A captivating book, the 'murder mystery' really being almost a digression from the main point of the story being global nuclear war and its immediate aftermath seen through the eyes of one ordinary man and a small group of fellow residents in a Swiss Hotel. I see other reviewers have commented that Jon is not altogether likeable, but I have to disagree; what I like about him is in fact the very ordinariness and honesty with which he is portrayed - just an 'everyday ordinary person' like you or me finding himself in an extraordinary situation, trying to make the best of it and, despite flaws and failures, trying also to do the right thing. It is that which makes the story thought-provoking and real, as opposed to some of the post-apocalyptic scenarios that so often seem to depict the extremes of humanity where you either get your unrealistic superheroes or alternatively the whole of humankind sinking to unspeakable levels of desperation and lack of concern for others. I suspect neither will be the case if and when such an event ever happens in real life; rather, we will see the whole gamut of reactions, and such is the case in this book. Despite the occasional escape into taking drugs and the occasional (reluctant) foray into violent confrontation, a pivotal realisation for Jon is: The only thing left that might matter, that might keep us motivated to get up in the morning - was in the mall acts of human kindness we showed each other, and in my compulsion to be helpful, useful, to keep tings moving forwards, I've mostly forgotten to be kind." I believe Jon's realisation and the story behind it is thought-provoking for many of us in our own situations today, let alone in the extreme situation in the book.

Well done to the author for keeping feet on the ground. I did find the final pages a bit unsatisfactory but in all honesty only because I felt I had become involved in the characters and wanted to know what happened to them from there on ... which is actually a tribute to the author.

Would definitely recommend this book to anyone who isn't looking for gung-ho heroes but actually everyday-ordinary-you-and-me heros doing their best with what and who they are. Yes, there is some of the expected post-anarchic violence and decay you might expect, but it's by no means ubiquitous and more than anything, I think this story gives hope. There's also plenty of a 'thriller'-type flavour to much of the book, and I found it hard to put down, desperate to see what happened next.

A great read and definitely one I'll be keeping on my bookshelf.

* ACTUAL RATING 3.5 / 5 *

How can I best summarise "The Last" - An apocalyptic vision? A murder mystery? A journal that follows the questionable reactions of an assorted group of survivors after anything and anyone familiar doesn’t exist anymore? For a small band of folk facing the bleakest future imaginable with only each other for company it’s all this and more.

Through sporadic media channels the impact of a global nuclear attack filters through the group like a collective punch to their hearts and sanity. Some elect to take sanctuary in their hotel located within the scenic Swiss wilderness. Yet their once idyllic location is now terrifyingly in the middle-of-nowhere causing its residents to reflect on the building’s enigmatic allure and their own mortality.

As I’d hoped for (and savoured), it doesn’t take long for conventional pragmatism, conduct and morals to leave the building – not everyone is born with natural survival skills and they require leadership, even though their own ability to follow is flawed. In the middle of these personal battles, a few of their dwindling numbers chip away at an abominable situation in an attempt to carve something positive out of their existence.

At other times I wasn’t overly impressed by their underwhelming assertiveness, especially when they engaged in aimless activities. But to my relief every decision is marred by fear and uncertainty, which is a customary emotional response during an apocalypse if only to prove whether chinks of light are still capable of shining through of the cracks in civilisation.

I really enjoyed this one. Dystopian, post-apocalyptic fiction is one of my favourite genres, and The Last adds an extra layer - not just the murder mystery, but also the unreliable narrator. The Last is dark and engaging, full of twists, making you wonder what you should believe.

Originally posted to www.katiealexandrablog.wordpress.com
The Last follows Jon, an American historian and professor who is in Zurich for a conference when nuclear war breaks out, leaving him stranded and wiping out most of the major cities around the world. The hotel slowly empties around him as people leave for the city and airports, but even if planes are still operating, he doesn't know if he's got a home to go to. The Internet is down, help is evidently not coming, as tensions are raised when the body of a young girl is found murdered.

