The Last Ship

A Novel

De: William Brinkley

Narrado por: Christopher Lane

Hailed "an extraordinary novel of men at war" (Washington Post), The Last Ship is the book that inspired the TNT mini series starring Eric Dane, Rhona Mitra, and Adam Baldwin, with Michael Bay as executive producer.

The unimaginable has happened: The world has been plunged into all-out nuclear war. Sailing near the Arctic Circle, the USS Nathan James is relatively unscathed, but the future is grim and Captain Thomas is facing mutiny from the tattered remnants of his crew. With civilization in ruins, he urges those that remain - 152 men and 26 women - to pull together in search of land. Once they reach safety, however, the men and women on board realize that they are the earth's last remaining survivors - and they've all been exposed to radiation. When none of the women seems able to conceive, fear sets in. Will this be the end of humankind?

This thrilling tale of post apocalyptic suspense is perfect for readers of Going Home by A. American, Lights Out by DavidCrawford, The End and The Long Road by G. Michael Hopf, and One Second After by William Forstchen.

©1988 William Brinkley (P)2014 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Wordy

I really enjoyed this book, even with its lack of any kind of action and the excessive word usage. The writer tends to ramble quite a bit, and is very impressed with his own vocabulary. An intimate knowledge of the Navy is obvious, but also excessive. There’s no action in the book, but the story itself doesn’t feel lacking for that. Worth the slog to get to the end.

Astonishingly captivating plot; poor execution.

Lane's narration is what got me through this book captivating plot but poorly executed the setting jumps, without warning, seeming to the reader like an utterly frustrating Tarantino plot.
Let it not be said this is a poorly written piece by Brinkly (for that would be untrue) conversely the story was, at times, alarmingly suspense but the lack of direction vastly outweighed the tension of feelings. It seems as if right at the climax of tension once reaching the peak of the rising action the final climactic reward for the reader paled in comparison to the development of the story. Exceptional character development but ultimately this book is not one I would ever reread. The Last Ship is an affectionate readers "one night stand" good once but never would one willingly subjugate oneself to return to such murky waters.

Wow. Just--WOW!

I was, at first, annoyed by the Captain's insistence on being so wordy. He just went on and on before coming to the point. The first book (The Island) was frustrating because he spoke as if we knew what happened. No. I didn't. Book two (Our City) was where it got interesting. He used his wordiness to explain what the Nathan James was doing and why. It became and endearing trait, IMO, as the book progressed.

Although a work of fiction (obviously--we're still here!), it was unsettling and emotional to listen to the narrative of the destruction of all we know. The characters and their struggles to come to terms with the destruction were hard to listen to. It had me wondering what I would do or feel in that situation.

The narration by Christopher Lane was well done. After listening to his voice for nearly 30 hours, I'm going to miss him. His voice has become soothing.

I used my Map App frequently during the narration because I had no idea where the land masses or oceans and seas were. If nothing else, this book was educational. I won't win a geography bee, but I won't be dead last, either. Another thing, this book made me curious about Soviet-era nuclear submarines. I'll be reading about them to learn more about them. Ditto for US nuclear destroyers of the same period.

Well worth the initial frustration of the first book. I think the story would've been better if the first and second books were reversed or combined. It might not have been so frustrating. I felt as though I was reading the sequel to a book I had never read.

Slow start

Great book. Slow start…but hang in their for a good read / listen. I I

A different look at the aftermath of shtf

I love the change in literacy and wordsmith. This is a fresh look at the end of the world books and series that are flooding the book market.

Hate the TV show? Listen to the book instead.

The last ship, the book, has nothing to do with the TV show of the same name other than that share that name. This is an outstanding story of postnuclear exchange that goes in many interesting and surprising directions. Well worth nearly 2 dozen hours of your time.

Prefer the TV show

This book is depressing, it is well written but not really what I want to listen to.

For me a very slow starter.

This book was hard to listen to until maybe halfway through. He was laying down background, preparing you for the life and routine of being aboard a war ship. I'm really glad I stuck with it ! For it became one of the better books of this type that I have read. I really didn't know what hardship was going to happen next and what kind of ingenious plan to fix it ! ...... I definitely do not write reviews so this may not make a 'lick' of sense. Where's the continuation I would like to tag along with them to America ?

Fair story, tough read

What did you like best about The Last Ship? What did you like least?

Brinkley's The Last Ship has a refreshing spin on apocalyptic themed fiction - using a US Navy Warship as an arc of humanity. It represents the Navy personnel and operations in a positive, duty-filled light. The book is more devastating in theme than the excellent TNT television series of the same name, because of its hopelessness and personal challenge to (and failures of) its characters. The book uses global thermonuclear war and its pervasive fallout to paint the picture of an Extinction-Level-Event. The TV series provides many pathways forward and used the technology available to understand and manage its situation. Not so much in the book.Kudos to reader Christopher Lane for smoothly moving though overly sophisticated vocabulary and convoluted story arks. Even so, his delivery wasn't very expressive or dynamic. He affected different accents and voice tonalities for dialogue between characters, but it seem forced and contrived. Much of Lane's challenge is the subject matter as written by the author. Brinkley's writing style is plodding and disjointed. He overworks the main character's thought processes - playing out (mentally) all contingencies and possibilities. Putting that detail into dialog with other members of the cast would have allowed nuance and "external" alternatives. My opinion is that the story could have been streamlined and more sequential without sacrificing suspense or mood. Despite my expectations (mostly derived from the the TV series), this is not a Naval story per se, nor is it an action and adventure story. It is most like a psychological biography of the principle characters given their unique situation. The book is not the great story that is portrayed in the TV series. The book may appeal to a certain audience, but I'm not one of its fans. Thank you Christopher lane for making William Brinkley's The Last Ship a possible, if not a manageable entertainment experience.

Superb book!!

I cannot over stress the excellent literary craftsmanship of this novel. I am in awe!