The Last Tribe

By: Brad Manuel

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 22 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's Summary

Imagine being alone in the world, one of only a handful to survive a global pandemic. Not only do you struggle to find food, water, and shelter but you also deal with the sadness and losing everyone you know and everything you have.

Fourteen-year-old Greg Dixon is living that nightmare. Attending boarding school outside of Boston, he is separated from his family when a pandemic strikes. His classmates and teachers are dead, rotting in a dormitory-turned-morgue steps from his room. The nights are getting colder, and his food has run out. The last message from his father is to get away from the city and to meet at his grandparents' town in remote New Hampshire. Knowing the impending New England winter could be the final nail in his coffin, Greg packs what little food he can find and sets off on his 100-mile walk north with the unwavering belief that his family is alive and will join him.

As the fast-moving and deadly disease strips away family and friends, Greg's father, John, is trapped in South Carolina. Roadblocks, a panic-stricken population, and winter make it impossible for him to get to his son. John and his three brothers appear to be immune, but they are scattered across a locked-down United States, forced to wait for the end of humanity before travelling to the mountains of New Hampshire.

Spring arrives, and the Dixons make their way north to find young Greg. They meet others along the way, slowly forming the last tribe of humanity from the few people still alive in the Northeast.

©2015 Brad Manuel (P)2016 Podium Publishing

Critic Reviews

• Nominated: 2017 Audie Award for Best Male Narrator

A perfect year in the post apocalypse.

This was one of the strangest books I've ever read or listened to. It's an answering argument to the survivalist guns and gore stores. The premise is the very common, post disease die-off, empty world situation. A few survivors are left. What do they have to do to make it?

Unlike every other book I've ever read in that genre, there are no roving bands of thugs, no armies of raping and pillaging hordes, no herds of brain dead contagious zombies.

You would think a book where nothing goes wrong would be boring -- and on one level you're right. There isn't really any great conflict and very little serious tension. Everything goes right and nearly all the decisions made are the right ones, the very few survivors represent all the needed skills to a level that seems almost ridiculously unlikely.

So... you'd discount this as not worth bothering with -- and you'd be wrong.

The book takes a fairly mature look at what could be accomplished if the conditions allowed. The author deliberately set up the type of plague, it's onset and symptoms, the rate of infection and fatality, all in such a way that the world would be left relatively empty but mostly intact, and used that setting to tell the story of adaptation in a far more mature way than most zombie or plague books ever get around to doing.

Worth a read, unless what you're looking for is zombies and gore -- then you'll be disappointed.

231 of 248 people found this review helpful

A unique & important addition to the genre!

Any additional comments?

Fans of Stephen King's The Stand and Justin Cronin's The Passage will definitely not want to miss this one. Those are my two favorite novels in this genre, and Brad Manuel's effort here follows very impressively in their footsteps.

As others have mentioned, an element that sets The Last Tribe apart from the aforementioned tomes is that there are no evil hordes (whether undead or living).

The great conflict for our group of protagonists is the brutal reality of survival - pure and simple. However, some of the previous reviews seemed to suggest that there weren't any bad people in the story, but that certainly wasn't the case. It's just that they weren't over the top embodiments of evil as is so often the case - they were much more realistic characters. Some were truly bad. Others were mostly just responding to their personal insecurities and fears. Very real and refreshing!

The other key element that sets The Last Tribe apart is that it's a predominantly positive view of how regular people would respond in such an event. And it's this aspect that I think makes it an incredibly intriguing and important addition to the genre. This is what really makes it an absolutely essential read/listen for any fan of the genre!

And it certainly should be a listen, as the great Scott Brick is very much in his element here. Just superb!

137 of 147 people found this review helpful

Awesomely written Post-Apocolyptic story!!!

I loved every part of this book, from the opening paragraph to the last word on the last page. Great character development and even though there were a lot of characters, each one added something rich to the overall story.The author had a way of pulling me into the story so that I really cared about the characters and the outcomes for each of them. At one point I was almost crying, the authors words were so poignant. I just wish there was a sequel that showed how these peoples lives continued after they found their final living space. Might read this again in a year or so and I never re-read books.

9 of 9 people found this review helpful

Fans of The Passage and The Stand will love this

What did you love best about The Last Tribe?

The remarkable and vivid characters.

What other book might you compare The Last Tribe to and why?

The Passage by Justin Cronin and The Stand by Stephen King. The Last Tribe is a well written...

Have you listened to any of Scott Brick’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes, to hundreds of them. Scott is a Pro, all his recordings are great and this one is even better.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Any additional comments?

