The Last Of Us by Rob Ewing

The island is quiet now.

On a remote Scottish island, six children are the only ones left. Since the Last Adult died, sensible Elizabeth has been the group leader, testing for a radio signal, playing teacher and keeping an eye on Alex, the littlest, whose insulin can only last so long.

There is 'shopping' to do in the houses they haven't yet searched and wrong smells to avoid. For eight-year-old Rona each day brings fresh hope that someone will come back for them, tempered by the reality of their dwindling supplies.

With no adults to rebel against, squabbles threaten the fragile family they have formed. And when brothers Calum Ian and Duncan attempt to thwart Elizabeth's leadership, it prompts a chain of events that will endanger Alex's life and test them all in unimaginable ways.

Reminiscent of The Lord of the Flies and The Cement Garden, The Last of Us is a powerful and heartbreaking novel of aftershock, courage and survival.

The Last of Us by Rob Ewing was published in hardback by The Borough Press on 21 April 2016.


There are some books that are so very difficult to review, not because they are badly written or because they are not enjoyable. They are difficult because they are so incredibly different, and unusual and even though you may adore the story, and the writing, the book is a puzzle.

The Last of Us is one of those puzzles. It is beautifully constructed with characters who are perfectly formed and who surprise and shock the reader. The blurb for the book is beguiling and intriguing and when you take the first step and read the first page, you become consumed and entranced by this group of young children who are alone on an isolated Scottish island, with no adults to show them the way, or to teach them how.

These children are the only living humans left on the island. Everyone has been wiped out by a mysterious illness and they are doing their best to survive. Led by sensible Elizabeth, an 'incomer', the daughter of medics, they are a band of survivors. They are managing to survive, with rules drawn up and regular 'shopping' trips to the houses of dead friends, relatives, teachers, neighbours, Yet their bond is stretched to the limit and the struggle to survive is not their only challenge. They experience what any group of people do, whether they are children or grown-ups; that struggle for power. The struggle that we see everyday, across the world; from politicians, from terrorists, in the workplace, and at the beginning, in the schoolyard.

The Last of Us is narrated by eight-year-old Rona, and Rob Ewing has brilliantly portrayed the way that a child's mind works. Rona's narration does not flow easily, she slips back to the 'then', she talks about the 'now' and she wonders about the 'after'. Rona misses her Mother and speaks to her in everything that she says and does, which helps her to make decisions and to deal with events that happen throughout the story.

Running through this brilliantly imagined story are themes of courage and survival. The reader is exposed to the fears of the children, we also see their strength, their hope and their inner belief in a positive future.

The Last Of Us is sometimes horrible, it's always bleak and desolate, but it is also frighteningly believable.

My thanks to the publisher The Borough Press who sent my copy for review.

Rob Ewing grew up in a wee village near Falkirk, Central Scotland, and studied to become a doctor at Aberdeen University.
He's now working as a GP in Edinburgh.
His short stories and poetry have been published widely including in Granta's New Writing, New Writing Scotland, Aesthetica, Stand, Rialto, Magma, and been performed on BBC Radio Scotland.
The Last of Us, his first novel is published by The Borough Press.

For more information about Rob Ewing and his writing, visit his website www.robewing.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter @robewinguk

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My Life In Books ~ talking to author Julie Cohen

My Life In Books is an occasional feature on Random Things Through My Letterbox

I've invited authors to share with us a list of the books that have inspired them and left a lasting impression on their life.

Please join me in welcoming Julie Cohen to Random Things today.  

Julie's latest novel Falling will be published by Black Swan on 28 July 2016.  I'm really looking forward to reading it as I really enjoyed her last two books.  

I read and reviewed Dear Thing (April 2013), and Where Love Lies (July 2014), read my reviews by clicking on the titles of the books.

