The Last Day by Andrew Hunter Murray

“I’m not usually a fan of dystopian fiction but I enjoyed this. Setting the novel only about 30 years in the future, it felt far enough away for the world to have changed significantly, yet still a possible scenario within my lifetime.  Cleverly setting the action within familiar and recognisable geography of London and the Cotwolds made it feel more credible and a plot developed around global  politics and environmental catastrophe was relevant, current and sadly not hard to believe.  I enjoyed this debut novel more than I thought I would.”

“Felt that a lot of the key themes could have been more developed. Perhaps some of this was lost in the editing process?  Felt it lacked pace and tension – I didn’t really feel that it built up to a sense of jeopardy. Strange that male characters were referred to by their first names whereas the female characters were referred to by their surnames. I didn’t feel that the characters or some of the plot developments were that plausible, and some things weren’t ever explained properly.”

“This ticks a lot of boxes in terms of what makes a good book – it had all the right ingredients but I didn’t feel they were quite put together in the right way. Was a bit disappointed by the end.”

“I didn’t find it too much of a stretch to imagine some of the plot developments and behaviours, particularly around state and media control. I surprised myself by how much I enjoyed this. “

Range: 6 – 8.5

Overall score: 7.3