If everything you’d ever known suddenly came to an end how would you feel, how would you react and engage with the strangers around you who are the only other people you know to be alive?
That is the question Hanna Jameson poses in this post nuclear war apocalyptic thriller. Jon, a university lecturer is trapped in L’Hotel Sixieme in Switzerland, with the rest of his colleagues gone he soon learns how quickly people will turn on one another when life’s necessities are scarce. Things take a further turn for the worse when a dead body is found under suspicious circumstances and the killer is likely one of the twenty or so people who remain in the hotel.
This book had me reading well into the night - I loved the premised and so hoped the author would deliver with a sensational storyline and Hanna Jameson did not disappoint.
What I liked most about The Last by Hanna Jameson.
1.“Nadia once told me she was kept awake at night by the idea that she would read about the end of the world on a phone notification”. What a first line - I immediately shared that anxiety - could relate to that fear and the certainty that if the worst did happen this would be how most found out.
2.The characters, a mix of all nationalities, ages and backgrounds - they all have weird and wonderful reasons to be at the hotel - some are more forthcoming about those reasons than others. I found myself second guessing whether they were capable of murder and for many the answer was yes.
3.The setting - L’Hotel Sixieme - was a fantastic choice. We think of grand hotels as a place of luxury and relaxation but take away most of the staff and guests and turn the lights out and it quickly becomes a fabulously eerie setting.
4. The relationships that form as a result of a circumstance the characters have no control over. Who do people turn to in times of strife, who is strong, who is weak, who gives up, who binds people together and who tears them apart. This book have me questioning myself if the worst should happen as well at the characters.
5. The surprises - as soon as the reader begins to feel comfortable in the routine of the hotel and roles of the characters something else comes along and turns it on its head. The pacing in this book is fabulously anxiety- inducing and I loved it.
Five stars from this reviewer ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️