My Life In Books ~ Julie Cohen

The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle  This is my Desert Island book. This is the book that truly changed my life. I was 11 when I bought it and read it cover-to-cover, and it began a lifelong obsession. I moved to England because of Sherlock Holmes. I chose to study Victorian literature because of Sherlock Holmes. I've belonged to various Sherlock Holmes societies throughout my life, and I still get a thrill when I see the portrait of Sherlock Holmes in the tiles in Baker Street Station on the Bakerloo line.

I own a deerstalker and at one point, I could recite vast quotes of Sherlock Holmes stories. Even tody, I annoy people by pointing out the direct Sherlock Holmes quotes in 'Sherlock', and I draw a regular cartoon for the Sherlock Holmes Journal, called 'Overrun by Oysters'.

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin  This is the book that made me want to be an author (also age 11). 

I loved Le Guin's world of magic and islands and darkness, and as soon as I finished reading the trilogy I started writing my own version, complete with hand-drawn map. 

(See also: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which I also tried to copy as soon as I'd read.)

Rachel's Holiday by Marian Keyes  This is the book that made me want to write women's fiction (age thirty). I love all of Marian Keyes' books, but Rachel's Holiday is just something special. There's the unreliable narrator, and the deep, devastating portrayal of addiction, but there's also enormous humour and a leather-trousered hero of gorgeousness. How does Marian do it? I have no idea. She is magical.

The Princess Bride by William Goldman  I've read this book over and over. The last time I read it, I was in hospital with pneumonia, and it was the best medicine I could have asked for. It's a wonderful feel-good book which is also one of my top movies of all time, but the novel itself, along with being a rollicking funny action-packed fairy tale, is also a masterclass in storytelling and a satire on the film industry. Also, I want to marry Inigo Montoya.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen  Character-wise, this is not actually my favourite Austen novel; I prefer Emma as a heroine, and Captain Wentworth as a hero. But Pride and Prejudice is the most exquisitely structured book in the world. Everything about this book is utterly, marvellously perfect. It is flawless in every single way: as a story, as a satire, as a work of brilliant art. I must have read Pride and Prejudice at least twenty times and every time, it gets better.

Julie Cohen ~ April 2016

Julie Cohen grew up in Maine and studied English at Brown University and Cambridge University. She moved to the UK to research fairies in Victorian children's literature at the University of Reading and this was followed by a career teaching English at secondary level.

She now writes full time and is a popular speaker and teacher of creative writing.

She lives with her husband and their son in Berkshire.

For more information about Julie Cohen and her work;

check out her website www.julie-cohen.com

Find her Author page on Facebook

Follow her on Twitter @julie_cohen

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The Missing Hours by Emma Kavanagh *** BLOG TOUR & #Giveaway ***

A woman disappears.

One moment, Selena Cole is in the playground with her children and the next, she has vanished without a trace.

A woman returns. 

Twenty hours later, Selena is found safe and well, but with no memory of where she has been.

What took place in those missing hours, and are they linked to the discovery of a nearby murder? 

The Missing Hours by Emma Kavanagh is published in hardback by Century on 21 April 2016, and is the new high-concept novel from the author of Falling and Hidden, a gripping psychological thriller by former police psychologist, Emma Kavanagh.


I have one hardback copy to give away to a Random Things reader, please enter by filling out the competition widget at the bottom of this post.  UK entries only please.    Good luck!

Two police officers; brother and sister, working for the same force, but initially, at the beginning of The Missing Hours, they are on two separate cases. DC Leah Mackay is called out to investigate the case of a missing woman. Dr Selena Cole's two small children were found by the swings in the local park. They were alone, their mother had disappeared. Nobody saw her go.

Meanwhile, Leah's brother, DS Finn Hale is responding to a report that a body has been found,
dumped alongside a narrow road.

Two seemingly separate, unconnected cases and the murder takes precedence, especially Selena Cole returns home after twenty hours of absence, she appears unharmed but disorientated. As far the the Police chiefs are concerned, the case is closed and Leah must join her brother to investigate what is now a murder case.