I first stumbled upon The Last Tribe when I was writing the article for the Audie Awards 2017. One of my favourite narrators, Scott Brick is nominated there for Best Male Narrator with The Last Tribe by Brad Manuel. immediately after publishing the list of nominees on the blog I when on Audible and purchased the audiobook. It was one of the best books I listened to in a long time and I’ll tell you about it below, without spoilers of course…

The story follows the Dixon brothers and their relatives as they travel through the United States with hope of reuniting the entire remaining family after a plague decimates the population of the World, leaving behind just a few survivors. The action moves easily between the family members as they follow different paths in order to get to the rendezvous location. There are some adults alive and they do their best to keep everything in check, but the stars of this book are the children.

I’m vague with my description for a good reason. I really want you to be as surprised as I was as I discovered each new character, location and the personal stories of this superb group of survivors. Don’t worry, of cours, there are more people alive, not only the Dixon‘s and, sadly, they all have their share of dramatic stories to tell. But, even as the World shut’s down around them, hope remains for a new, different future for those who want to join ”the tribe” and work together for a better life in a new World.

Brad Manuel is a superb writer, the story is beautifully told from many angles, the characters feel alive and real. Their adventures will keep you up all night, listening to Scott‘s stelar performance. Although there are a lot of dramatic moments where you may think everything is lost, what I love the most about this contemporary post apocalyptic thriller is its positive vibe! There are no zombies, no roving bands of hateful scumbags, just scattered survivors, predominantly good at heart and a few misguided individuals…

I won’t tell you anything else about the plot or the characters,. The only thing I’ll add before moving on to the narration is that The Last Tribe made me see a better side of the human race than other books like it.


As I said when I started this review, Scott Brick is performing The Last Tribe and he gives life to all the characters with such passion and emotion that I can tell that he enjoyed the story as much as I did. He differentiates each important character in the listener’s mind with different voices, accents, tones, inflections and sometimes he gets close and personal in order to drive home some really intense scene.

I’m sure that Scott is everything and more that Brad Manuel imagined a narrator will sound when he was writing The Lost Tribe and I hope he wins Audie….

fans of Stephen King‘s The Stand and Justing Cronin‘s The Passage will enjoy The Last Tribe tremendously as long as they want a fantastic, positive story, without all the gore, blood and virals, which in case you are not familiar with the amazing The Passage Trilogy are a sort of vampires imagined by Mr. Cronin.

If the End of the World comes, I hope people like these will survive and start a new society!

Please vote Yes below if you liked this review and visit theAudiobookBlog dot com to read more reviews.

Thank you

Victor Dima

45 of 49 people found this review helpful

this was really a good book!

I didn't know what to expect but this book was much better than expected. This books was saved on my wishlist for a couple months because I didn't know if I was up for a post-apocalyptic type story. Turns out it was a fantastic book!
Even though it was a post-apocalyptic type book the underlying story was actually positive and hopeful. It had an interesting beginning, it had a really good middle and an even better end. The bad guys didn't ruin too much, and the good guys were really good and weren't just adults. The teens had good stories and heroic moments, too...
And of course.. Scott Brick is my FAVORITE narrator. I have said it before and I will say it again, and again, and again Scott Brick could make an appliance repair manual sound enthralling!!! I highly recommend this book!

8 of 8 people found this review helpful

Not your usual post apocalyptic story

Nice to experience a story that’s not all gloom and doom. I liked it and could really get into the characters.

8 of 8 people found this review helpful

A darn fine book.

I really enjoyed this one, good characters, intriguing story and a decent narration. A really wholesome post apocalyptic, survival thriller, that begs for a sequel.

8 of 8 people found this review helpful

No zombies!

I loved this book! Not that I’m anti-zombie or road warrior style post apocalypse stories. But it’s unbelievably refreshing to read (listen to) a story about good people working their way through a terrible situation. In fact, I’m going to listen to it again right now. And you can’t stop me...

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

Unbelievably good ...

I cannot believe how much I am enjoying this book, it is not my usual genre but I listened to the sample and liked the narrator's voice so much that I thought that I would give it a go ... as all of us audio 'readers' know, the narrator can make or break a book but wow, not only a wonderful narrator but also a great story and I will be looking for this author and this narrator many times again! This is the first time that I have left a review which is perhaps indicative of how engaging I am finding it!!

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

Loved from the first to last words

I usually ebb and flow through a book. Not sure if I like this part or that part - Not true for this book. I loved it from start to finish. The characters has substance but there wasn’t much description of each one so I could set my mind on an image and stay with it. The story touched my heart, made me laugh and be hopeful. Great book!

