All told, a well written and pleasant read that takes its time to gently take you to where it is going. 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. Increasingly concerned at the hold this place seems to have on Cara, Ben takes himself on a journey fraught with danger to make his way to the island.

Murray does a very good job of creating his setting. Although it seems the book is set in the future, it's a future that is already very recognisable. Climate change has progressed, though not yet to the worst predictions, and extinctions are becoming more and more commonplace. Although it would appear that the society is well on the way to becoming fully dystopian, it hasn't yet. However, the divide between rich and poor has increased, again quite recognisably, with the ordinary people living in cramped conditions in the overcrowded cities, while the wealthy live in luxury in closed villages outside. Pemberley, Cara's employer, is the creator and owner of most of these villages, and while it's not totally clear, it seems this may be where his wealth comes from. The place is also not specified, but feels very like Britain, with Ben living in what seems like it's probably London, and the Sanctuary being set in the north, probably off the coast of Scotland. So there's a real feeling of familiarity about both time and place, but the differences are enough to produce a sensation of unease caused by the feeling that we’re heading there fast. Finally, whilst the characters of Pemberley and the island’s inhabitants are interesting and the mystery hanging over Cara’s whereabouts keeps the suspense heightened, Ben as a central protagonist is far less compelling. 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. You’ve got to pay your way, Ben.Quite honestly a brilliant book which, like all the best dystopian fiction, makes us question our own world by showing us another world that is going slightly awry in ways not dissimilar to our own. Very many shades of H.G. Wells’s The Island of Doctor Moreau and the classic movie Logan’s Run. 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.

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.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]

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. The Sanctuary is one of those books that slowly but relentlessly draws you in. Not a lot happens, and what does happen does so slowly, until the story eventually reaches its climax and end. And it does so very enjoyably. 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 Ben is a painter, he has been living with his fiancée Cara for ten years, she has recently been working for millionaire philanthropist John Pemberley at his remote island known as The Sanctuary. When Ben receives a letter from Cara saying she wants to stay on the island and is calling off their engagement Ben decides to travel to the island for answers. Superb writing but a disappointing twist 🙄 and climax and weak ending. It was almost one of the best books l've read this year but the last 20% wasn't as great. Interesting concept though.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. 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. 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.