The Last Day

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Listen to a sample

What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

*Narrated by Gemma Whelan*


A WORLD HALF IN DARKNESS. A SECRET SHE MUST BRING TO LIGHT.

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, 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...
'A beautifully realised and thought-provoking thriller.' THE TIMES

'A taut, thrilling runaround' GUARDIAN

'Reminiscent of Robert Harris's high-concept conspiracy thrillers' FINANCIAL TIMES

© Andrew Hunter 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

Critics Review

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

    STEPHEN FRY
  • A brilliantly clever thriller from a brilliantly clever writer.

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

    Daily Express

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