An interesting premise but let down by an excess of expositional dialogue which seems clumsy and the narration isn't great either. Whitfield’s 2006 debut, Bareback, was an original take on werewolves; In Great Waters, an alternate history of Europe, featured mer-people.

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. As Ben begins to find his way around the island, he knows he must also work out - what has made Cara so determined to throw her old life away And is Sanctuary Rock truly another Eden - or a prospect of hell By the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Last Day, this high-concept thriller will intrigue and haunt you as you too work to find out what secret is buried on the island. It becomes clear why Pemberley takes such an interest in him later on, but it’s a reveal that falls flat when you spend a whole book wondering why this reclusive island would happily host a painter who spends all his time just wandering about.Our main character is Ben, a painter, whose fiancée has been working for millionaire philanthropist John Pemberley at his remote island, known as The Sanctuary. This set up a certain expectation about content and especially pacing, which is where the novel let me down. For six months his fiancée, Cara, has been working on the remote island of Sanctuary Rock, the private estate of millionaire philanthropist Sir John Pemberley. The elite and wealthy have retreated to private Villages in the countryside, living a life of luxury whilst the majority of the population continue to live in urban slums all whilst various climate crises dominate the news.

The first person protagonist, a portrait artist named Ben, lives in a low-key dystopian future for a country that is never explicitly identified, though is fairly obviously England. 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. However, checking the post, he finds a brief letter from Cara - she is not coming back, at all, the project is too important.Allusions are made to past inhabitants, reference is made to previous problems and Ben is struck by the similarity between this island dwelling and the school he was sent to as a child. 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. 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!

Ben behaves like an idiot, and the plot relies on a certain amount of contrived suspense, but this is a smoothly written, thought-provoking tale about ageing societies and wealth inequality, with an effective shocker of an ending. He was obviously a very intelligent man, who had a lot of vision in some ways, and achieved a lot, but his main goal made zero sense to me. As the time passes, Cara isn’t to be seen, and Ben, along with the billionaire’s daughter start to become suspicious about the almost cult-like atmosphere present on the island. I don’t rob them, I don’t damage anything… I’m more an unofficial house-sitter than an actual criminal. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).Readers follow Ben Parr, a young painter who spends his time illustrating the wealthy inhabitants inside the Villages. 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). And is Sanctuary Rock truly a second Eden, as the mysterious Sir John claims - or a prospect of hell?