‘Last Day’ – Bryan Smith (Bitter Ale Press)



When I was looking for some cover art, for ‘The Fucking Zombie Apocalypse’, the other day, Amazon threw me a little reminder that I hadn’t read Bryan Smith’s ‘Last Day’ yet. I’ve been meaning to read ‘Last Day’ for a long time, but never quite got round to it, so decided to make yesterday the day that I finally did something about that.
The plan was to get some work done as well but yesterday ended up being about stealing every moment that I could in order to finish ‘Last Day’. It’s not the easiest book to finish (and you’ll find out why as the review goes on) but it’s a book that you absolutely have to finish once you’ve started reading it. Let me tell you all about it…

The last day of the world starts out like any ordinary day. Everything seems normal. Then news breaks of an imminent killer asteroid strike and everything changes forever. With the human race facing sudden extinction, the world descends into chaos. Now that no one has anything to lose, hidden horrors are unearthed and brought to the light. Serial killers and other predators no longer have to hide, indulging their dark appetites without fear of reprisal. The seemingly meek reveal inner monsters and go on killing sprees. The world is engulfed in carnage and blood flows freely in the streets. A few seek to rise above the madness and find a way to do the impossible--survive the end of the world.

‘Survivor’ is still the most intensely fucked up book that I’ve ever read but ‘Last Day’ runs it a really close second and that is some high praise and a warning as well. If you have ever thought that the human race would face the end of the world with a bit of dignity and kindness then ‘Last Day’ is probably not the book for you. If you’re not a fan of extreme horror then ‘Last Day’ is definitely not the book for you. However, if you’re interested in seeing what the end of the world would be like if everyone’s bucket lists were utterly depraved… ‘Last Day’ is your book for a large helping of just that.

Bryan Smith does not hold back at all in his depiction of a world with a matter of hours left and a population that is suddenly free to indulge itself in the worst possible way. The result is a book that buzzes with a nasty, vicious energy and leads you into new scenes of depravity just when you thought that you knew what you were getting into. You find yourself reading to get away from scenes that are absolutely nauseating only to find yourself in the middle of something that is just as bad, if not worse. Smith also has a great habit of springing nasty little surprises on you, right out of nowhere, which is another incentive to keep reading. You really don’t know what is going to happen next and who it might happen too (no-one is safe, no-one…)

If you’re sat there thinking that ‘Last Day’ just sounds like wall to wall violence with not a lot of actual story… Well, you’d be half right. Some characters have plans that go beyond killing their neighbours and you will find yourself rooting for Reece because he is the only decent person in this book. Other than that though, it is pretty much wall to wall violence but it’s not mindless violence. Smith takes real care to let us see inside the heads of the cast (quite literally in the case of people who are shot) and shine a light on their motives. You won’t agree with their reasons but at least they have them, this raises ‘Last Day’ above torture porn and while it’s not as thought provoking as it wants to be, ‘Last Day’ does have some well rounded characters on show, utter bastards but what are you expecting by this point?

‘Last Day’ leaves the climactic moments to our imagination but that was never what it was about. This is a book that’s more about the journey than the destination and that journey is nasty and messed up; credit to Smith then for achieving exactly what he set out to do. I also liked the way that everyone came together at the end, making connections that felt natural and not forced at all.
Like I said earlier, it’s not the easiest book to read but it is really difficult to put down once you’ve started. ‘Last Day’ was published back in 2018 so the chances are that you’ve read it already. If you haven’t though, and you like a bit of extreme horror, you could do a lot worse than give it a read.

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