The End of the World Running Club : Review

The End of the World Running Club by Adrian J Walker

Series: The End of the World Running Club #1

Release Date: 2nd June 2016

Publisher: Del Rey

Genres: Apocalyptic / Contemporary Fiction

When the world ends and you find yourself stranded on the wrong side of the country, every second counts.

No one knows this more than Edgar Hill. 550 miles away from his family, he must push himself to the very limit to get back to them, or risk losing them forever...

His best option is to run.
But what if your best isn’t good enough?

The Number One race-against-time bestseller as featured on Simon Mayo’s Radio 2 Book Club.

Ed hasn't been the greatest of husbands or fathers. In fact, he's simply plodded along for years doing the family thing, not even sure if he likes it or not. And, if he's honest he's been feeling trapped and resentful for a long long time. He drinks too much, eats too much and is about as helpful to his poor suffering wife as a chocolate teapot! But a cataclysmic event sees him trying desperately to save his family. Of course he might have had more time if he hadn't drunk himself into a stupor when all the warnings were being broadcast but he can only do his best moving forward. But, is it going to be enough? 

Managing to get his family to a safety of sorts he is suddenly separated from them and its then that Ed realises just how much his wife and children mean to him. It's just a shame it took the world to end for him to realise that. So, he sets off on an epic journey with some companions to try to reunite with his family. And, the only way that the overweight and terribly unhealthy Ed can get there on time is to run. Good job his companions are more than up for the challenge and throughout the journey they spur him on, keeping him going. Along the way however the unlikely friendship group are held up by all manner of difficulties and Ed wonders if he's ever going to get to his family on time before they leave UK shores forever.

I'm not quite sure how I came across this fantastic book. I think someone recommended it on a Facebook book group and I thought it looked interesting. I love to run and I absolutely adore a good end of the world story! Of course the book is about more than that. It delves deep into the psyche of the human race and pushes the reader to think about just what they would do in order to survive. To protect the people they love. To protect themselves. I think this book explores that pretty well. It also forces us to take a good look into how society crumbles so quickly in the face of adversity and we revert to type - kill or be killed. The human race will always find a way to rebuild but we may not necessarily have learned from past mistakes, destined to make the same ones over and over again.  For Ed, he has a chance to redeem himself and pray that he hasn't left it too late. I loved this book so much I've got the End of the World Survivors club which is Ed's wife's story is just sitting teasing me from my TBR pile. I cannot wait! 

The End of the World Running Club is a highly recommended read!