The Last Day
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  • Published: 13 April 2021
  • ISBN: 9781787463615
  • Imprint: Arrow
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 416
  • RRP: $27.99

The Last Day

The gripping must-read thriller by the Sunday Times bestselling author

Formats & editions
EBook
6 Feb 2020
Audiobook
6 Feb 2020
Paperback
13 Apr 2021
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HALF THE WORLD IS DARK. ONLY SHE CAN SAVE THE LIGHT. A high-concept, utterly original debut thriller which envisages a world on the edge of catastrophe, perfect for readers who loved Robert Harris' Fatherland, Station 11, and The Wall by John Lanchester.

A world in darkness. A secret she must bring to light.

'A brilliant near-future thriller and a really cracking read' Richard Osman
'A beautifully realised and thought-provoking thriller' The Times
'Reminiscent of Robert Harris's high-concept conspiracy thrillers' Financial Times
'Wonderful ... the best future-shock thriller for years.' Lee Child
'I read this hungrily ... A fabulous achievement.' Stephen Fry
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2059. The world has stopped turning.

One half suffers an endless frozen night; the other, nothing but burning sun.

Only in a slim twilit region between them can life survive.

In an isolationist Britain clinging on in the twilight zone, scientist Ellen Hopper receives a letter from a dying man. It contains a powerful and dangerous secret.

One that those in power will kill to conceal . . .
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'Intriguing and unusual' Sunday Times
'Inventive, richly detailed world-building' Telegraph
'A tantalizing, suspenseful odyssey of frustration, deceit, treachery, torture, hope, despair and ingenious sleuthing' Washington Post
'A stunningly original thriller' HARLAN COBEN
'A taut, thrilling runaround' GUARDIAN
'A brilliant debut ... Fans of Robert Harris will love it' DAILY EXPRESS
'To say it's gripping is an understatement' SARA PASCOE
'Murray has crafted something original ... an interesting new twist on a post-apocalyptic tale.' KIRKUS
'Downright impossible to stop reading.' BOOKLIST
'Dark, believable and brilliantly written' JENNY COLGAN
'I couldn't put this book down!' CHRISTINA DALCHER
'The Last Day will keep you gripped to the very last page' C.J. TUDOR
  • Published: 13 April 2021
  • ISBN: 9781787463615
  • Imprint: Arrow
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 416
  • RRP: $27.99
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About the author

Andrew Hunter Murray

Andrew Hunter Murray is a scriptwriter and fact-hunter for BBC2’s QI. He co-hosts the podcast No Such Thing As A Fish, which has had 200 million downloads, and has toured the UK, Europe and Australia. He also writes jokes and journalism for Private Eye magazine, and hosts the Eye’s podcast, Page 94.

The Last Day is his first novel.

portrait photo of Andrew Hunter Murray

Also by Andrew Hunter Murray

A Beginner’s Guide to Breaking and Entering
The Sanctuary
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Praise for The Last Day

I read this hungrily ... Its intelligence and bravura characterization will have you turning page after page. A fabulous achievement.

STEPHEN FRY

A stunningly original thriller set in the world of tomorrow that will make you think about what’s happening today.

HARLAN COBEN

A fresh take on the dystopian thriller, to say it’s gripping is an understatement - I cancelled all my weekend plans to finish it

SARA PASCOE

Dark, believable and brilliantly written

JENNY COLGAN

A thrilling page-turner, and a reminder to treasure our sunsets and sunrises while we still have them. I couldn’t put this book down!

Christina Dalcher, author of VOX

An irresistible post-apocalyptic thriller.

Apple Books

A hugely atmospheric novelpowered by character rather than incident as Hopper is drawn deeper into a world she doesn’t understand… this has got a four part BBC Sunday night thriller written all over it.

Starburst Magazine

[A]n atmosphere reminiscent of PD James’s dystopian classic The Children of Men and alternative history thrillers such as Len Deighton’s SS-GB. As with those novels, The Last Day investigates the "boiled frog" nature of totalitarianism, with Hunter Murray imagining what Britain succumbing to it would look and feel like. The result is a beautifully realised and thought provoking-thriller.

The Times, Thriller of the Month

A taut, thrilling runaround... The Last Day is an impressive dystopian techno-thriller. Murray paints a grim picture of a draconian isolationist Britain, with some vivid descriptions of a much-changed London, and the novel’s climax has a neat twist.

Guardian Books of the Month

[A]n intriguing and unusual set-up […] enthralling sci-fi world building.

Sunday Times

A brilliant debutwhich blends apocalyptic drama with a tale of espionage, keeping readers on tenterhooks […] Fans of Robert Harris will love it.

Daily Express

Murray should be commended for going into the nitty-gritty of how his post-disaster society functions[…] What really distinguishes the book, though, is the creative energy of its world-building: it demonstrates the virtue of using the future as a playground for the imagination rather than trying to second-guess it.

Telegraph: the best thrillers and crime fiction of 2020

In addition to masterfully painting a world on the brink of extinguishment […] Hunter Murray provides a top-notch plot that proves riveting until the very end.

Hot Press

A brilliantly clever thriller from a brilliantly clever writer.

Richard Osman