oh so possible it scares me to thing his close we are to “the end”

I enjoyed the characterisation and the prose is easy to digest - well worth a read

As an avid reader of post-apocalyptic fiction I was interested to read this novel take on the genre. 'The Last' merges the genres of post-nuclear holocaust and murder mystery to good effect. The characterisation is good, especially given that the characters are drawn from a wide range of nationalities, and the setting is suitably eerie! It's a good example of cross-genre fiction. Something that could easily have gone badly wrong has been shaped into an enjoyable read.

I actually really enjoyed this book, it was surprising and kept me in suspense. I recommend this to those who like post-apocalyptic fiction with a bit of murder mystery thrown in for good measure - definitely a writer i'll keep an eye on!

The Last is a gripping story, following the actions of a group of hotel guests after nuclear explosions wipe out major cities across the world. We follow Jon Keller as he records the following events day by day, documenting his interactions with the other hotel guests and his thought processes as he, and the other guests, try to come to terms with their situation.
-I loved this book, devouring it in a single session. It swung me from one place to another in terms of events and how they are described through Jon's eyes. Should I be supporting Jon? Is everything really what it seems? How is his health, is he telling the truth? All these questions flickered around my brain with every page turn. I was gripped.
-Jameson builds a sense of unease and suspicion quietly but effectively throughout the book. On finding the body of a girl in one of the rooftop water tanks, Jon tasks himself with finding the culprit. We are taken deep into Jon's mind as paranoia begins to spread throughout the hotel. Along with tough decisions on justice, dangerous missions to find food, and complex group dynamics, I found myself trying to think what I would do in this situation. The premise isn't that far-fetched - what would happen if just one world leader launched a nuclear attack? We have the capability for this situation to happen - this made it all the more interesting to see how I reacted to the decisions made by the group.
-I was so interested in the actions of the group as a whole, and each individual within that group. I found myself curious about how the book took the perceived isolation of a small group and how that inward-looking thinking resulted in each action, and affected each person. Jameson takes us into that world, and I found myself affected by the reality the group had created, making more of an impact on me as the story unfolded.
Shocking, intriguing and rawly human. I wholeheartedly recommend this book.

Intriguing with a great premise, however this didn't hold my interest. Just not the book for me on this occasion

I generally avoid dystopian fiction since the huge influx of bad dystopian these past few years. This novel is not one of them. Jameson has created a well-thought-out novel and it has clear characters and a structure that works really well with the developing plot. The formatting of the diary as the main way of understanding the story and this mystery is at the heart of it works really well. The story is quick paced and the suspense is paced really well and there were several moments where i needed to know what happened next.

Who can you trust at the end of the world when only strangers are left?
Washington was first hit followed by city after city around the world. With details remaining scarce nobody in the Hotel Sixième knew what or who was left. I absolutely love apocalyptic storytelling. When modern man is stripped of the comforts of modern day life. Internet , phones, electricity and even basic medical care. Add to that the break down of established rules and you have a recipe for survival or failure. With failure meaning death.
The last follows the 20 or so survivors as they stay inside the Swiss hotel they were staying in when nuclear war happened. Written in the style of a diary as historian Jon Keller determines to leave a written record of their survival for whoever might find it in the future. Things are then complicated by the discovery of a dead body in the hotel and Jon determines to find out if the killer has stayed in the hotel with everyone else.
The diary format is a nice change with the character directly addressing the future reader simulating a breaking of the fourth wall without any real breakage. The story flows well with the backgrounds of different characters revealed as Jon gets to know the people he has survived the apocalypse with, enough is discovered for mysteries to be uncovered as time passes.
I really enjoyed this book, being drawn back to it at every opportunity to find out what happened next. From reading during my break at work to popping into the corner of the storeroom just to read an extra page or two to find out what was going to happen next.
Definitely a must buy when this book is released and if I see it in the book aisle at work will definitely recommend it to customers.

