Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

I'd heard about this in one of the (many) book lists and reviews I get via email. The premise sounded interesting, with elements I enjoy in my novels: police procedurals, an AI implant as a work partner, climate change... the main plot deals with the spread of a horrifying variant of encephalitis among the middle aged. Parents can Exit Out, by age 65, opting for euthanasia so that their children can receive a modified longevity treatment once reserved for the super-rich. This, of course, does not always go well

I recieved and advanced copy of this book in exchange of my honest review.
This book was a fast reading and was unlikely realistic in some of the aspects that I never thouthg I could be reading in these times, neverthless, I didn't like the book a lot, it was interesting but at the same time a meh.
This is just my opinion, everyone has their own thouthgs

I received a copy of the book from Netgalley to review. Thank you for the opportunity.
An interesting take on the dystopia genre. The writing is sharp and fast paced but at times, over wordy. The story seemed far fetched at times and became unbelievable.
A good read.

The elite live very long lives due to a longevity treatment, while most people die in middle age due to rapid onset prion disease. Parents are encouraged to take " the last exit" so that their children will receive a treatment that allows them to live a full human lifespan.

Jen Lu is a detective who has an AI implant named Chandler that helps her with her work. She hears rumors of a black market longevity treatment known as Eden. Soon, people start dying due to Eden. But, is it really Eden killing them? Jen is determined to find out. Unfortunately, she has stumbled across something that will ruin her, if she doesn't drop it. Before long she is suspended and Chandler is shut down, and she is on the run.

I got a Logan's Run meets Altered Carbon feel from this book. The writing is a bit disjointed and some scenes very unreal. Overall it was an ok read, though.

It was fast to read, and definitely felt relevant for 2020, but there could have been a few improvements. For such a fast read, however, it was a little wordy for my taste.

Overall, it ends a little too easily, there could have been a little more of an open ending to make it more interesting.

Not my favorite dystopian book, and not something I would read again, but it was interesting.

What an interesting concept for a mystery series. Set in the near future (hopefully not too near) it's the story of Jen Lu, who works for the DC Police Department, and Chandler, the AI implant in her brain. You, like me, might enjoy Chandler's voice more than Jen's but in any event, both of them are dynamic. It a world where parents can opt for (or be forced into) euthanasia in order to secure their offspring's safety from a brain destroying disease, and someone, someone rotten is offering something called Eden which purports to prolong life, Of course Eden doesn't work and Jen, against the wishes of her supervisor, goes looking into for the truth. There are good guys, bad guys, all sorts of conspiracies. I enjoyed the world building (well, not really as a prospect). Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. It's a clever twist on the usual dystopian novel. I'd like to see more from Jen and Chandler.

I couldn't really get on with this book, I become a little bored with it and it ran out of steam for me...

This book is a fast read with interesting characters. However, it really reads like a movie script. Lots of action, descriptions of characters, tension. It wraps up a little too neatly, although the climate has already been destroyed so I'm not sure anyone will really live very long. I would have thought DC would be underwater by now.
There isn't enough depth to make it good for a book discussion, or for a reread. It would be a good audiobook with the two voices of Jen and Chandler.

The Last Exit by Michael Kaufman is a superb read with well-defined characters and plotline. Definitely a page turner and well worth a read!

The promotional blurb for this book is very intriguing. The writing does not deliver the story promised in the blurb. The relationship between Jen and Chandler, her SIM implant, is confusing. In fact, the story is hard to follow and not very well organized. Not being familiar with Ben Winters or Cory Doctorow may be an important clue to readers about their level of interest and ability to enjoy The Last Exit.

This is the second fantasy book I've read recently set in the not-terribly-distant future, with lots of adjustments for what that future might look like.
In this future, climate change is accepted and its effects are woven into everyday life, which is an interesting take: at some point we're all going to have to live with it, and this is a glimpse of what that future looks like - when it's simply accepted that there is no more green grass in public spaces, the temperature in Washington DC is in the 110's, etc. But in and of itself, all that is mentioned as side comments to the larger murder-mystery-style story, not as warning to our current way of life. It accepts that life will go on for a while, anyway, and we'll adapt. But for current-day us, that projected future looks hot and dry.
Also interesting that the main character has AI implanted in her brain with it's own self-awareness. This was a good plot line, I enjoyed it.
(mild spoiler) Sometimes I wonder about why authors think the heroine (or hero) needs to be put through such severe physical trials to be the hero; I think TV shows must have something to do with it, but this is not the first book recently I've read where I thought that aspect was a bit over the top. Still, our heroes are not supposed to be normal people, they are heroes, so my suspension of disbelief can accommodate the hero surviving a beating that many could not. Somehow, I knew she'd come through. :)
It's good; read it.

With The Last Exit, Kaufman opens a new series I plan to follow. With its great pacing and inventive worldbuilding, it offers plenty of thrills for fans of thrillers and near-future (2030s) sci-fi.

Climate change has hit hard, unemployment rates skyrocketed and the smoke from burning forests chokes Washington DC and its inhabitants. LSD is legal and men can give birth. Cool. Miami Beach no longer exists. Uncool. The rich can afford a special treatment and become Timeless - prolong their lives for decades and keep great shape. 

Meanwhile, a virus is killing off large numbers of middle-aged people. 