Emma Kavanagh is a very gifted writer, her eye for detail and her impeccably created characters make The Missing Hours an absolute joy to read. As the two cases merge into one, the murky and mysterious world of Kidnap and Ransom is exposed to the reader. For me, this was a complete revelation. Yes, I know that there are many kidnaps around the world, especially in South America, but I had no idea that there were professional people who made a living from negotiating with kidnappers and arranging ransom payments.

Selena Cole and her late husband Ed ran a successful business. They responded to kidnap demands all over the world, liaising with organisations and insurance companies to ensure that hostages were released unharmed. Leah and Finn soon fit together the intricate pieces in these two cases that link them together, and Emma Kavanagh creates suspense and tension along the way.

I had no idea what the outcome would be, which is always a huge bonus in a thriller, and the final chapters made my mouth dry and my heart pound.

The Missing Hours is exceptionally detailed, intriguing and unusual. I was hooked from the very first chapter. An outstanding story with superb characters and an exciting plot.

Emma Kavanagh was born and raised in South Wales. 

After graduating with a PhD in psychology from Cardiff University, she spent many years working as a police and military psychologist, training firearms officers, command staff and military personnel throughout the UK and Europe.


She lives in South Wales with her husband and young sons.

Find her Author page on Facebook

Follow her on Twitter @EmmaLK

#Giveaway Hardback copy of The Missing Hours by Emma Kavanagh Follow

This Must Be The Place by Maggie O'Farrell

Meet Daniel Sullivan, a man with a complicated life. A New Yorker living in the wilds of Ireland, he has children he never sees in California, a father he loathes in Brooklyn and a wife, Claudette, who is a reclusive ex-film star given to shooting at anyone who ventures up their driveway.

He is also about to find out something about a woman he lost touch with twenty years ago, and this discovery will send him off-course, far away from wife and home.

Will his love for Claudette be enough to bring him back? 

This Must Be The Place by Maggie O'Farrell is published in hardback by Tinder Press on 17 May 2016, and is the author's seventh novel.

This Must Be The Place is probably my most anticipated new book of 2016. I have read everything that Maggie O'Farrell has written, and adored every one of her books.  Her writing is subtle, delicate and compelling, she is a master of her art.

When I was eleven-years old, I started to study the theory of music. Music had always been central to our family life; the radio was always playing, my parents had a vast collection of eight-track cartridges and my brother and I still relate various childhood events according to what was playing on the stereo at the time. As a small child, I didn't think about the composition of the tunes, I just sang along, sometimes making up my own words, but always immersed in the tune.

I started to learn to play the clarinet and got a place in the school band. I was absolutely amazed to find that the woodwind section didn't play the tune from end to end, that we had a section of our own to play. Each section came together under the instruction of the conductor and created the whole tune. I had never realised that.

This Must Be The Place reminds me of an orchestra, finely tuned and conducted by Maggie O'Farrell. Each character has their own part to play, and reading each section on its own would make no sense. The reader would wonder how the story of a young girl who works in a film studio and becomes a film star can possibly be connected to an American Irish guy, married with two young children, living in New York. How does the struggle to adopt a Chinese baby fit in, and the mysterious downfall of a young woman left lying on the grass after a drug-fuelled party? Just like the conductor who ably blends all of the sections together, Maggie O'Farrell conducts her story to create a symphony that will thrill and delight her readers with her beautifully adept prose, her cleverly created characters and their magnificent storyline.

There are plenty of characters who each have their own stories, but at its heart, This Must Be The Place is the story of a marriage. It is Daniel and Claudette's relationship played out in the finest detail, with secrets that are suddenly revealed that will shock the reader and which turn the story completely on its head, taking it down paths that are unexpected and at times, quite difficult to travel.

The story takes place in many countries, over many years, crossing borders and time zones with an ease that exposes the genius of this author. Her ability to create incredibly flawed characters who really should be despicable yet who the reader easily falls in love with is breathtaking. I have no doubt that Daniel who is complicated and can make the most disastrous of decisions will capture the heart of every reader and his faults will be forgiven. His wife, Claudette is forceful and domineering, used to having her own way, her actions dominate the story and reflect on each of the supporting characters. And, whilst the other characters are indeed, a support cast, each one of them is fully formed, with vivid and colourful personalities whose personal stories add so much to this wonderful novel.

