The #1 International Bestseller A Science Fiction & Fantasy Book to Keep on Your Radar by io9 and GizmodoA powerful post-apocalyptic thriller, perfect for fans of The Martian. When the sky begins to fall, one man finds himself separated from his family, his best hope is to run-or risk losing what he loves forever. When the world ends and you find yourself stranded on the wrong side of the … forever.
When the world ends and you find yourself stranded on the wrong side of the country, every second counts. No one knows this more than Edgar Hill: over five hundred miles of devastated wasteland stretch between him and his family. To get back to them, he must push himself to the very limit-or risk losing them forever.
His best option is to run. But what if his best isn’t good enough? End of the World Running Club is an otherworldly yet extremely human story of hope, love, and the endurance of both body and spirit.
Praise for The End of the World Running Club
“Harrowing and heartrending, this is a novel that is almost impossible to put down.” –Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
“Walker’s ability to imagine a post-apocalyptic world in crisp detail is on full display in the early pages of The End of World Running Club.” – Maximum Shelf
..”.a beautifully written postapocalyptic tale of a flawed man’s struggle for survival and redemption.” – Booklist
“A fresh and frighteningly real take on what “the end” might be…quite an exciting and nerve-wracking ‘run’, with characters
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A Glimmer of Hope in This Post-Apocalyptic Gem
My husband bought this book for me at a bookstore, and he could not have purchased a better gift. I also had the pleasure of reading parts of the ebook on Hoopla and listening to chunks on audio.
I loved how the narrator skillfully acted out each voice. He did a wonderful job of shifting from adult men to small children, and he captured regional accents beautifully. Five stars for all the formats, especially the audio book.
Now, other reviewers have commented on how unlikeable the protagonist Ed Hill is, and yes, in the beginning of the book he is a self-absorbed jerk and later gets criticized for being an unattentive father by his companions. Nevertheless, I enjoyed going on this journey with Ed and his pals through encounters with cannibals, villains, foul weather, and a bit of magical realism. I loved all the characters, especially the nasty ones like Jenny Ray, a controlling woman with dehumanizing tendencies. I loved how Ed encountered conflicts until the very end, making Ed’s journey to reunite with his family moving. I found the ending, though not a fully happy one, to be realistic and satisfying. The study guide questions at the end were also on par with questions I would ask my college composition and literature students. Overall, this book gets five stars, and I look forward to reading more of Walker’s work.
Garbled
Sublime.
‘You’re bonkers, Stred!” the other readers yelled from across the silent digital library.
‘Reading an apocalyptic-end times novel while a pandemic rages is bonkers! He’s lost the plot,’ they shouted in unison.
Have I?
I don’t think so, but who ultimately knows. I’ve certainly passed on reviewing some books lately due to the direct plot of a pandemic virus wiping out humans. But this book, this came with high praise.
There are a handful of reviewers who I implicitly trust and one of them is the Grimreader. Adrian (not the author!) has been recommending I read this since we first connected four or so years ago. I bought this a couple years ago and it slowly worked it’s way up my TBR. When it arrived, I decided not to push it aside. I knew it wasn’t a book based around a Covid-19 type virus, so I had faith going in that this would be an emotionally charged, survive at all costs books.
I was bang on.
What I liked: One of the things I absolutely loved about ‘The End of the World Running Club’ was that we got to see the before, during and after. Many ‘incident’ books focus on the during or the after and allude to the before. This one starts off the morning of and we get to see the events play out.
I found Walker’s writing to be so engaging that I rarely wanted to set this book aside. Ed, our main character, starts off with many faults and I adored that we got to see how he tackled these issues head on as the story unfolded. The cast of characters that Walker introduces are all superbly well done, minor-main characters to a degree, with each one feeling alive and real. When bad things happen you ache and hurt.
The ending on this was perfect. Perfect. In the author interview included in my edition, Walker discusses the various reactions and interpretations of the ending, but in this particular readers brain, the ending worked so well. I loved where Ed ended up and how we know what his next steps would be, should he pursue them.
Saying that – there is a sequel and frankly, I’m not 100% I can bring myself to read it, should it become available on Kindle here in Canada. I would love to see what comes next, but at the same time this book was such a fantastic experience, I don’t know if I want to see what comes next. I think how it ended was spot on and I loved it.
What I didn’t like: There’s a section about three quarters in where the group ends up in a town and is essentially captured by the woman in charge. I really didn’t like this section. It was necessary and showed how some were responding to the events in the world, but I just wanted to see if they could make it in time and this felt like a barricade or barrier that was far too obvious of a plot point.
Why you should buy this: Look, I know even those who read horror regularly are avoiding end-of-world scenarios right now, but this book is a survival drama centered around the aftermath of a cataclysmic meteor event. I was absolutely riveted and was rooting for this group of survivors as they made heart wrenching decision after heart wrenching decision. This book worked to remain rooted in realistic circumstances and there was very few coincidences which allowed for events to happen without the typical necessary suspension of belief.
Walker really delivered with this one and I’m so glad I decided to dive in and discover this world. While I may not look into reading the sequel at this time, I’ll definitely be looking at buying his newest book ‘The Human Son.’
Loved this one.
This book was not quite what I expected. Asteroids rather than something manmade are responsible for the devastation that is inflicted on Great Britain. Edgar Hill is an overweight and rather irresponsible husband and father. After a night of drinking, he fails to heed the warnings for the asteroid collisions and then desparately bundles his family into an ill prepared basement where they barely survive until they are rescued by a military helicopter searching for survivors. Things deteriorate as gangs in the nearby town ambush the soldiers as they search for food and water. So Edgar volunteers to go with a group to scrounge for supplies, more to escape helping his wife with their children than anything else. However when he returns, the camp survivors have been evacuated and only a few soldiers and civilians remain. When no helicopter returns for them, they start out to rendevouz in southern England where ships are coming to take the survivors to the southern hemisphere where the destruction from the asteroids is less severe. Only then does Edgar realize how much he really loves his family and starts a desparate journey from Scotland to the tip of England.
Not Your Typical Post-Apocalypse Story. This book played out like a FAR superior version of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road – so fans of that book (and sadly, it has legions) should like this one as well. Except whereas that book was so extremely dark, bleak, and miserable, this one tries to approach things with a much more plausible, real world tone and outlook. Yes, there are challenges. But we face them one step at a time – for hundreds of thousands of steps. Overall a very refreshing yet serious take on the post Apocalyptic genre, and a worthy first ever Century Book for me.
Currently reading. I am into apocalyptic novels right now so I leave it at work because I know I would read it cover to cover in one sitting.
Adrian Walker has become my new favorite author. Authors…take note…a new bar has been set. Absolutely writing and story, at its best.
This is (for the most part) just another post-apocalyptic adventure. It’s filled with the expected dangers – ravaging thugs, military men acting badly, small communities run by larger-than-life baddies that hardly seem realistic, but it’s bound together by some very cool characters. The title is a bit misleading, I think, since the actual running is secondary and doesn’t arrive until much later in the book… but as the story unfolds, there is a wonderful blend of characters that will continue to draw you in.
Very interesting read and a story line different from anything I’ve read before. Really enjoyed it!
With apocalyptic novels becoming a dime a dozen, I found this book by A. J. Walker a refreshing take on a world ending event. The characters are interesting, believable and expertly presented to the reader. I found myself wondering what I would do in a similar situation. I recommend this page turner.
Worth the read. Good start, long run with a few unrelated but interesting events. Unresolved ending.