The Last Day

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…

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My Review

I’m not sure how I came to purchase this book (possibly a BookBub deal as I usually read independently published books) but I’m glad I did. I enjoyed every moment in this book and thought it was a great page-turner.

I thought the premise was interesting, in the world has stopped turning (referred to as ‘The Stop’) leaving half of Earth in permanent darkness and the other half burned to a crisp. Somewhere in the middle (the United Kingdom and the top end of Europe) the conditions are optimum for supporting life. **The science in this scenario is probably debatable but if you can ignore that, it’s a good read. And, as with all apocalyptic/dystopian fiction, life is better for those at the top.

Ellen’s story begins after (reluctantly) visiting her old professor in hospital. They haven’t spoken in years and she is reluctant to visit him, but visit him she does, and a cryptic clue, said on his dying breath, leads to her putting her life in danger and she tries to decode its meaning.

There are hints to life after Brexit in this book – a society in turmoil, harsh conditions for the poor, totalitarian rule, and a major (and rather tragic) breakdown in relations with our closest neighbour. But there is hope too, and a mystery to solve.

Overall, it’s a good book and an enjoyable read. So much so, I decided to follow the author on Amazon.

Fact check

I was curious about what might happen if the Earth did, indeed, stop spinning and found a couple of interesting articles.

https://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/what-if/what-if-earth-stopped-spinning.htm

https://www.sciencefocus.com/planet-earth/the-thought-experiment-what-would-happen-if-the-earth-stopped-spinning/