First off, I love the cover for this. It's so simplistic and minimalistic, but the bright screams danger and blood at you, while the image of the hotel makes me think of The Grand Budapest Hotel (why? Idk, that's not really relevant here) but also of The Shining by Stephen King - which is actually one of the comparisons this book has drawn. 

'STEPHEN KING MEETS AGATHA CHRISTIE IN THIS FANTASTIC AND HIGHLY ORIGINAL NOVEL ... I LOVED EVERY SECOND ... THIS IS THE BOOK OF 2019' LUCA VESTE (Quote taken from Goodreads blurb of The Last.)

Two very big names there, but I think it's worth those comparisons. The hotel setting is spooky and unfamiliar, and after all, these are all strangers. Who can you really trust?

The pacing at the start is very fast - I'd only been reading a few minutes and already we were on Day 18. But this isn't a bad thing. The premise of the book is that Jon, the protagonist, is putting his skills to work and recording the events as they happen after the nuclear fallout, with the idea that one day they might be used as historical document. When the bombs first fall, it's unlikely that that would be your first thought - survival would kick in, you'd be trying to make sense of the situation, you'd be in shock. But as time passes, Jon sets up a steady routine of documenting the days that pass. But what this does is thrust you into the story. You're not sat around waiting for news, waiting for the broadcasters to go off air, to lose the internet on your phone, as a lot of the characters were doing. You only get the action. And it's a great, very strong start to the story.

I also loved the use of social media. Of course your first point of call would be to check Facebook, see who's tweeting what, and without the ability to do that on your phone, you'd be at a loss. 

However, The Last is set back from all the action - the action of the nuclear strikes anyway. One of the only way they can know what is happening is through social media. I appreciated this perspective - the end of the world told from the (somewhat) comfort of a hotel in the middle of Switzerland. It's not a point of view you see very often. 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. But for those involved it changes their mindset. Some are already living in 'the wild' - lawless and without consequence. Some are trying to keep things normal. You can't say that this is a story of two halves - the nuclear attacks and then the murder - because they are so intertwined. Yes, the discovery of a murdered body has no effect on the end of the world, but the end of the world changes so much about the murder investigation that Jon starts. 

I've read some reviews that have said something along the lines of 'in an end of the world situation, finding a body wouldn't be that great a deal.' But I disagree. Sure, it would make sense to try and put a time of death into the mix - is it relevant? But if you were living in such close quarters with strangers and you think one of them in a murderer? That would be pretty damn high on my list of things to worry about it. 

Jameson uses the hotel to the advantage of her cast too - what do you get in hotels? People! From all around the world! There was a diverse mix of races which I felt a lot of authors would, and have, just glossed over and kept everybody white.

However, it was still a male heavy cast. Tomi and Tania are two great female characters, but in the main group of those that become the decision makers, and those that do the 'brave' (and what I think is often seen of as manly task) of going on hunts/runs to find food, that was overwhelmingly male - Jon, Dylan, Nathan, Rob, Arran. It would have been nice if we could have seen something that we don't in 99.9999999999999% of other disaster films/novels/TV.

Having said that, there were some amazing topics touched on. Rape, and whether to believe the victim or the accused. Politics, and the decisions of governments and disagreements between those who voted for different parties. Morals, death penalties versus exile, and a whole host of more ethical questions. 

Unfortunately, I wasn't blown away by the writing style or the voice of the book. I don't know if it was the authors writing style (I've never read anything else by her) or if it was intentional. Jon after all is trying to write something that could be a historical document. But this is where it fell flat for me.

Overall though, I did really enjoy reading The Last and will definitely be checking out what else Hanna Jameson has written. 

Do I recommend this book? Uh, yeah! I rated this 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads - which you can see here!

Part mystery, part thriller, part post-apocalyptic account, The Last is a consuming, pacey account of one man trying to maintain a sense of humanity after the world has gone to hell.

Set in a remote hotel in Switzerland, Jon Keller survives the nuclear war that obliterates the vast majority of the world. Trapped with strangers, he discovers the body of a child and sets about hunting for her murderer., who he believes is in the hotel with them.

