"THE LAST DAY"--by Andrew Hunter Murray--.A visionary and powerful debut thriller set in a terrifyingly plausible dystopian near-future—with clear parallels to today's headlines—in which the future of humanity lies in the hands of one woman, a scientist who has stumbled upon a secret that the government will go to any lengths to keep hidden.

The Last Day

THE WORLD HAS STOPPED TURNING. THE HUNT HAS JUST BEGUN.

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

It is 2059, and the world has crashed. Forty years ago, a solar catastrophe began to slow the planet's rotation to a stop. Now one half of the globe is permanently sunlit, the other half trapped in an endless night. The United States has colonized the southern half of Great Britain--lucky enough to find itself in the narrow habitable region left between frozen darkness and scorching sunlight--where both nations have managed to survive the ensuing chaos by isolating themselves from the rest of the world.

Ellen Hopper is a scientist living on a frostbitten rig in the cold Atlantic. She wants nothing more to do with her country after its slide into casual violence and brutal authoritarianism. Yet when two government officials arrive, demanding she return to London to see her dying college mentor, she accepts--and begins to unravel a secret that threatens not only the nation's fragile balance, but the future of the whole human race.

Reviews

 

“The notion of the Earth stopping its majestic rotation, and setting in motion dire aftereffects, dates back at least to the Bible…. Since then, there has been a steady stream of similarly themed stories….Andrew Hunter Murray’s debut novel, The Last Day, also instantiates such a cosmic alteration in daily life. But Murray has so thoroughly thought through the ramifications of his conceit and conjured up such a dramatic plot and stellar cast of characters that he might have set a new standard for such tales.”—The Washington Post

“Wonderful: boldly imagined and beautifully written—the best future-shock thriller for years.”—Lee Child, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“A stunningly original thriller set in the world of tomorrow that will make you think about what’s happening today.”—Harlan Coben, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“The Last Day is environmental dystopia at its best—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, bestselling author of Vox

"A taut, thrilling runaround...The Last Day is an impressive dystopian techno-thriller [with] a neat twist."—The Guardian

"A beautifully realized and thought-provoking thriller."—The Times (UK)

“A compelling read with some well-placed observations on the darkness of human nature and survival.  The Last Day will keep you gripped to the very last page.”
—C. J. Tudor, internationally bestselling author of The Chalk Man

“I read this hungrily and happily. Its wit, intelligence and bravura characterization will have you turning page after page. A fabulous achievement.”—Stephen Fry, bestselling author of Revenge

“Dark, believable and brilliantly written.”—Jenny Colgan, New York Times bestselling author of The Bookshop on the Corner

“To say it’s gripping is an understatement--I cancelled all my weekend plans to finish it.”—Sara Pascoe, internationally bestselling author of Sex, Power, Money

“The science is believable, the near-future world feels as real as our own, the characters are lively, and the plot is suspenseful. A near-perfect alternate-future thriller.”—Booklist (starred review)

“Murray’s debut novel depicts a thrilling future dystopia.”—Library Journal

“In his fascinating debut, Murray has crafted something original out of the classic 'one person against a totalitarian government' trope… An interesting new twist on a post-apocalyptic tale.” —Kirkus


Andrew Hunter Murray

 

Andrew Hunter Murray is a writer from London. His first novel, The Last Day, is a high-concept thriller set in a world whose rotation has slowed to a halt. The Last Day will be published in the UK and USA in February 2020 by Penguin Random House.

For ten years, Andrew has been one of the writers and researchers behind the BBC show QI. He is one of the co-hosts of QI’s spin-off podcast, No Such Thing As A Fish, which since 2014 has released 250 episodes, been downloaded 200 million times, and toured the world. It has also spawned three books (The Book of the Year, The Book of the Year 2018 and The Book of the Year 2019), and a BBC2 series, No Such Thing As The News.
Andrew also writes jokes and journalism for Private Eye magazine, and hosts the Eye’s in-house podcast, Page 94. In his spare time he performs in the award-winning comedy show Austentatious, which plays in London’s West End and around the UK. 

https://twitter.com/andrewhunterm