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Can Nothing Save Us?
- Author
- Irvine Welsh
- Narrator
- Todd Kramer
- Publisher
- Random House
- Publish Date
- 13 August 2026
- Run Time
- 13 hours 8 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
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What to expect
A divided Las Vegas family is forced to confront the past and reckon with a dangerous future in the searing new novel from Irvine Welsh.
Molly and George Warburton are used to living life their own way. Now, in the ferocious heat of Sin City, the couple are facing up to their failures and final years.
They announce that their grandson Luke – college dropout, aspiring writer, electronic dance music aficionado – will inherit their millions. It is sudden news that leaves their daughter Gina hell-bent on revenge.
Yet Luke’s good fortune will not last. When a strange newcomer to the neighbourhood insinuates himself into the Warburtons’ world, it is the beginning of a chain of chilling events that could split the family permanently and put all their lives at risk.
The question is, do they have what it takes to survive?
PRAISE FOR THE #1 BESTSELLING AUTHOR:
‘Welsh writes with a skill, wit and compassion that amounts to genius’ Sunday Times
‘A triumph. A great, redemptive book’ Observer
‘No living author is as entertaining to read’ GQ
‘Powerful…bracing and engaging’ Daily Telegraph
© Irvine Welsh 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026
Critics Review
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An epic American family saga . . . This is a bold and ambitious work, in which Welsh deftly shifts point of view with confidence and conviction . . . expansive, compelling and heartfelt . . . a literary triumph
Guardian
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A new book by Irvine Welsh is always an event . . . No living author is as entertaining to read
GQ
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In his portrayal of family and city, Welsh clearly intends them to encapsulate a dying America – the other sense of the title’s ‘Us’ . . . [A] state-of-the-union satire
The Times, Best Thrillers to Read Now
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Riveting. Beneath the mayhem and morbid humour is a serious – if ultimately unanswerable – question: if everything is broken what, if anything, can save us?
Mail on Sunday
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A story of envy, violence and generational conflict . . . Welsh’s greatest skill has always been cast-building, and so it is here . . . Each takes turns at carrying the narrative weight of the novel, and each is allowed a rich inner life and complicated outer relations
Financial Times
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So propulsive . . . about as much fun as you can have between two book covers
The Times (on Dead Men’s Trousers)
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Can Nothing Save Us? is a big American novel and applies the same sharp-eyed realism that Trainspotting brought to working-class Edinburgh to Trump’s US. Set in the scorching heat of Las Vegas, it’s a multigenerational thriller
Guardian
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Powerful . . . A bracing and engaging read
Daily Telegraph (on Crime)
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A riot of vivid characters, with added political tub-thumping which betrays Welsh’s clear anxiety about where his adopted country is headed
Daily Mail
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Taut, provocative, and darkly funny, this is a compelling portrait of a family pushed to its limits
Essential Marbella
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Irvine Welsh
- Narrator
- Todd Kramer
- Duration
- 13 hours 8 minutes
- Release Date
- 13 August 2026
- ISBN
- 9781529991987
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Random House
- Genre
- Political / legal thriller, Family life fiction / Stories about family, Modern and contemporary fiction: literary and general, Narrative theme: love / relationships, Narrative theme: sense of place
Synopsis
A divided Las Vegas family is forced to confront the past and reckon with a dangerous future in the searing new novel from Irvine Welsh.Molly and George Warburton are used to living life their own way. Now, in the ferocious heat of Sin City, the couple are facing up to their failures and final years.They announce that their grandson Luke – college dropout, aspiring writer, electronic dance music aficionado – will inherit their millions. It is sudden news that leaves their daughter Gina hell-bent on revenge.Yet Luke’s good fortune will not last. When a strange newcomer to the neighbourhood insinuates himself into the Warburtons’ world, it is the beginning of a chain of chilling events that could split the family permanently and put all their lives at risk.The question is, do they have what it takes to survive?PRAISE FOR THE #1 BESTSELLING AUTHOR:‘Welsh writes with a skill, wit and compassion that amounts to genius’ Sunday Times‘A triumph. A great, redemptive book’ Observer‘No living author is as entertaining to read’ GQ‘Powerful…bracing and engaging’ Daily Telegraph© Irvine Welsh 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026
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