I finished this in 24 hours, repeatedly sucked back into the world, despite the fact the narrator wasn't easy to get along. It's hard to empathise with a man who in one breath is lamenting the whereabouts of his wife and children, and then in the next is trying crystal meth and sleeping with the only other American there - a "hot blonde" we're led to believe voted for A Bad President who kicked off the nuclear war, through words, if not deeds. That said, the story spun out well, although I did find the ending rushed and unsatisfying - more set up was needed for the revelation, and less red herrings on the way would have made it punchier and more shocking.

We read apocalypse books to see the day to day of survival, and this book was incredible at that - strongest at the small moments involving food, children, and basic human interaction. I enjoyed it.

[Review to appear on PopCultureBandit.com closer to release date]

Set in the wake of a nuclear attack on the White House and other key countries around the world, there is an unnerving plausibility to the post-apocalyptic setting of Hanna Jameson’s latest novel, “The Last”. While he is never explicitly mentioned by name, it is clear that this is a post-Trump world – one perhaps where he took things a tweet too far. With her cast of survivors distanced from the devastation in a Swiss hotel in the middle of the forest, they follow the updates through social media – a chilling premonition of how most of us would discover the news of a nuclear attack. Isolating her protagonists from civilisation allows Jameson to heighten the tension, creating an eerie backdrop for her Lord of the Flies-eque examination of post-nuclear survival.

Written as an epistolary novel, told through diary entries, The Last feels reminiscent of World War Z as Jameson’s protagonist Jon Keller attempts to document his investigation into the murder of a young girl against this dystopian backdrop. It creates a greater sense of tension as the story is recorded on a daily basis and the narrator only has knowledge of that past day – creating uncertainty of the future which comes into play midway through the novel where paranoia creeps in and the reader is forced to determine whether Jon is a reliable narrator, or not. The murder mystery angle of the novel provides a fresh take on the typical post-apocalyptic story, and acts as a source of tension as Jon investigates his fellow survivors.

Setting the majority of the novel within an abandoned hotel creates an unsettling tone, turning a place that is typically full of life and activity into a silent, derelict area. Cut off from the world in a remote hotel, “The Last” naturally invites comparisons to “The Shining” and it certainly plays into those similarities at times, hinting at supernatural activities and a history of violence behind the inoffensive décor of the hotel. It is an evocative location as the reader can relate to that disconcerting feeling of being stranded and forced to stay in a hotel longer than anticipated.

While most people equate post-apocalyptic fiction with action, “The Last” instead focuses on the relationships between its survivors, dwelling on the tension and gritty realism of its scenario as conflict arises amongst the group. This isn’t Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome – there is a bland normality to Jameson’s end of the world that makes it seem all the more real and frightening. The mysteries at the heart of the novel are extremely compelling, but ultimately the final reveal was somewhat lacking – with little explanation given, and it felt like it deserved more space dedicated to that particular section. Jameson flirts with supernatural themes in the book, but leaves things ambiguous towards the end, which felt more frustrating than thought-provoking.

Where Jameson really succeeds is in establishing tone, through her strong characterisation of her protagonist and his attempts to come to terms with what he has lost, and his need for a project to keep his mind occupied. With the popularity of TV shows such as The Walking Dead, The Last Man on Earth and The 100, it is difficult for a post-apocalyptic story to carve a unique identity for itself, but “The Last” manages to stand out from the crowd – both through its eclectic mix of genres and its fresh approach to clichés. For example, the supply run into the local supermarket is handled perfectly and feels fresh and exciting as opposed to retreading familiar ground. By sparingly making use of violence, those moments when it occurs are far more dramatic and traumatising – again, distinguishing the novel from others in the same genre.

Painfully realistic and chilling to the bone, “The Last” is a curious blend of dystopian fiction and murder mystery, riffing on the works of authors as diverse as Stephen King, Agatha Christie and Max Brooks. Readers wanting a fresh approach to post-apocalyptic fiction should definitely check out this novel for a terrifying glimpse into a possible future that lies just one bad tweet away!

