Member Reviews
This book is EXCELLENT. It takes place in a sort of post-society village, where everyone lives cooperatively and peacefully. It has a certain Horizon Zero Dawn quality where the villagers live a simple agricultural life long after humans decimated the planet with their technology, and where one villager has to keep asking “why?”. It is compulsively readable and entertaining. At the start, you develop burning questions about the nature of the village, but a different mystery suddenly usurps the first one, and from start to finish it is engaging, clever, and creative.
Having AI as a narrator was a great way to structure this story. Each time there needed to be a secret told or a character prodded in a particular direction, AI was there. This AI might be the next generation of Siri! I loved how the narrative examined human characteristics and impulses and surmised the near impossibility of a human Utopia. That said, there were a multitude of characters, especially many introduced in the first few pages, that served minor roles and clogged the beginning of the novel. Perhaps delaying the appearance of a few would have made the main characters more identifiable and given the reader the opportunity to connect more quickly. The plot was well thought out and well paced.
Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks/Landmark for the ARC to read and review.
This may not be groundbreaking or a barn, but it is absolutely a good time. There are some great twists and the way the suspense mounts as the time ticks closer to the potential doomsday kept me fully glued to the page. And while it isn't exactly a short book, it's a relatively breezy read that's easy to tear through in long sittings.
A twisty whodunit set on a post-apocalyptic Greek isle that is surprisingly lush and idyllic given the general state of the world. This one favors plot twists and and shocking reveals over much character work, but the AI narrator is both charming and aloof, and the frequent aha moments make it a great read for any mystery lovers. Fans of Turton's previous books will be just as obsessed with this one, I'm certain.
A murder mystery that takes place on a post-apocalyptic world. If the villagers don’t solve the murder within a certain time limit, their home will be destroyed and them along with it.
I wanted to like this book. Turton’s concepts are so interesting and different, but his writing style is just not for me I’ve realized. I didn’t love 7 ½ deaths of Evelyn hardcastle like many people, so I think I just don’t vibe with his writing. For those that liked that one, you should like this one.
2 stars is probably lower than this story really deserves. I didn’t hate it, but I sure didn’t love it. Not sure if it was the writing style or the storyline or a combination. A sci-fi light tale of the end of the world. I too easily put this down and was just meh about picking it back up. I did want to finish it, but unfortunately, I found the ending flat. Intersting idea for a book just didn’t deliver for me.
One hundred and twenty two villagers plus three scientists are all that is left of humanity. The island they inhabit is surrounded by a shield which protects them from a deadly fog that kills anything it touches. When one of the scientists is brutally murdered the security shield is compromised and the only way to save themselves is to solve the murder and expose the killer.
The Last Murder at the End of the World is a fantastic twisty whodunnit in which nothing is quite what it seems. I love this authors unique interpretations on murder mysteries. The uniqueness of the plots entertain me just as much as trying to figure out who the killer is. This novel follows several key characters who each play an important role in the murder. It’s such a complex web that you won’t see all the connections until the end. This was one of my favorite reads of the year so far a must read for 2024!
I really wanted to like this book more than I did. I liked the idea of it, but the execution wasn't quite where wanted it to be. It gets a solid 3.5 stars, although I've rounded up for the overall concept and because the writing itself was good.
Engaging and entertaining. A recommended purchase for collections where crime and thrillers are popular.
If you love a thriller with depth - sci fi, high stakes, etc - this book is the one for you! I didn't know what to expect and was thinking this would be more of a easy/beach read and I was definitely wrong. It wasn't hard to get through but rather just surprised me at the amount of depth it had. I haven't read a Stuart Turton book before so I wasn't familiar but will definitely be recommending this.
In a dystopian world, villagers live on an island surrounded by a deadly fog. The villagers work peacefully with one another. When the elder, Niema, ends up dead it's up to Emory, the black sheep of the island to solve Niema's death.
Stuart Turton was able to beautifully marry sci-fi and mystery in "The Last Murder at the End of the World." The story started off a bit slow for my liking, but I soon got swept up in the mystery.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.
This Sci-Fi/crime mash up took a little bit to get into but once I did I was hooked. I finished this book in a day and a half. Stuart Turton will have you asking yourself what would you do over and over again. Lots of surprises and a murder mystery with an ending that shocked me!
I'd like to thank Netgalley for an ARC, in exchange this is my honest review.
I never know what to expect from a Stuart Turton novel. There's always a mystery at the heart of it, but it's never just a mystery. It's always blended with something else - in this case, a dystopian future. Science fiction is never my go-to genre, but Turton does everything so well that it's worth the read.
After the fog, the world is left with a scant number of people, isolated on an island. Some are referred to as 'elders', whose ages extend beyond 100 years, and others whose lives predictably end at 60. When one of these few elders is killed, it triggers an event that breaks the boundary keeping the fog at bay. There is only a limited amount of time for our detective to solve the murder of the elder.
Here it is the dystopian nature of this planet, the way that Turton has crafted this future that allows for the mystery to thrive.
My only criticism is that it had (what felt like to me at any rate) a very slow start. It didn't put up until about a third into the book. If you're also struggling to get into it, I would suggest persevering. Once I hit that spot, I couldn't put it down.
This book is set in a different world. As the story slowly unfurls you find out more and more about the world and these characters. I liked the uniqueness of this book. It kept me enthralled. I would actually love to have this book be just a little longer.
I wasn't sure what to expect from this latest Stuart Turton novel. I loved his "The Devil and the Dark Water" but didn't care for "The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle"—although my opinion on the latter was a minority one. The premise of "The Last Murder at the End of the World" sounded promising, and I am happy to report it lived up to all my expectations.
In a post-apocalyptic world, the only survivors are on a small island surrounded by the life-threatening fog that appears to have wiped out civilization. Once home to an advanced scientific facility, the island is now populated by one hundred and twenty-two villagers and ruled over by three surviving scientists. When one of the scientists is murdered, the killer fog begins advancing on the island. With only hours to solve the murder, one villager is tasked with finding the murderer, which will reset the security system that keeps the fog at bay.
This unusual plot is deftly executed. It is a fast-paced, atmospheric book with well-drawn characters and plot twists. It's a science fiction murder mystery—two of my favorite genres that fit seamlessly together. I highly recommend this book. 5/5 stars.
Thank you, NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark, for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The publication date is May 21, 2024.
This book took a little while to get into and find its groove, but once it did, we were off to the races. There are so many moving parts that Stuart Turton's latest masterpiece will keep you on your toes - all while being wonderfully immersed in an imaginative dystopia at world's end. A great read!
4⭐️📖 Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book; I really enjoyed it. This book is part mystery, part science fiction, part dystopian/ apocalyptic fiction. As the end of the world draws near, one villager on a remote island must discover who killed a village leader to stop the apocalypse from happening. Turton’s writing is intricate and smart.
On an unnamed island, the survivors of the end of the world are descend into chaos and confusion when one of their beloved scientists is brutally murdered.
This apocalyptic mystery is inventive and original. While a deadly fog covers most of the planet, it is kept at bay from a lone island - home to 3 scientists and 122 villagers. The murder of one of the scientists triggers a flaw in the security system and a 107 hour-long countdown begins before the fog overtakes their shores. The only way to re-initiate the system is to solve the crime, but everyone’s memory of the night in question has been erased. Narrated by an omniscient, but unreliable, presence, Abi, the mystery unfolds as clues are found and hurtful secrets are revealed. This title is an intriguing mix of dystopian science fiction and a classic whodunnit and Turton makes the combination effortlessly delicious.
This author is not for me. I have tired to read this book many times and I just could not get into it.