This Must Be A Place is a novel to talk about, to discuss and to debate. It should be savoured and treasured. Maggie O'Farrell proves once again that she is one of the finest authors of our time.

Huge thanks to Georgina at Tinder Press who sent my copy for review.

Maggie O'Farrell is the author of seven novels, After You'd Gone, My Lover's Lover, The Distance Between Us which won a Somerset Maugham Award, The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, The Hand That First Held Mine which won the 2010 Costa Novel Award, Instructions for a Heatwave and This Must Be The Place.

She was born in Northern Ireland in 1972, and grew up in Wales and Scotland. She now lives in Edinburgh with her family.

Find out more about Maggie O'Farrell and her writing at her website www.maggieofarrell.com
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My Life In Books ~ talking to author Chris Cleave

My Life In Books is an occasional feature on Random Things Through My Letterbox

I've invited authors to share with us a list of books which are special to them and have made an impression on their life.

I'm thrilled to welcome Chris Cleave to Random Things today. I've read all of Chris Cleave's books, he's a wonderful author of fabulous books.

His latest novel, Everything Brave Is Forgotten is published on 21 April by Sceptre  and is my favourite of his books. I adored it and have been shouting about it for months.

Click on the title of the book to read my review. 

My Life In Books ~ Chris Cleave

Stories for Tomorrow edited by William Sloane  At nine I read this austere collection of classic 50s sci-fi as a sort of Haynes Manual of a future that I knew would be our own.

I more or less memorised it.  It wasn't entertainment, it was preparation.

The Outward Urge by John Wyndham  Ten years old, and still reading up on my future in space exploration. 

Wyndham introduced a little style into the mix. I read everything else he wrote too.

I, Robot by Isaac Asinov  At eleven I couldn't get enough of the conflicts Asimov creates between the Laws of Robotics.

I used to write my own stories based on them, which I suppose was fan fiction.

It by Stephen King  I still remember every page of It, which I read on the school bus in my first year at secondary school. 

Even now I get the chills, thinking about that book and that year. Horror is all about becoming adult.

Laughable Loves by Milan Kundera  I'd have been thirteen or fourteen, I suppose, and feigning an implausible sophistication.  I might have been an undersized teenager lugging his sports kit through the rain in an off-brand nylon holdall, but in my mind I was an intellectual Czech swinger, chuckling at life's bittersweet ironies.

The Periodic Table by Primo Levi  At university, studying chemistry, I picked up the book for its obscure intersection with my subject, and also because I had been much affected by Levi's autobiographical works.

Halfway through the Mercury story I had an epiphany, realised I was supposed to be a writer, and went with it. Ah, to be twenty.

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez  I read it in Mexico, in a hammock, and when it was over I went back to the first page and read it again, and again. 

I engaged with the book for a week or two, spent the next year trying to write like that, an the five years after that forcing myself not to. 

I still dream about the novel sometimes. I could have a pretty good go at writing a magical realist soap opera set in Macondo.

Mrs Dalloway by Virgina Woolf  I've said so much about my love of Woolf's writing and I don't want to become a bore. I'll just say that I think her the cleverest and bravest of all the English writers.

She kept a tiny part of me alive and believing in the possibility of doing beautiful work - this in my early twenties when I was going downhill in London during three years of late shifts as a sub editor on a national daily.

The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir  At thirty years of age, this book was my second epiphany. I realised that existentialism was available as a way of being, not just as an intellectual position.

I've been working on my own headspace since then. I began not to need my male identity, and started to inhabit a wider spectrum of consciousness.

I quit my job. I began to write not just about different characters, or from the point of view of different characters, but as different characters. None of it has made me any taller.

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion  Joan Didion was the first author I did an event with. Her book was out at the same time as my debut, Incendiary, and Knopf put us together for a New York pre-publication reading.