The Last by Hanna Jameson is narrated by Jon, a variably likeable character who seems weirdly dispassionate in the face of such horrors. As his story unfolds we learn that it’s just his way of coping, but it does jar. I finished the book massively frustrated by the conclusion - the little girl’s murder was neatly tied up with the introduction of a new character, and we still didn’t know why the world was under a nuclear attack, or who had perpetrated it. An easy book to get lost in, The Last was thought provoking but superficial at times, but potentially realistic in terms of the hotel’s guests’ fears not being realised, and peripheral stories not being developed. A book that I would recommend, but with some reservations.

I was very intrigued by the premise of this book. When reading you can't help but make comparisons to other stories and this one to me, felt like a Station Eleven/Lord of the Flies hybrid, which is no bad thing.

This story follows an unreliable and, at some points, unlikable narrator describing the events following a nuclear apocalypse. Survivors are holed up in a grand hotel and all i swell, until someone is murdered.

This book was tense and enthralling however i felt slightly let down by the ending.
All in all a good addition to the genre.

Jon is away from his family and friends at a convention in Switzerland. When nuclear bombs start going off around the world, he seems to be in a tiny safe haven. A hotel out of the blast zones, with enough resources for the remaining residents to survive for months at least. There's just one small snag. Soon after the explosions, he finds a body in a water tank. The body of a young girl. Investigations suggest that she died right around the time of the explosions... but in the panic, who would kill a girl? And why?

There's lots to love about The Last. The narrative style is great, with the fast paced diary entries giving you a real insight into Jon's personality. It allows secrets to be kept from the reader, so that the puzzle pieces of Jon's life are revealed slowly rather than all at once. The relationships between Jon and the other residents of the hotel were also amazing. Scenes where he and some of his new friends relaxed, both in one of their rooms and on the roof, were beautiful and really added some happiness to a book that so easily could have been overly grim. Characters like Tomi and Dylan were fascinating too, as there was always the sense that there was something lurking beneath the surface.

The ethical questions that characters raised were also fascinating. How would you react at the end of the world if someone did something terrible? What is the appropriate punishment when the people are judge and jury? I also really enjoyed the descriptions of the reality of life post-apocalypse. There were adventures relating to food (and horrible suggestions about what some people nearby might be eating...), realistic depictions of medical care, and depictions of panic that felt real.
There are so many different ways that people could react to the end of life as we know it. Jameson's characters show us that there is no one right way to react to disaster and that ultimately, in the face of horrors beyond our imagination, the only way to survive is together.

While I loved the characters and hearing about Jon's journey, some aspects of the book were a little disappointing. It felt like questions that felt so important at the beginning of the book were either left unanswered or hurriedly tied up towards the end. The mystery of the little girl, which had seemed so central at the beginning, is solved relatively quickly. Being honest, I'm not sure how much it added to the book at all in the end. Jon's personal journey was intriguing enough on its own, without murder. References to paranormal activity are very interesting, but could have perhaps been taken a little further. At one stage a character hypothesises that they are all already dead and this could potentially be the afterlife, a place like purgatory perhaps. I found that idea fascinating and would have perhaps liked further exploration of that idea. Questions are raised about the lifestyle of those in a town Jon finds, but these are never really answered. I'm also not really sure how I feel about the slight heavy-handedness regarding who was responsible for the nuclear disaster, as the discussion on what seemed to be our own political world took me out of the story a little bit.

The Last has a great premise and characters, but for me aspects of the plot sadly detracted from its true potential.

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Books, Viking and Hanna Jameson for the opportunity to read The Last!
3.5/5

What is it about :

There’s a convention in a hotel, when they hear a nuclear bomb has hit Washington....it’s the end of the world. The inhabitants of the hotel then drink, get high and find the body of a young girl in a water tank. Murdered. An investigation is done to try to identify a killer...all while conserving electric and documenting day to day events.

What did I like :

I liked the idea of the story, but felt it was just lost.


What I didn’t like so much:

I didn’t believe the finding of a body after so much probable devastation as the result of bombs would have been important at all. There’s a lot of sitting about drinking or getting high and I really didn’t get the feel of the characters. While I’m sure it’s an ok read, it’s just not for me.

Would I recommend:

No, as I didn’t enjoy it.