The government responds to it with breathtaking cynicism: anyone can use a preventative treatment as long as their parents voluntarily “exit” (euthanasia) when they reach 65. The plot revolves around this policy and themes of social justice (and injustice) but it doesn’t feel preachy.

Detective Jennifer Lu has an organic AI implant, Chandler, that links her to the Internet and police records. It also chats with her and accompanies her on service as a constant voice inside her head. Chandler is also one of POV’s and his first-person narration of the events was my favorite part of the book (his sense of humor and efforts to understand humans won me over). In theory, the duo should focus on investigating kids forcing their aging parents to “exit”. Instead, they discover a conspiracy. The epidemic might’ve been deliberately engineered to sell a counterfeit treatment. 

The Last Exit tackles themes of social stratification (ultra-rich live by a different set of rules; some children are more than happy to see their parents die just to prolong their own lives), but it also entertains. The plotting is fast and deft, the voices of protagonists are varied and convincing, and while Jen feels familiar, her dedication to truth resonates throughout the book. She risks everything to solve the case, but ultimately she has friends ready to help her. Her banter and relationship with Chandler are great. Her traumatic past (involving an abusive mother now suffering from dementia) and everyday struggles make her relatable. 

All things said, I had great fun reading it. The story works as a standalone, but it’s marked as the opening of the series. I hope I’ll see Jen and Chandler in action soon.

The Last Exit features two main characters:on is Jen Lu, a cop in a near-future earth where climate change has ravaged the planet and the Russians appear to have taken over DC(?) but we still have a President and Vice resident. The other is Chandler, an AI implant in Lu's head, who only "lives" for five years.

The world of this future has those in their late 40s and early 50s having a good chance of contracting mad cow disease (bovine spongiform encephalopathy, in this work, changed slightly to become the acronym ROSE). The top scientists have decided it's because there are too many old people, so the official policy becomes this: a child can receive the treatment for ROSE, but only if their parents decide to exit when they reach their mid 60s. The policy, of course, tends to result in a lot of elder abuse, with parents at time being abused by their children because the parents don't want to exit. The mega-rich, naturally, live by a different set of rules - they neither have to exit, nor do their children lack for the treatment, should they need it. The adults who seem to live forever are called Timeless, a strata unreachable for the usual day to day population.

Lu hears rumors of something called Eden - she isn't sure if it's a place or a treatment, but keeps running into mention of it, usually at murder scenes. She mentions it to her boss, but he tells her to stow it and focus on her job. But with Eden popping up again and again, she can't help but poke into it, despite the warnings from her boss, and despite the shadowy figures, including a rep from BigPharma, of course, who meet with her precinct to warn of a counterfeit treatment that causes people to age like progeria on steroids, leaving them dead within three days. Conspiracies galore!

The AI, Chandler, seems to be a route through which the author can get to the reader without it being infodumpy, and it does work to an extent. There were a couple of times when I wondered how it could have seen anything if Lu just scanned past something. These were minor issues, though.

Overall, it isn't a bad mystery, and while the social justice stuff is here, it is not completely in your face, so if you're of a more conservative bent, it likely won't be too preachy for you.

Three and a half stars out of five, rounded up to four.

Thanks to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the review copy.

The Last Exit was sold "for fans" of Ben Winters and Cory Doctorow, which was a fair enough comparison, but it does not hold a candle to The Last Policeman Trilogy (Winters) which is a personal favourite of mine. Having said that, it was an entertaining read which was held back by the fact that the narrator was an AI implant (Chandler) within the brain of Chinese American cop Jen. I found the implant to be very one paced and rather dull, and at various points wished I was reading the book from Jen's point of view, rather than the AI.

Set vaguely in the future where we have moved into a near dystopia where rich people can elongate their lives and others (the poor) have their life terminated at a certain point to make way for their children. Alot of the stuff in the book, the politics, the state of the planet and the environment could well be prophetic for where we are today. However, there are many books out there with this type of message and as Chandler and Jen are given a case connected to an illegal drug (which might also make lives longer) they are pulled into a dangerous conspiracy. A solid read, but it lacked something, perhaps the main crime investigation was not especially intriguing?

This book was hard to follow. The writing was abrupt, understand the change of perspective was not intuitive and the language was choppy and felt unnatural
Great premise for a story but felt uncomfortable

The plot and many aspects of this tale feel quite timely in the fall of 2020. I liked this scifi story because of the characters, the engaging plot, and the somewhat realistic future portrayed. I don't know if this could be considered a thriller, but it does contain a mystery. With good tech and good writing, many scifi fans will probably like this one.

Thanks very much for the ARC for review!!

The Last Exit is a "near" future dystopian sci-fi thriller, set in Washington D.C. in where the elderly (which is anyone over 65!!) have to "Exit" (die) to make way for their children, unless your are super-rich (timeless). The action centers around Jen, a cop & our heroine, her partner, Chandler (an implant in her brain) and her boyfriend trying to track down a mystery about a mysterious place called "Eden"... This reader, age 63, reading close to the upcoming election, found the story rather unsettling and a rough go at times... Talk of N95 masks, and all the scenes on the streets were disturbing reminders of exactly where we could be heading. I did find the story interesting however & recommend. Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for the ARC