The Last Day

October 21, 2019
Murray’s impressive eye for detail compensates for the scientifically preposterous premise of his debut. When a “rogue” white dwarf star passed dangerously close to Earth, it left the planet half scorched in sunlight and half frozen in darkness, with humanity barely hanging on in the dim zone between the extremes. Forty years after the disaster, dubbed “the Stop,” Britain, in the middle zone, has descended into fascism. Depressed scientist Dr. Ellen Hopper conducts oceanic research on a rig in the North Sea, despite feeling her work is pointless. When Hopper is summoned to the deathbed of her Oxford mentor, Edward Thorne, a government scientist responsible for the deaths of countless refugees after the Stop, she catches wind of a secret that could spell further disaster for humankind. To save what’s left of the world, Hopper launches an investigation into the government secret, rediscovering her hope for humanity along the way. Murray’s despairing characters are convincing and his descriptions of the broken Earth are vivid, but his apocalypse is too conceptually contrived to be believable. Readers will easily invest in Hopper’s mission, but will struggle to buy into Murray’s vision of the future. Agent: Kim Witherspoon, Inkwell.

December 15, 2019
One woman must discover what lies at the center of a government coverup in this near-future thriller. The year is 2059, and the Earth hasn't rotated in 39 years. The Stop plunged parts of the world into darkness and others into everlasting sunlight. Britain lies right in the middle of a habitable zone, and the government has scrambled to build up its defenses to help its people while keeping others out. Scientist Ellen Hopper has been working on a rig out on the Atlantic for the past few years, away from the overbearing government and her failing relationships with her brother and ex-husband. But when a group of government officials arrives by helicopter to tell her that her old mentor is dying and wishes to see her, she is once again whisked into a world full of citizens spying on each other, curfews, and oppression. With only her mentor's promise that she will figure out "the truth," Ellen must find what he has hidden away before the government can destroy it. In his fascinating debut, Murray has crafted something original out of the classic "one person against a totalitarian government" trope. The world after the Stop is completely fleshed out and lived in, with explanations of how people eat, farm, work. The breakneck pace of Ellen's trying to stay one step ahead of the authorities (and not always succeeding) makes for a fast read, with short chapters that propel the action forward. Ellen and David, her ex-husband, grew up post-Stop, so their interactions and personal issues grapple with what the world has become in interesting ways. Thorne, Ellen's mentor, shines in flashbacks. The open ending leaves room for more exploration in a potential sequel. An interesting new twist on a post-apocalyptic tale.

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January 1, 2020

DEBUT It has been 40 years since the Earth's rotation slowed to a stop, plunging half of the planet's population into permanent darkness, and half into endless day. Perched at the perfect halfway point, England exists in a continuing early morning, with enough sunlight to grow crops, but not so hot as to become unbearable. In those 40 years since the Slow, England's government has brutally closed its borders, increased rationing, and conscripted any dissenters into slave labor. Scientist Ellen Hopper has spent the years since her divorce on a naval rig in the bitter Atlantic, studying currents and avoiding politics, when she is contacted by a former mentor, from his deathbed. Against her wishes, government officials coerce Hopper back to the mainland to say her goodbyes, in the process embroiling her in a mystery someone will go to any lengths to protect. VERDICT Murray's debut novel depicts a thrilling future dystopia. The science of the Slow and the political breakdown that follows are alarmingly realistic, and Hopper's flight through London as she unravels what could be England's greatest secret is a ride not to be missed.--Jennifer Beach, Longwood Univ. Lib., Farmville, VA

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Starred review from December 1, 2019
The year is 2059. Forty years ago, Earth stopped spinning on its axis. Half the world is in perpetual daylight, half in unending darkness. Civilization has survived, but barely, and most people scramble every day for enough food to keep going. Scientist Ellen Hopper, studying ocean currents on an installation in the frigid Atlantic, wants no part of her native Britain, which, in the wake of near-Armageddon, has descended into brutal tyranny; yet, after she is summoned to the deathbed of her former mentor, she does return home and quickly finds herself plunged into a mystery concerning the future of civilization and a conspiracy that reaches to the highest levels of government. This is Murray's first novel (he's a writer for the British quiz show QI), and it is not only readable but also downright impossible to stop reading. 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.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)