I would like to thank the Author/the Publishers/NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review

Solid take on the air of the world novel with a murder thriller angle. Personally think that "The Last Policemen" did this better as it had more interesting world building.

However this is promising stuff, a great beach read.

A good, but not fantastic, entry into the post-apocalyptic genre. I liked the characters, at least the ones that didn't meld into a faceless blob of 'others', but nothing much seemed to happen. They stayed at the hotel for a while, there were fights, they met some other people, they met some other other people, then it ended. It wasn't bad at all; the POV character is a history professor and his musings and asides are really interesting. However, the ending doesn't answer most of the questions, and even though I saw it coming I still didn't like it much.

Worth reading, but not amazingly fantastic.

After a nuclear exchange that takes out major cities and kills the internet, twenty survivors find themselves living in an isolated Swiss hotel. They're surviving day by day until the body of a young girl is discovered. Did she die before or after Day One? Is someone among them a killer? And if so, how far will they go to protect themselves, here at the end of the world?

I like post-apocalyptic stories. I enjoyed this one; it's a good addition to the canon. But I wasn't gripped with anxiety to find out what would happen next, I wasn't desperate to get back to it when I put it down, and the actual resolution was kind of 'eeehhhhhh'....for me. Some of the characters blurred together, and the long periods where characters were getting drunk or stoned grated on me a bit. That's just me, though.

A good read, but not a great one sadly.

The author is brilliantly self aware with what she is writing - just as I was thinking that The Last was like The Shining, guess what was mentioned? The Shining. There is also nods to The Handmaid's Tale. The book is good as the characters are flawed and they are human. The murder is not the main story and actually it's just a hook for investigating other people and discovering who is around you. This is a scary book as it looks at what would happen if nuclear bombs were dropped. It was brilliant all the way until the end when I'm not 100% sure if I like it or not. I want more people to read it so I can discuss it. I can see a lot of people talking about this in 2019.

I came into this book expecting a murder mystery, which just happened to be set at the end of the world. What I got was a "Lord of the Flies"-esque tale on the bleakness of surviving during impossible circumstances: almost a pity as if I'd realised this going in, I'd have been even more eager to read it. Jon isn't the most likable character but he's easy to relate to and his self-reflections on how the end of the world had changed him added a lot to the story. Some great side characters too: I didn't like Tomi much, but her and Arran resulted in some of my favourite moments in the story. The author doesn't spare any detail in showing us just how the world shifted as a result of the nuclear attacks: major plot points all include angry debates over who was responsible; depression and grief amongst the survivors; the task of collecting food and governing their new put-together community. There are a few scenes in particular which continue to haunt me. If anything, the murder mystery seemed like a distraction from the main story and the resolution of who killed the girl wasn't crucial to my enjoyment of the story. As a result, the ending fell a bit flat for me.

There is nothing better than the feeling of reading the first 20 pages of a book and immediately sinking into another world, feeling like you’re there, watching the story unfold. That is exactly what happened to me when I started reading The Last.

I’ve read many dystopian, apocalyptic, and post-apocalyptic novels but The Last is the first one that seemed so very real and induced a sense of anxiety in me.

The Last follows the diaries – sorry, records! – of Jon, who is holed up in a hotel following the outbreak of nuclear war. Jon’s records give us an insight into the varied psychologies of the people around him as he tries to work out who he can trust and who is a threat in their new post-apocalyptic community. We also gradually get to know Jon, and I particularly enjoyed the rollercoaster of emotions (empathy, anger, frustration) I felt towards him.

The plot is multifaceted and complex but in a way that you might not recognise it until you’ve finished the whole book. I was left with questions about the role of faith, religion, spirituality, politics, and most intensely, the role of women and men in society and what would come of those roles in a post-apocalyptic world.

I am always nervous about the conclusion of post-apocalyptic novels but in this instance the author nailed it – in fact, it caused me to go “OH!” in the middle of a coffee shop, which prompted a few strange looks but it was totally worth it.

Dark, compelling, and disturbing - this book, and the emotions it evoked in me, will stay with me for a very long time.

Thanks to Viking/Penguin Books (UK) and NetGalley for providing a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.