This is an efficient and matter-of-fact book. On the first page we find out that the world is about to end. In six days, in fact. This fact becomes common knowledge when it’s announced on the news.
What would you do if you heard this kind of thing on the news? Not as a rumour but as a certainty, with the scientists only disagreeing on whether we have 4 days left or 6. Nothing matters, because you have no future.
In the book, some people riot, some go off to spend their last week in the Bahamas. Some realise that they’ve wasted their lives, other continue quietly with theirs. Detective Inspector Watkins, the protagonist of the book, decides to spend the last 6 days solving a murder case that he is assigned to on the same day the news breaks. The rest of the story is a straightforward detective story, against a background of the world winding down.
The idea of end of the world is conveyed in such calm, matter-of-fact tone that it becomes serious rather than shocking. Very Englishly calm and understated. A slim little book but it really made an impression on me. So much of our lives hinges on there being a future, on survival – if not our own survival then at least that of our children, our friends, or at least of the human race. And even if the human race went extinct then we’d know that the trees and spiders and nettles around us would still be there. Even if we ourselves die, we leave some mark. But everything ending? What would that feel like?
It’s not just an idea book but also a well-written one. Tight prose, no unnecessary words (although not as terse as “The Road”), good flow and good dialogue.
For some reason the book hasn’t gotten much attention. Seems to be a small unknown publisher, maybe that’s the reason? I found a single review on Amazon (2 sentences!) and one on SF Site. In any case it deserves a wider readership.
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