LAST LIGHT - Book review

 LAST LIGHT

Alex Scarrow

A disaster novel published in 2007. It begins with a mystery in a New York hotel in 1999 and then moves to ‘the present’ where within the space of a week modern life as we know it crumbles. 

Andy Sutherland is a civilian engineer in Iraq when the oil wells in the Middle East are destroyed. Virtually simultaneously, others round the world are hit. Back in London, Andy’s wife Jenny is in Manchester for a job interview while their daughter Leona is at university and their young son Jacob is at boarding school. Andy swiftly realises that the concerted attacks on the oil supply are the beginning of a massive global disaster He warns his family to get together and stockpile food and water before people realise what is about to hit them.

Scarrow manages to keep the pages turning, also introducing an added threat: his email to Leona was intercepted and links back to that time in the NY hotel… Leona had recognised someone then which now makes her a high risk for some very powerful people.

The chapters are short – all ninety of them – and inject pace and anticipation as law and order dissolves and society disintegrates. Pitched against rebel forces, Andy and his small contingent have to fight their way out of Iraq. He desperately needs to get to his family, while his family are left to contend with looters and rioters. There are many tense moments for all involved.

There’s a lot of swearing, probably appropriate, considering the individuals and the dilemma they face: a global oil shortage. There’s also a conspiracy involved, similar to that posited in the film Batman Begins (2005). Since the book was written, the UK’s reliance on imported oil has diminished slightly; wind turbine power is proving a good alternative and at least the US has since become self-sufficient with its massive shale oil business…

There is a sequel, After Light (2011).