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

I need more

I did read the reviews and listens to the preview then passed it by (big mistake) came back to it as I couldn't find anything to listen to. This is blooming fantastic! It's beyond fantastic, this story could actually happen (have you seen the news lately!?)

No spoilers get this. Best two days of Audio tension and drama I have had in a long time.

Please can you write another book. I need to know if they do that thing and get some trouble makers

18 of 20 people found this review helpful

Bland

This started well but ultimately disappointed. It lacks any excitement or tension and becomes a kind of latter day Swiss Family Robinson with cheesy dialogue. The chances of the group of survivors having the skill set they have is astronomical. And chances of a husband and wife surviving? Overall I found it hard to take this seriously our to have much empathy with the characters.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Ok to listen to but I probably would have ditched it had I been reading it

As above, it was alright to listen to in the car to pass the time, but I don't think there would have been enough there for me to finish reading it. I ended up really wanting to know how it ended but the ending was a tad disappointing. Nothing really happened in the whole book to be honest! My main gripe is that it was all a bit twee. Everyone got on far too well with each other, were way too jovial for it being post apocalyptic, and it seemed a bit unrealistic how nothing particularly happened to any of the survivors. Bit of a rose tinted glasses version to the end of the world.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

utterly brilliant.

What an amazing story. 22 hours done in 3 days, I just could not stop listening. I felt like I was there with the survivors. Scott Brick just reaffirms that he's the best in the business.

13 of 15 people found this review helpful

Great book..

Narrator was great as always. Book left me wanting a second one! Hope we see one in the future.

8 of 9 people found this review helpful

'Fisher price ' dystopian fiction

not quite gritty enough for my liking. Not much originality here but fairly engaging characters to a point

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Insipid Tripe.

If you're a fan of sickly sweet, feel good stories, this one's for you!

No baddies, no danger, no threat, no violence gore etc etc etc

Just awful. There's not an ounce of malice and everything works out beautifully EVERY DAMN TIME for this All American survivors group.

If grit is what you're after, avoid like the plague (the primary school, weak, dull plague featured in this book)

10 of 12 people found this review helpful

Had promise, must be needs work.

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

No real twists, turns or shocking moments all very bland.

What could Brad Manuel have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

A couple of times during the story you felt like here comes the world of pain aka walking dead or other end of civilisation genre books, TV. But no this story just wouldn't go down that road, everything works out fine. Brad has some potential if you can bring yourself to kill off a few characters, introduce difficult scenarios but hey, you' ve written a better book then I ever could. I like cooking too, but tone that down a little.

What about Scott Brick’s performance did you like?

It was fine

Any additional comments?

no bad guys in this book, those that are meant to be are not developed along in the story. Nothing happens, well yes the world as we know has ended, lots of people die initially but it was a bit watered down. No real tests, or scenarios from competing groups, shock moments etc. Just very disappointed after so many excellent reviews, have these people read or seen any other books of a similar genre probably not!

6 of 7 people found this review helpful

Dullest most mundane 'post apocalypse' ever?

Would you try another book written by Brad Manuel or narrated by Scott Brick?

Scott Brick is brilliant and the way that he narrates this brain numbing festival of banality is testament to his talent and skill. I will never knowingly listen to anything Brad Manuel writes again.

What will your next listen be?

A Larry Mc Murtry book i have lined up in my wishlist.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

The scene when she found the dog.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Last Tribe?

i would have cut a lot of the scenes when it seems like there will be some actual jeopardy and then very little actually happened? I was so desperate for some drama i actually started making up my own back stories and sequels where something interesting happened. Again and again Scott Brick tried to inject some tension, but then the promises of tension turned into a banal description of cooking tinned goods, or shopping for things like pots and pans.The dramatic efforts in N Y C and Boston were just THROWN AWAY! Some of the everyday stuff is nice and fun, but there has to be some kind of counterpoint to that.. I don't need Ultraviolence or gut churning action (though this did kinda promise that by its genre) just some kind of conflict that is drawn out and complex.

Any additional comments?

Does Audible have any kind of editorial policy? Or can anyone just chuck a dull book up here? Please ! Listen to 'Earth Abides' by George R Stewart instead; 'The Last Tribe' is like that book, but with the brain and heart scooped out of it.

9 of 11 people found this review helpful

Awful

This was a real struggle. The post apocalyptic genre has always appealed to me but this was utter garbage. Forgettable characters, jarring unnatural dialogue, a plot as flat as Sweden and about as many twists as an episode of My Little Pony. The author seemed more interested in describing the food the survivors were cooking themselves. Makes me wonder how many other amazing unsigned writers that could have written this tripe in their sleep are sitting at home struggling to even get recognised. Stay well away ! Oh the humanity !

2 of 2 people found this review helpful