The Last One

A Novel

By: Alexandra Oliva

Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain, Nicol Zanzarella

Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

Wilderness survival is the name of the game as the line blurs between reality TV and reality itself in this fast-paced novel of suspense in the vein of Yellowjackets.

“Taut, tense, and at times almost unbearably real.”—Ruth Ware, author of One by One

She wanted an adventure. She never imagined it would go this far.

It begins with a reality TV show. Twelve contestants are sent into the woods to face challenges that will test the limits of their endurance. While they are out there, something terrible happens—but how widespread is the destruction, and has it occurred naturally or is it man-made? Cut off from society, the contestants know nothing of it. When one of them—a young woman the show’s producers call Zoo—stumbles across the devastation, she can imagine only that it is part of the game.

Alone and disoriented, Zoo is heavy with doubt regarding the life—and husband—she left behind, but she refuses to quit. Staggering countless miles across unfamiliar territory, Zoo must summon all her survival skills—and learn new ones as she goes.

But as her emotional and physical reserves dwindle, she grasps that the real world might have been altered in terrifying ways—and her ability to parse the charade will be either her triumph or her undoing.

Sophisticated and provocative, The Last One is a novel that forces us to confront the role that media plays in our perception of what is real: how readily we cast our judgments, how easily we are manipulated.

©2016 Alexandra Oliva (P)2016 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“[Alexandra] Oliva brilliantly scrutinizes the recorded (and heavily revised) narratives we believe, and the last one hundred pages will have the reader constantly guessing just what Zoo is capable of doing to find her way back home.”—Washington Post

“Alexandra Oliva has written a debut novel that combines elements of reality TV with those of a post-apocalyptic world to create a tense atmosphere, filled with memorable characters who move through the game and surrounding world with varying levels of proficiency. . . . [She] also does an excellent job of portraying the psychological and emotional traumas that the contestants face. . . . For fans of Survivor and The Hunger Games, Oliva has melded the best of both worlds and added her own unusual twist.”—Shelf Awareness

“Oliva takes this (possibly) post-apocalyptic setting, grafts on a knowledgeable skewering of the inner workings of reality television and gives us a gripping story of survival. . . . This is the genius of Oliva’s storytelling. . . . [She] makes a stunning debut with this page turner, and becomes a writer to watch.”—Seattle Times

MEH! Just Okay

The female narrator, Ms. Zanzarella, was excellent. Listening to the male narrator, Mr Chamberlain, was like a nail gun to the ear. The story quickly became absurd.

interesting and different

I really enjoyed this book. I found it under a recommendation for survival horror books. while it's not scary, it provides a very interesting take on story telling I've never seen before.

Disappointing

A good idea for a storyline but didn’t quite meet its potential. To many monotonous details about the game. The characters/ contestants were formulaic and irritating. I found myself fast forwarding to get to the Mae and Brennen storyline which was only marginally better. The end twist was predictable and disappointing. After grinding through the minutia of the game, the reader deserves to be present when Mae/Sam reunites with her husband. What was probably meant to leave the reader to his imagination, turned out to be anticlimactic and lightweight. Also, it doesn’t make sense that Mae would become the bad guy in the altercation with the two men at the store. Then men were clearly deceptive and inappropriate. This change in Mae’s attitude reduced her to a insecure, annoying female. Not an appealing heroine. Not worth the $20 I spent on Audible.

Fun but predictable

Male narrator is like listening to old news radio host. You feel the woman's agony in each word spoken.

loved it!

loved it! gotta read this one! couldn't stop listening to it on audible. great book! hope it's a movie soon!

Worth the credit, starts slow but stick it out.

I really enjoyed this book. Although there were times when it was so slow I thought about stopping but I definitely recommend sticking through until the end. The only reason I didn't give this five stars is because I wish that the ending had been followed through on more. It's not so much how the storyline ended but that I wish it was written about in more depth. Even taking a few chapters out of the middle to allow more development of the end story would have been better.

Frustrating at best

I had a hard time liking the main character. It all fell a little flat for me. Some of the “mistakes” and stubbornness seemed a little too unrealistic

Wonderful

Beautifully narrated and well written. I loved the story and want to give it five stars except the ending is utterly botched.

Absolutely enjoyed this book

I loved the writing and the narrators. Kept me intrigued the whole time. Worth the purchase.

Better then expected

I had expectations going into this book but this book blew them out of the water. I eagerly await the next chapter to this first book. If you are on the fence about this book, go for it! No spoilers here but it is a very enjoyable listen and keeps your attention.