The End of the World Running Club

July 31, 2017
Walker’s ambitious debut novel offers a gripping portrayal of a postapocalyptic world. This type of end-of-the-world story has been told before, but rarely with the intensity and believability that Walker creates here. Edgar Hill, a lazy, unhappy man, lives with his family in Edinburgh, Scotland, when an asteroid barrage strikes Earth, destroying modern civilization. Unprepared physically or mentally for the widespread death and destruction that follows, Edgar must finally face his responsibilities as a husband and father, and he knows he won’t measure up. Clustered with a few surviving civilians and soldiers, Edgar is separated from his family when they are evacuated by a rescue helicopter, leaving Edgar and six others behind. Without hope of rescue, the six men and one woman flee to the south, across a landscape of chaos and despair. Edgar and the others must run to get to Cornwall, 450 miles away, chasing a rumor of sanctuary and seaborne evacuation, pursued by killers and gangs of murderous survivors driven mad by desperation and hopeless resignation. Edgar has never run in his life, but is determined to reunite with his family, and so sets a remarkable example of endurance and self-sacrifice for the others. This is a wholly convincing and exciting novel.

September 1, 2017
Edgar Hill is not the sort to survive a major catastrophe. He is an overweight ( Who has time to exercise? ), indifferent husband and father of two small children, Alice and baby Arthur. Although he sincerely loves his family, Ed would rather spend time anywhere else but with them. He does ensure their survival by hurling his wife, Beth, and the kids into the cellar as destruction falls from the sky, only discovering later that they are trapped. After being rescued and joining a group of other survivors, Ed nonetheless continues his self-indulgence and is off on a scouting expedition when helicopters unexpectedly evacuate almost everyone, including his family, hundreds of miles south. With his wife and children scheduled to be shipped overseas, time is short for Ed to reach them. Lacking transportation and with questionable roads in-between, he is determined to try anything to be reunited, even the impossiblerunning 500 miles cross-country. Walker's second novel after From the Storm (2012) is a beautifully written postapocalyptic tale of a flawed man's struggle for survival and redemption.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

Starred review from September 1, 2017

Already an international best seller, Walker's (From the Storm) postapocalyptic take is fresh and unparalleled in a genre that's saturated by aliens or zombies (or both). Edgar Hill lives an ordinary, if unfulfilling, life with his wife and two children in Scotland. One winter morning, after a long night of crying children and an angry wife, he thinks to himself, "What if this all just went away?" His idle thoughts become reality in the worst possible way when asteroids rain down on their town. Holed up in their cellar with minimal water and supplies, the Hills manage to survive until help arrives, but most of their neighbors aren't so lucky. Nor is the rest of Britain. Assigned to a miserable refugee camp, Ed does everything he can to escape the tedium, and his family, including volunteering for scouting missions. Returning from one of these forays, Ed and his companions discover the camp has been evacuated to a new location hundreds of miles away. The running club is born--without transportation, it's the only chance they have to find their group. Initially a dislikable character, Ed emerges as a hero from the wreckage, and readers will cheer, perhaps unwillingly at first, for a very human father. VERDICT Harrowing and heartrending, this is a novel that is almost impossible to put down.--Jane Henriksen Baird, Anchorage P.L., AK

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