The Last by Hanna Jameson is due for release on January 31st 2019 and would definitely recommend this to any fan of the end times.

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley for the purpose of providing a review.

Thanks to the publishers for this ARC of The Last.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found myself thinking on numerous occassion "what If"
The story is set in a post nuclear war world where bombs have been dropped over the main countries of the world and focuses on a hotel in the country where there are survivors who are obviously cut off from the rest of whats left of the world and its population.
Set against this background the survivors discover the body of a young girl who has been murdered pre nuclear holocoust and the main character Jon Keller sets out to investigate.
Look forward to future publications from this author

I do like a post-apocalyptic story and this is a good one. Jon Keller is at a conference in a remote Switzerland hotel when the world end. The story is about what happens next. There's a sub-plot about the body of a young girl they find and this helps move the story along but, for me, the main plot line is survival and relationships with strangers during traumatic times. It reminded me of Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel.

The Last is a curious genre-spanning novel which works surprisingly well. Guests and staff at a remote Swiss hotel are blindsided by the news of nuclear strikes on Washington and London, and those who don’t immediately flee decide that they’re safer staying where they are, away from population centres that may also be targeted. In their investigation of the hotel, they find the body of a little girl, and come to the realisation that the murderer may still be among them.

The story unfolds in the form of the chronicles of Jon Keller, an American historian, but his subjective point of view in no way spares his own flaws. As forms of communication fall away, the sanctuary of the hotel becomes increasingly claustrophobic, and paranoia begins to set in. Can Jon trust his fellow residents, and can they trust him? Do societal morals and laws from before the apocalypse still apply? Who gets to decide, and who gets to enforce them?

Set in a political atmosphere very similar to our current world, The Last is an enthralling combination of social commentary, dystopian thriller, and murder mystery, which I very much enjoyed.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The opening of this book was important to get right and it was perfectly done, drawing us into the scenario, making us find out the situation as the lead character did. It was realistic enough not to try and tie up everyone's loose ends and balanced to leave a lot of reveal until the final sections.

A murder mystery set just after the end of the world as we know it. When a nuclear war devastates the planet a group of survivors are left in an isolated hotel in Switzerland struggling to survive. When a professor, Jon Keller, who had been at a conference at the hotel, discovers the body of a young child he embarks on his own investigation of what happened.
The hotel is a big, lonely place in the middle of nowhere – think The Shining, with a few more people and intense isolation. There is no hope for outside assistance and Jon must conduct his investigation without access to any modern methods of investigation or technology. The real question is whether the murderer is still there and this paranoia infests the hotel.
This book keeps you guessing and is quite a page turner. It also looks at what happens to people when society breaks down. A good read.

This dystopian psychological thriller follows an American academic stranded at a Swiss hotel as the world descends into nuclear war. Jon Keller along with twenty other survivors, he 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.

This was an unsettling read, especially because it felt so plausible based on current events. That said, it was also a gripping, fast paced dystopian thriller with a side dish of murder mystery. What really worked is the focus of the murder in the backdrop of the end of the world. People are thrust together, they don’t know each other, they don’t trust each other, there’s no access to police or authority, they make their own authority. And this changes people’s reactions to the murder. A lot of people aren’t talking about it, aren’t bothered about it, they’ve got bigger things on their mind.

It Starts with Jon is waiting in the lobby of the L’Hotel Sixieme in Switzerland after an academic conference, he receives a string of horrifying 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 goes black, and before the clouds on the horizon turn orange.

Now, two months later, there are twenty 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 civilisation.

As supplies dwindle and tensions rise, Jon becomes obsessed with investigating the death of the little girl. 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?

My only gripe with this book is the fact that we were never informed of how the nuclear attacks came about, who were the perpetrators and why? It was, however in my view an accurate portrayal of how people would behave in a situation like this and was also a chilling reminder of how easily this terrifying event could become a reality!

