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

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I live in London, in a small flat with large bookshelves, and I'm already working away on the next novel idea... Ben is a painter and has just finished work on his latest commission - the portrait of a well-to-do family in one of the hundreds of Villages created by Sir John Pemberley. These are more than merely gated communities, they are the specially built, highly desirable places for those families that have succeeded and who no longer have to live with the mundane people in the rest of the country. They are so much ‘nicer’ and what the wealthy strive for, but they are also somewhat dead as any form of challenge has been specifically excluded. The narrator, Benjamin Parr, is an artist living in “the city” (unnamed but I assumed London because of the length of journey he has to make to get to the island where The Sanctuary is set). His fiancée, Cara, goes off on an assignment to work for a mysterious wealthy man who has set up a community on an island, John Pemberley. She does not return, and Benjamin follows his heart (pun intended) and makes his way up there to find out what is going on.

I enjoyed, “The Last Day,” by Andrew Hunter Murray and was pleased to read his latest. However, although I found this a thought provoking read, it was definitely a slow starter and I found it hard to engage with the central character, Ben. First off, Andrew Hunter Murray has certainly created a believable and vivid dystopian sci-fi world. Not only does he tap into the very real fears of our current climate crisis, highlighting how the divide between rich and poor could play out in the future, but he does so in a way that still feels unique. The idea of isolated Villages living in their own bubbles away from the troubles of the world is eerily believable. Set in a near future UKesque landscape, the last elephant has died (thanx, mankind), and the world is heading more towards the toilet than we believe it to be these days. Society is becoming layered - the wealthy live in secure villages (created by a billionaire developer) where everything is put on, then further out are their upper level helpers (teachers, doctors, professionals), then further still are the blue collar and unskilled workers, all dependent upont the village though. Finished this book so at least that’s something. I usually return half way through if I’m not into it but this just didn’t do it for me at all. Lots of emphasis on the villages vs the city though I still don’t really understand why or what the purpose of the villages are. I get it’s a rich vs poor thing but it doesn’t really make sense.This was an addictive read and I loved the dystopian twist, this is a new genre for me and I fully lost myself in this book. Another part of the book that proved to be incredibly gripping was the mystery behind Cara. Her ultimate fate is something most readers will agree on during a read, however, Hunter Murray does just enough to keep things ambiguous enough so that we’re never fully convinced. It was the overarching question mark that hung over the whole book and kept us gripped throughout. Murray is a writer and researcher for the BBC panel show QI, as a member of the team known as the " QI Elves". He co-hosts the spin-off podcast series No Such Thing as a Fish in which he and three other QI Elves – Anna Ptaszynski, James Harkin and Dan Schreiber – share their favourite facts from the week. Murray wrote and co-presented the podcast's spinoff television series No Such Thing as the News. He currently hosts " Drop us a line" as part of the Club Fish podcast. No shade, but this was better than I expected! I read it on a whim because it was mentioned on No Such Thing as a Fish, and really, I thought it was good!

The journey to the island is a harsh and challenging one and when he does arrive, Ben discovers that the community on the island is a secretive one and they do not welcome uninvited visitors. Di Filippo, Paul (10 February 2020). "There's no shortage of novels about what happens when the Earth stops spinning. 'The Last Day' may set a new standard". The Washington Post . Retrieved 5 March 2020. Murray's debut novel, The Last Day, a dystopian thriller set in a future where the Earth has stopped spinning, was published in February 2020. [3] Film and TV rights for the novel have been sold to Stone Village Television. [4] His second book, The Sanctuary, was published in May 2022. [5] 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!Andrew also writes jokes and journalism for Private Eye magazine, and hosts t Andrew Hunter Murray is a writer from London. His first novel, The Last Day, is a high-concept thriller set in a world whose rotation has slowed to a halt. The Last Day will be published in the UK and USA in February 2020 by Penguin Random House. Ben meets many of the island’s inhabitants, learns many aspects of life there, and sees much that impresses him. However, doubt still lingers, especially due to the continuing silence and absence of Cara, and the island clearly has other mysteries which also worry him. As Pemberley’s long-term plan is obviously nearing completion, what will Ben learn? What will he do? And where is Cara???

It’s a decent enough plot but the delivery was poor, it’s some kind of dystopian future however nothing is explained - there’s just vague references throughout to the planet declining and animal extinction. This aspect of the book would have been more enjoyable if there was a proper explanation of what had happened and what is going on. Hunter-Murray is fast becoming one of my favourite authors. His writing style is articulate and educated, whilst remaining easy to read (and easy to lose yourself in). Andrew Hunter Murray has a very cool, detached, almost period writing style - combined with the dismal setting (it's never really explained how we get from where we are now to this miserable future) made the first act difficult to engage with - but the whole feel of the book changes with the second act when the action moves to a private island - the sanctuary of the book's title. This is an apparently utopian society, constructed by the billionaire behind the Villages. 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.Dystopian thriller. A charismatic billionaire has created gated communities where the rich are tended by the poor working outside their doors. And on an offshore island, he is building a further community. A young artist makes his way their to find the woman he loves who has become one of the leading figures there. And while there, he finds out the truth… Overall, this was a book that held our attention and we did enjoy it. But, compared to other dystopian works we’ve reviewed such as Hanna Jameson’s The Last, it just didn’t strike the same sort of punch enough for us to say we ‘ loved’ this book.

Mind, my main criticism stems from the Richard Osman pull quote on the cover, which calls this a "thriller." This set up a certain expectation about content and especially pacing, which is where the novel let me down. Without that quote, there would have been no expectation and no confusion. But listen, that aside, I see what Murray is trying to do, the questions he's asking his reader to consider, and I respect it. This book took a totally different turn to what I was expecting! Really enjoyable, stayed up late to finish it as the story was so tense towards the end.' Read more Details Longman, Will (19 October 2017). "Andrew Hunter Murray interview - How to improvise a comedy based on Jane Austen's work". LondonTheatre.co.uk . Retrieved 14 April 2020. Outside novel-writing, I work for the TV show QI, as one of the 'Elves' finding out Quite Interesting facts about everything under the sun. I also co-host the podcast No Such Thing As A Fish, and write jokes and journalism for Private Eye, Britain's leading satirical magazine. 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.Cards are played close to the chest and little is given away. We sense a growing need for Ben to act, but he does not seem immune to the spell of the great man. Our questions are, eventually, answered and we sense just how close Ben comes to a very different story. A remote island, owned by a wealthy philanthropist who is building a brand-new world on the ruins of the old one. The Sanctuary has made a big splash in the reading world, and it’s clear to see why. As an imaginative dystopian thriller, Andrew Hunter Murray’s book has an incredibly enthralling premise and a good few mysteries that should keep a reader invested throughout their time with the story.