Book Review. The End of the World Running Club by Adrian J Walker: Set in the future after the world is partly destroyed by meteors we follow protagonist Ed as he tries to reach Cornwall from Edinburgh on foot through an apocalyptic landscape of burnt out cities and destroyed countryside.
The main attraction of the novel is to see if he and his band of survivors can make it as they have one adventure after another.
Escaping from violent gangs, attacked by gun toting survivors and battling to find food and water they become more desperate as the world we know disappears.
It became rather predictable with each character telling their ‘how I came to be here’ story as well as the relentless notes on feeling puffed out from running. The only main female character is not fleshed out despite her role in keeping them all alive while Ed spends his time telling us how tired he is and what a bad father he became.
The main irritation was with Ed who wasn’t an easy character to like with his self-pitying personality. One aspect of the novel is you ask yourself what would I do and think in the same situation? I’m not sure I’d join a running club but possibly spend time re-establishing a supply of clean water and connecting up power like those who have to pick up the pieces after an earthquake. Let’s hope those meteors don’t come crashing to earth and sending humanity the way of the dinosaurs as the world in Adrian J Walker’s The End of The World Running Club is rather grim while the characters are even worse.
Harry Mottram
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