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

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Ben behaves like an idiot, and the plot relies on a certain amount of contrived suspense, but this is a smoothly written, thought-provoking tale about ageing societies and wealth inequality, with an effective shocker of an ending. As the time passes, Cara isn’t to be seen, and Ben, along with the billionaire’s daughter start to become suspicious about the almost cult-like atmosphere present on the island.

Meanwhile, only those who can’t afford to leave the cities live there, while the wealthy head for protected villages. But it was still a good read and relevant to our times of catastrophic climate change and social hardship. The Sanctuary is a dark tale, warning of man’s desire to play god and exploring the impact our actions can have on those around us. No Such Thing As A Fish has also led to a spin-off TV series, No Such Thing As The News, and three books co-written with my colleagues on the show - the Book Of The Year 2017-19. 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.Texas has seceded from the US and named itself Liberty, ruled over by a president who gives the people what they want: daily parades, free nougat and plenty of surprises. stars, but I can definitely see how it's a matter of preference (for the most part), so don't take my rating into account, if you're thinking to pick this up.

Ben meets many of the island’s inhabitants, learns many aspects of life there, and sees much that impresses him. Part way through the first act of this explicitly three-act SF novel, I was finding things distinctly depressing. As with his previous book, The Last Day, I feel that Murray has come up with a good premise but hasn’t really developed a strong enough plot to go with it. 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. My first novel was published in 2020 - it's a thriller set in a world which has spun to a halt, bringing civilisation to the brink of collapse.

Ben is, with some reluctance, aided on his journey by someone determined to see John Pemberley suffer (for reasons undisclosed) and we watch him head into open water desperate to win back his lover. The city is never named, neither even is the country, but it feels like it could be London, and therefore the country England. 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!