The Sanctuary: the gripping must-read thriller by the Sunday Times bestselling author

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A remote island, owned by a wealthy philanthropist who is building a brand-new world on the ruins of the old one. It’s a decent enough plot but the delivery was poor, it’s some kind of dystopian future however nothing is explained - there’s just vague references throughout to the planet declining and animal extinction. This aspect of the book would have been more enjoyable if there was a proper explanation of what had happened and what is going on. Overall, this was a book that held our attention and we did enjoy it. But, compared to other dystopian works we’ve reviewed such as Hanna Jameson’s The Last, it just didn’t strike the same sort of punch enough for us to say we ‘ loved’ this book. Ben is looking forward to meeting up with Cara, but she writes to say that she intends to stay on the island, he sets out to find her. We then follow his journey across a blighted land, as the book touches on environmental change, wealth being in the hands of the few, while the many work to service the needs of those in the villages. Ben’s desire to reunite with Cara is harder to understand as their relationship doesn’t seem particularly close or warm. Then, as the novel progresses and secrets are revealed, it was difficult to really know where the author wanted the plot to go.

Murray is a writer and researcher for the BBC panel show QI, as a member of the team known as the " QI Elves". He co-hosts the spin-off podcast series No Such Thing as a Fish in which he and three other QI Elves – Anna Ptaszynski, James Harkin and Dan Schreiber – share their favourite facts from the week. Murray wrote and co-presented the podcast's spinoff television series No Such Thing as the News. He currently hosts " Drop us a line" as part of the Club Fish podcast. Another part of the book that proved to be incredibly gripping was the mystery behind Cara. Her ultimate fate is something most readers will agree on during a read, however, Hunter Murray does just enough to keep things ambiguous enough so that we’re never fully convinced. It was the overarching question mark that hung over the whole book and kept us gripped throughout. Ben only came to the island to bring his fiancée Cara home. But when he arrives, he is rapidly seduced by the vision of a better way of life, as described by the charismatic and mysterious Sir John. This book took a totally different turn to what I was expecting! Really enjoyable, stayed up late to finish it as the story was so tense towards the end.' Read more DetailsAs is my wont, this is another hairdresser read. I need something to lose myself in, once the small talk has finished. The Sanctuary has made a big splash in the reading world, and it’s clear to see why. As an imaginative dystopian thriller, Andrew Hunter Murray’s book has an incredibly enthralling premise and a good few mysteries that should keep a reader invested throughout their time with the story. I really struggled with Pemberley's goal too. He was obviously a very intelligent man, who had a lot of vision in some ways, and achieved a lot, but his main goal made zero sense to me. I felt there was very little mystery, really, but this is slightly spoilery, I suppose, so don't read on if you don't want any spoilers!

I found this to be a slow read (but I enjoyed it none the less) up until Ben reaches the island, then it’s full steam aheadDystopian thriller. A charismatic billionaire has created gated communities where the rich are tended by the poor working outside their doors. And on an offshore island, he is building a further community. A young artist makes his way their to find the woman he loves who has become one of the leading figures there. And while there, he finds out the truth… Superb writing but a disappointing twist 🙄 and climax and weak ending. It was almost one of the best books l've read this year but the last 20% wasn't as great. Interesting concept though. Set in a near future UKesque landscape, the last elephant has died (thanx, mankind), and the world is heading more towards the toilet than we believe it to be these days. Society is becoming layered - the wealthy live in secure villages (created by a billionaire developer) where everything is put on, then further out are their upper level helpers (teachers, doctors, professionals), then further still are the blue collar and unskilled workers, all dependent upont the village though. Mind, my main criticism stems from the Richard Osman pull quote on the cover, which calls this a "thriller." This set up a certain expectation about content and especially pacing, which is where the novel let me down. Without that quote, there would have been no expectation and no confusion. But listen, that aside, I see what Murray is trying to do, the questions he's asking his reader to consider, and I respect it. Ben is a painter and has just finished work on his latest commission - the portrait of a well-to-do family in one of the hundreds of Villages created by Sir John Pemberley. These are more than merely gated communities, they are the specially built, highly desirable places for those families that have succeeded and who no longer have to live with the mundane people in the rest of the country. They are so much ‘nicer’ and what the wealthy strive for, but they are also somewhat dead as any form of challenge has been specifically excluded.

The Sanctuary sets up a dystopian world sometime in the near future. The elite and wealthy have retreated to private Villages in the countryside, living a life of luxury whilst the majority of the population continue to live in urban slums all whilst various climate crises dominate the news. Readers follow Ben Parr, a young painter who spends his time illustrating the wealthy inhabitants inside the Villages. I live in London, in a small flat with large bookshelves, and I'm already working away on the next novel idea... Di Filippo, Paul (10 February 2020). "There's no shortage of novels about what happens when the Earth stops spinning. 'The Last Day' may set a new standard". The Washington Post . Retrieved 5 March 2020. Hunter-Murray is fast becoming one of my favourite authors. His writing style is articulate and educated, whilst remaining easy to read (and easy to lose yourself in). The journey to the island is a harsh and challenging one and when he does arrive, Ben discovers that the community on the island is a secretive one and they do not welcome uninvited visitors.Andrew Hunter Murray is a writer from London. His first novel, The Last Day, is a high-concept thriller set in a world whose rotation has slowed to a halt. The Last Day will be published in the UK and USA in February 2020 by Penguin Random House. Lots of emphasis on the villages vs the city though I still don’t really understand why or what the purpose of the villages are. I get it’s a rich vs poor thing but it doesn’t really make sense.

Part way through the first act of this explicitly three-act SF novel, I was finding things distinctly depressing. (But there's better news to come.) The first person protagonist, a portrait artist named Ben, lives in a low-key dystopian future for a country that is never explicitly identified, though is fairly obviously England. Cities are in decay, the economy seems to be pretty much non-existent and the only places that are pleasant to live in are Villages (with a capital V) - walled communities where old rich people are waited on hand on foot by the young poor. No shade, but this was better than I expected! I read it on a whim because it was mentioned on No Such Thing as a Fish, and really, I thought it was good!Andrew Hunter Murray has a very cool, detached, almost period writing style - combined with the dismal setting (it's never really explained how we get from where we are now to this miserable future) made the first act difficult to engage with - but the whole feel of the book changes with the second act when the action moves to a private island - the sanctuary of the book's title. This is an apparently utopian society, constructed by the billionaire behind the Villages. Ben manages to get to the island (half-killing himself in the process) to see his fiancée who works there - he expects to hate the place, but initially he finds it beguiling. Andrew also writes jokes and journalism for Private Eye magazine, and hosts t Andrew Hunter Murray is a writer from London. His first novel, The Last Day, is a high-concept thriller set in a world whose rotation has slowed to a halt. The Last Day will be published in the UK and USA in February 2020 by Penguin Random House. My biggest problem was that it didn't capture my attention, so I was mostly bored, which also meant that my attention was drifting (mostly listened to the audiobook - the author did a great job narrating it!). I didn't really like the main character either, and wasn't particularly interested in the mysterious island. This was an addictive read and I loved the dystopian twist, this is a new genre for me and I fully lost myself in this book.