I saw a GeekDad post that described this book as a cross between Station Eleven and The Shining. I was intrigued, and decided I wanted to read it as my last book this year. That didn’t work out so well when it turned out I had already read the second library book I requested. But, it’s close to the last book I’ll read this year.
Published: 2019
Genre: post-apocalyptic fiction
Length: 340 pages
Setting: L’Hotel Sixieme, Switzerland, present day
Summary: Short version: Jon documents events at the hotel after nuclear war
Long version: Nuclear bombs were dropped on many large cities around the world. The people staying at L’Hotel Sixieme have to decide what to do. While many leave, a core group of people stay. That includes Dr. Jon Keller, a historian. He decides to make a record of events at the hotel going forward and tells some of the inhabitants’ stories before arriving at the hotel. They find a dead girl in a water tank and Jon starts investigating who she was and how she got there. Everyone else questions his desire to solve the mystery. Eventually, they end up moving to the nearby town.
Final thoughts: Another “just fine” book. I never really got drawn into the story (unlike with Station Eleven). None of the characters felt sympathetic. That was probably because everyone was stressed out and worried the world was coming to an end. They were in a remote location and so cut-off from news. What if they were the only ones left? How were they going to survive the winter? Even with all the supplies of a big hotel and not too many people, they would run out. The people who started hoarding first were at a definite advantage. Relationships begin to break down in their small community, and then they find out there’s a perfectly functioning society in the nearby town. All that stress and worry could have been avoided if they had been willing to leave their little bit of sanctuary.
A central plot line is Jon’s questions about the dead girl they found. He can’t understand why no one else want to learn more about who she was or how she got there. I wasn’t satisfied with the answer to that mystery. Jameson seemed to set up a theme of everyone was meant to be where they were. An then there was the whole subplot of Jon having a toothache and refusing to get it looked at. Why at that to the story? I found it annoying detail.
Title comes from: The people at the hotel thought they might be the last ones alive
Reading challenges fulfilled: book #99 for 2020
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