Edgar Hill was an unhappy man the Sunday morning that the world nearly ended. His wife was still recovering from giving birth to their youngest, Arthur, and their entire marriage focused on keeping their two children alive. Gone was the love that had brought them together and instead there were two adults that barely tolerated each other. Edgar was a bit of a dick to his wife with his "he who works gets to sleep" decree. He had put on a ton of weight since their marriage and was an all around dick to be around. He did agree to look after the children on weekend mornings so that Beth could sleep. That is why Edgar was awake (and a bit hungover) when he remembered the news from the night before those asteroids were about to hit the planet. His teenage fantasy with all things apocalyptic kicked in and he knew he needed to get his family to the cellar. There they survived for three weeks before being rescued and sent to a refugee center of sorts. Three months later Edgar is out on a scavenging mission when Beth and the kids were swept up in a rescue that would put them on ships to the other side of the planet, where damage was minimal. With the country's infrastructure destroyed by the asteroids, Edgar and a band of misfits set off on foot for the 450-mile trek to his family. Will Edgar and his companions make it to the ships before they set sail? Or will the treachery they encounter along the way do what the asteroids could not - destroy them all?
I find myself a little surprised at how much I enjoyed The End of the World Running Club. Edgar was a bit of a dick and I really struggled to like him at first. One of those characters that are so distasteful if you had encountered him in real life you would hate him and try to convince his wife that she could do better. The author did an astounding job of painting just what a dick Edgar was before the asteroids hit. He was the kind of guy that would frequently get drunk with his work buddies leaving his wife to be the sole care provider for the kids. He was very hands-off in their upbringing. He started to redeem himself when he kicked it into gear knowing what was about to happen. Even then he was a bit dickish when he kicked in the door for his local store. It isn't until his family is evacuated to safety that Edgar starts to realize how much of a dick he had been. It wasn't until he had to start out on foot that he was -- humbled -- enough to realize how lucky he was to have such a wonderful family. His journey forces him to encounter some pretty perilous situations and even more perilous survivors - the desperate kind. The kind of situations you would only expect to encounter in a post-apocalyptic world. I felt a rush of relief as the book ended, but the story still felt unfinished. I can see another book coming down the way - I hope so at least.
Bottom line - I haven't read a good post-apocalyptic story in a while and I am glad that I picked up The End of the World Running Club. With flawed, complex characters, the author created a world that seemed far more plausible than most novels in this genre. If you are looking for a way to escape the world's headlines (or potentially needing to take notes in the event of a global meltdown) than this is the book to pick up!
Details:
- The End of the World Running Club by Adrian J. Walker
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- Publisher: Sourcebooks
- Publication Date: 9/5/2017
- Pages: 464
- Buy it Here!
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