The Last

By: Hanna Jameson

Narrated by: Anthony Starke

Length: 12 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

For fans of high-concept thrillers such as Annihilation and The Girl with All the Gifts, this breathtaking dystopian psychological thriller follows an American academic stranded at a Swiss hotel as the world descends into nuclear war - along with 20 other survivors - who becomes obsessed with identifying a murderer in their midst after the body of a young girl is discovered in one of the hotel’s water tanks. 

Jon thought he had all the time in the world to respond to his wife’s text message: I miss you so much. I feel bad about how we left it. Love you. But as he’s waiting in the lobby of the L’Hotel Sixieme in Switzerland after an academic conference, still mulling over how to respond to his wife, he receives a string of horrifying push notifications. Washington, DC, has been hit with a nuclear bomb, then New York, then London, and finally Berlin. That’s all he knows before news outlets and social media go black - and before the clouds on the horizon turn orange.

Now, two months later, there are 20 survivors holed up at the hotel, a place already tainted by its strange history of suicides and murders. Those who can’t bear to stay commit suicide or wander off into the woods. Jon and the others try to maintain some semblance of civilization. But when the water pressure disappears and Jon and a crew of survivors investigate the hotel’s water tanks, they are shocked to discover the body of a young girl.

As supplies dwindle and tensions rise, Jon becomes obsessed with investigating the death of the little girl as a way to cling to his own humanity. Yet the real question remains: Can he afford to lose his mind in this hotel, or should he take his chances in the outside world? 

©2019 Hanna Jameson (P)2019 Simon & Schuster

A Wild Ride

Interesting set up with occasional problems. A murder mystery that felt somehow unfinished even after the truth was revealed, a paranormal element thrown in for atmosphere more than payoff, and several characters who seemed to exist purely to give our protagonist something to write and think about beyond his own fears and very human flaws. At times the side plots felt like nervous distractions from a strong core story that was fascinating enough on its own. There were a few action scenes that had me on the edge of my seat, but as many have said, a rushed ending that didn't entirely satisfy.

The narrator of this audio book was excellent. Anthony Starke knew precisely how to play the dramatic tension woven with occasional beats of startling humor throughout the novel. And his talent for switching smoothly between multiple characters, all with different national accents, throughout many emotional switches and dialogue-heavy scenes was truly impressive.

Excellent Narrater!

Anthony Starke made this book come alive for me!
I’ve been listening to books for 20 years, Narraters can make or break a book.

Just ok

Book was ok, it wasn’t so much about finding out the mystery of the little girl as it was dealing with post apocalypse.

a wild and prolonged adrenalin rush

very exciting read, plausible? Maybe. Full of deep ideas about love and death. Narrator is quite skilled with accents but his character is irritating at times because of his highly emotional reactions.

A little uneven

The story stumbles through its second half, but enjoyed it overall.

As for the performance - I would happily pay extra to listen to audiobooks where the narrator didn’t pitch their voice up or down to represent characters of the opposite sex, and didn’t mangle accents of foreign characters. Out of all the bad foreign accents butchered in this recording, his falsetto Japanese-lady voice was borderline racist, and definitely skin crawlingly bad.

Fantastic!

It’s a book that sucks you in really quick and keeps a hold of you the whole time. The narrator does a fantastic job bringing all the characters to life, and most importantly brings a certain amount of charm to our flawed (in an interesting way) main character. Looking forward to more books from Hannah Jameson and more Narration done by Anthony Starke.

Intriguing and sublimely written

There is such a special quality to the writing of this author. The story is very intriguing and i loved the social aspect of the book. The ending is a bit disappointing mainly because it is abrupt. The author could have easily written a few more chapters before ending the book. Pity she hasn’t.

Couldn’t put it down

I loved this book. Scary, dystopian, page-turning perfection. The narrator was AMAZING. I’m so glad I read it, so bummed it over now.

First book? Author's outlet....

So sad to see a great premise turn to shit because the author:

A. Didn't think it [and it's various subplots] through.
B. Used the book as a outlet for political convictions and commentary that read like lines taken from grad school poli-sci papers.
C. Repeated the aforementioned mistakes nearly EVERY chapter.

Getting my credit back now. KThanksBye.

Excellent!!

Story 5/5
Narration 5/5

Wow! Wow! Wow!

This is one of the best things I've ever read!

Highly Recommended!!