Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC of this book.



I really enjoyed this book. It is set during an apocalyptic meteor strike on Great Britain and follows protagonist Edgar as he struggles to keep his family safe during the initial strike and later, tries to find them again after he is separated from them.

One of the things I liked most about this book is what a realistic, flawed character Edgar is. I appreciated the description of how weighed down he is by the pressures of middle-aged life and how even though he loves his family, he sometimes longs for time away from them. That is something which is easy to identify with after a year of homeschooling and lockdowns!

I thought the description of the meteor strike and the family sheltering in their cellar while they listen to people dying outside was horrific and really well written. The thought of being stuck in a cellar with a baby and a 3 year old for weeks is unimaginable!

I enjoyed Edgar’s relationships with the other people he travels with to search for his family, particularly the fond friendship with Australian Harvey.

I thought the ending was bittersweet and unpredictable. The book as a whole was thought provoking with a good balance of humour, horror and sentiment. Highly recommended.

The first novel in a post-apocalypse series, and a very strong one at that.
The novel follows Edgar Hill, who must race across a devastated country to find his wife and children. It's a pretty fast-paced novel, with plenty of interesting and imaginative details and events. Sometimes it felt a bit flat, but for the main it held my attention from start to finish. Worth a read, especially if you want your post-apocalyptic fiction zombie free for a change.

Starts off really well and then my interest in Edgars journey goes up and down. Ended well though and would read the follow up.

DNF - I couldn’t get into this at all. The main protagonist constantly whines and whinges. I like books to escape into - this certainly wasn’t a great pleasant escape.

This book has sat on my Kindle for 12 months and I am yet to read it. Whilst I was originally really engaged by the blurb, it's yet to make it to the top of my TBR pile and it no longer really appeals to me. I'm really sorry and incredibly grateful for the opportunity to read and review this book though.

Ed was asleep when it started, still feeling the effects of a drink it two too many, and by the time he worked out what was going on it was already almost too late. Grabbing the only shelter he could think of he secreted his family (he, wife and their two children) away into their cellar while asteroids worked their horrors.

I must admit that I was drawn to this book by its title: apocalyptic events and running had ticked a couple of boxes before I got to page one. I also liked the fact that it was set in the UK. I've read quite a few books in this genre, but none set on these shores. Alas, from the start this one provided a somewhat rocky ride (apologies for the pun). The early events were well written but didn't convince. Would it really happen like this? I didn't think so. Then the account of the initial aftermath for Ed and his crew hit a few false notes for me too – the behaviours just didn't feel quite right.

I don't wish to give too much away so I’ll be a bit sketchy from here. At some point after the asteroid strikes, Ed finds himself part of a small, dysfunctional group which included:

- A huge man who moaned and shouted a good deal and clearly disliked Ed.
- A small military woman who the huge bloke also disliked, though not half as much as she disliked him.
- An Aussie who claimed to have once run the breadth of Australia. Needless to say, the big guy didn't believe a word of it.
- A posh-boy ex-banker. I don't need to tell you what the moaner thought about him.

Events from this point seem to lurch from one set-piece to another, with dull interludes breaking up the action. At times I thought it read like a cheap television series, full of scenes that didn't quite fit together and full of characters I struggled to feel any empathy for. There were very few nice or helpful people here, instead the world now seemed to be populated by buffoon caricatures, weird cult groups and vicious gangs. Where did all the normal people go?

Then I had a couple more specific grumbles:

1. There is some running here but the detail wasn't quite right. Some long distances were covered but there was little to no reference to the struggles and strains of such an endeavour, over and above some general complaints regarding tiredness. What about the blisters and muscle strains? What about looking for some helpful footwear to make life a bit easier? I know this is delving into the micro detail, but any book purporting to cover long distance running should at least to nod it's head to some basic, associated issues.

2. Moany Man’s constant shouting got right on my wick! It might have been bearable if it were on a printed page but on audio I was forever being assaulted by the narrators voice hollering in my ear! Be forewarned if you decide to go this route.

On the upside, towards the end I did start to care a little about a couple of the survivors. But really only a smidgen. In summary, I found this to be over-long and poorly conceived. If you're a fan of this type of tale then take it from me, there’s much better stuff out there. About two and a half stars but rounded down due to the hollering.

Wow. This is one of those life affirming books where the protagonist is unwillingly thrust into a situation not of his making(the end of the world) and has to deal with the situations that he HAS created.
Disillusioned with modern life and parenting,struggling with his marriage and job,the end of the world and how he has to make a stand is just wonderful. A real arc of growth and realsing no matter how hard you try and run, you have to take a long look at what you can change and deal with it.
This was by turns hard hitting,humourous and also just shot through with character and warmth.Many thanks for Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read thia title!

I received this in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. Thank you to the author, Adrain J. Walker, and the publisher, Ebury, for this opportunity.

I was so excited to begin this book. A dystopian fiction without a teenage girl protagonist, you say? Count me in. Unfortunately, what inspired me to read this also became the reason for my dislike. I found it so hard to connect with this story when faced with my own hatred of the protagonist.

The protagonist in question, Edgar Hill was basically a slob of a human. He did the bare minimum for his wife and children, and spent the whole novel lamenting his current unfortunate predicaments. The entirety of this was concerned more with his character progression than the actual end of the world, where my own interests lay. When you hate someone as much I did, it is hard to care about his alterations or his progress. It literally took the world ENDING to get him to think about becoming the husband and father is family deserve and desire, and I found this pretty unforgivable.

The writing was beautiful and the plot was enticing, but Edgar just ruined this for me.

The End of the World Running Club
Adrian J. Walker
Random House UK Ebury Publishing
‘when the world is running down, make the best of what’s still around’ *could be the mantra for the
man, in this novel.
When several asteroids strike the earth it’s the end of the world as we know it and Edgar who has a young family finds that despite his pathetic behaviour they have all somehow survived. Being saved by the military completes his own internal humiliation. He is increasingly isolated from his wife and children and finds himself volunteering for missions into the destroyed city of Edinburgh. He’d rather face the chance of sudden death there than his family on a daily basis. Returning from the crumbling and dangerous city he and his team of volunteers find almost everyone else has been rescued by helicopter and taken to the post. If Edgar wants to see his family, he and his acquaintances must face a dangerous journey across a ravaged land.
The End of the World Running Club is a great novel with Edgar as the man who is not really living his life until certain death approaches. Let’s face it none of us can see that descending object in the sky until it lands on our house. Self-obsessed, with no religion to distract us we drift through life whilst never really engaging with it, just like our hero.
Using the running that starts for Edgar as a means to an end is inspired. It really sells running as well as being a useful metaphor for a man who runs away from everything in his life. As Edgar travels with his motley group of companions he learns more about himself and the world along with what living is truly about.
There are some gripping and disturbing visions in this near future dystopia as we find just how people react to the end of the world. The bleakness of existence is counterpointed with surprisingly warm human relationships and some very grim and gory events too. This is Survivors meets Run Fat Boy Run
My concern is that the this remains self-centred with the ending almost confirming this in my mind. Other characters particularly women remain peripheral, there to serve and illuminate character traits. This is a novel about ‘one’ and the loneliness of the long-distance runner is never more evident. Accepting this then we can draw our own meaning from the text and I can’t remain annoyed as the book was such a triumph of the human spirit over the darkness within us.
The London Marathon would seem like a hop and a skip after this.