I hadn't had enough notice to read The Year of Magical Thinking, so I turned up cold, with no idea that the author loses her husband in the most desperate circumstances, round about page one. Joan Didion asked me to what my book was about and I blurted, "traumatic bereavement".

She lifted her eyes over the tops of her very dark glasses, and gave me the most enduring look.

A Girl is a Half-formed Thing by Eimear McBride  We picked this as the winner when I chaired the judges for the Desmond Elliott Prize in 2014.

I've never been so moved by a book.

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel  For me Mantel is the most inspiring writer alive. She's brave, she reinvents herself, and she has the talent to match her ambition.

At forty her historical fiction opened my mind to that modality's great virtue - namely, that it brings inherent structure to a novel, allowing the writer to do less exposition and more character development.

If you like to let your characters talk to each other, as I do, then you can do worse than take them back in time.

Chris Cleave ~ April 2016

Chris Cleave's debut novel Incendiary, was an international bestseller. His prize-winning second novel, The Other Hand, has found phenomenal success both in the UK, and abroad, hitting number one on the New York Times bestseller list (under the title Little Bee).

His third book, Gold, confirmed his status as one of our most powerful, important and psychologically insightful novelists.

His fourth novel, Everyone Brave is Forgiven is published by Sceptre on 21 April 2016.

Chris lives in London with his wife and three children.

For more information about the author and his books, visit his website www.chriscleave.com

Find his Author page on Facebook

Follow him on Twitter @chriscleave

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My Life In Books ~ talking to author Sarah Ward

My Life in Books is an occasional feature on Random Things Through My Letterbox

I've invited authors to share with us a list of books that are special to them and have made a lasting impression on their life.

Please join me in welcoming Sarah Ward to Random Things today. I met Sarah quite a few years ago at the launch party for Constable & Robinson's CR Crime imprint. Sarah is a well-know and successful crime fiction blogger at Crimepieces. 

She is also a fabulous crime author herself, her first book In Bitter Chill was published last year by Faber, click on the title to read my review.

The follow up novel; A Deadly Thaw will be published in September this year.

My Life In Books ~  Sarah Ward

The Secret Island by Enid Blyton   Blyton is considered a bit passe these days but, for me she embodies what I want from a book: to escape to another world.

I loved her Famous Five and Secret Seven books but The Secret Island has it all. A deserted island, children who want to escape their relatives and a mystery to be solved.

Crooked House by Agatha Christie   Another great storyteller and this was, apparently, one of the author's favourite books too.

All Christie's usual tropes are there - a country house containing a dysfunctional family - but she makes a bold leap with her choice of murderer. Love it.

Bleak House by Charles Dickens  Lots of readers have books they love to come back to every couple of years. This is mine. I have a few issues with Dickens. He is terribly sentimental in his portrayal of girls but, for setting and story, he is the master.

I love the different narrative voices here.

Excellent Women by Barbara Pym  Pym creates a world of church bazaars and parish meetings containing heroines who are down but never out. Men are unreliable and often lightweight but her books are more than an examination of social manners. Unrequited love doesn't necessarily mean a life of gloom.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John Le Carre   I first read this as a teenager but it was the BBC TV series starring Alex Guiness as George Smiley that made me return to the book with fresh eyes.

I love all Le Carre but this is his masterpiece.

Four Quarters by T S Eliot  I read a lot of poetry and trying to choose a

favourite is impossible. However, Eliot is a poet I return to often. I even tried to quote him in my second book, A Deadly Thaw, but he is still in copyright and I decided it was too expensive.

Eliot is a poet to last a lifetime and beyond.

Sarah Ward ~ April 2016 

Sarah Ward is an online book reviewer, whose blog Crimepieces (www.crimepieces.com) reviews the best of current crime fiction, published around the world.

She has also reviewed for EuroCrime and Crimesquad.

She is a judge for the Petrona Award for Scandinavian translated crime novels.

She lives in Derbyshire.

Follow Sarah on Twitter @sarahward1

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