To sum up, its Stephen King meets Agatha Christie in this fantastic and highly original Novel. I Would recommend this book to anyone who isn't looking for gung-ho heroes but everyday ordinary you and me heroes doing their best with what and who they are. Staying away for conferences is bad enough, even worse when the nuclear apocalypse occurs during your breakfast.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Books UK for an advance copy in return for a fair and honest review.

This book is due to be published in January 2019

'Had me hooked and terrified, and delighted at its originality. So topical that it blurs all normal genre lines, and very scary because of that. In the words of a certain US president, 'it's gonna be yuuuge'.

Came for the cover. Stayed for the story. This striking cover and tag line - One hotel. Twenty survivors drew me in. And I'm so glad because this is my kind of book and up there with my favourites I've read this year. There is a lot going on in this book. Nuclear war, murder, mystery. We follow Jon Keller, an American stuck in a Swiss hotel when the end of the world beckons. Or does it? It is told in real time in the form of Jon's diary over 70 plus days, as he wants to record what is happening to him and his fellow survivors as they decide what the best course of action is. Imagine an uncertain world without internet and rolling 24 hour news.

I love books set in hotels because you get such a great range of characters. People who wouldn't normally interact with each other all under one roof. So is there anything better than an end of the world story in a hotel? This book is full of paranoia, creepy undertones and black humour. Who can you trust? It is also filled with interesting characters. Even the one I didn't like in the beginning (Tomi) I ended up loving. Thank you Netgalley for a preview of this 5 star book - out 31st Jan 2019.

What happens when the world ends?

Not in the big cities where the bombs have dropped. Not Washington or Glasgow which have been nuked out of existence. But what happens to a small group of people trapped in a hotel in the middle of nowhere as they struggle to come to terms with everyone they’ve ever known dying.

This is a seriously unexpected book which is part dystopian future, part murder mystery, full of tension and incredibly gripping.

(Thanks to the publishers for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review)

WHAT A THRILL. This book is thought-provoking but mostly it's just a very exciting read which I greatly enjoyed. Would recommend!

Jon Keller has travelled from his home in the US, and is staying in an isolated hotel set amongst the lush green forests of Switzerland whilst attending a work conference. His morning begins as normal in the hotel’s dining room, until news starts to filter in from around the world of nuclear attacks on major cities, indeed the whole of Scotland appears to have been obliterated! As expected, people start to panic, with many abandoning the hotel and heading for the nearest airport and railway stations - however, travel, and life in general will never be the same again for those who survive these attacks, and the quest to reach airports or other forms of transportation is futile!

Initially the first thing to be lost is communication, notably the internet, so after initial news reports, there is no information for quite some time.

The story follows Jon’s attempts to describe what happens to the twenty hotel guests who decided to stay. Switzerland appears to have escaped direct attacks, but unless they leave the hotel, they’ll never know to what extent they’re safe (or not) He documents the daily events in the wake of the nuclear apocalypse, together with his investigation into the murder of a young girl who was discovered in the hotel’s water tanks.

This was an intriguing scenario, and the author’s idea to isolate the hotel’s survivors from the chaos and devastation elsewhere, served her well up to a point, as it created some tension within the claustrophobic confines of the hotel and forest. There’s something quite unnerving about a large hotel being relatively empty, spooky to say the least, and there had already been talk of the hotel being haunted, but for me there was some relief when eventually, using one of the few cars left at the hotel, some of them decide to venture to the nearest town in search of food. I personally, was longing to know whether there were any more survivors and if so how this would affect the dynamics of their situation.

Jon was a somewhat unreliable narrator, and not particularly likeable either. I did really enjoy the story in parts, but felt frustrated by the ending, and also by the fact that we were never informed of how the nuclear attacks came about- who were the perpetrators and why? It was, however, an accurate portrayal of how people would behave in a situation like this, and was also a chilling reminder of how easily this terrifying event could become a reality!

* Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin books UK - Viking for my Arc in exchange for an honest unbiased review *