The Sanctuary

by Andrew Hunter Murray

Overview

In a disintegrating and lawless near-future, a young man journeys north to a mysterious island owned by one of the world’s wealthiest men—and finds an entire new civilization waiting for him.

Ben is a painter from the crowded, turbulent city. 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. Now she has decided to break off their engagement and stay there for good.

Ben travels to the island to try and win Cara back. After an arduous journey, he finds himself compelled to stay. But as Ben begins to traverse Pemberley’s kingdom, he begins to uncover the truth of the apparently perfect society the enigmatic Sir John is building. Is Sanctuary Rock truly a second Eden, as he claims—or a previously undiscovered level of hell?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798212613859
Publisher:	Blackstone Publishing
Publication date:	01/23/2024
Pages:	344
Product dimensions:	8.40(w) x 5.30(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Andrew Hunter Murray is a scriptwriter and senior researcher for BBC2's QI. He co-hosts the award-winning podcast No Such Thing As A Fish, which has had 300 million downloads and toured the UK, Europe and USA. He also writes jokes and journalism for Private Eye magazine and hosts the Eye's podcast, Page 94.


His first novel, The Last Day, was a Sunday Times Top 10 Bestseller, and one of the top 10 fiction debuts of 2020.

Editorial Reviews

There is a pang of generational angst at the heart of the book—a sense that the younger generation have been excluded from the ordinary society-building that their parents’ generation took for granted, and that…there might be somewhere they could go and start afresh and belong. Unfortunately, unless you are a billionaire or fancy drinking the Kool-Aid, there really isn’t—so put your feet up and escape with this book instead.”

Radio Times (London)

This is a smoothly written, thought-provoking tale about aging societies and wealth inequality, with an effective shocker of an ending.”

The Guardian (London)

A thoughtful, impressive science fiction thriller.”

Pop Science Books

A really great book. I was rapt with it and it was so tense, and as a reader you’re trying to work out what the hell is going on.”

stand-up comedian and writer Richard Herring

Wonderful: boldly imagined and beautifully written—the best future-shock thriller for years.”

Lee Child

Imaginative and intriguing. The Sanctuary sucks you in and doesn’t let you leave until the very last page—and a final revelation that left me thinking late into the night. Andrew Hunter Murray is a young writer to watch.”

New York Times bestselling author Anthony Horowitz

Literary touchstones include H. G. Wells’s The Island of Doctor Moreau and, of course, Shakespeare’s The Tempest (Pemberley’s daughter, Bianca, makes a superbly compromised Miranda). The plot is about eco-Nazis, obviously, but the considerable pleasure of this novel is in the getting from here to there.”

The Times (London)

A disturbing and atmospheric dystopian novel, rich in imagination and stylishly written. I was totally immersed in this story that has themes around climate change and the future of humanity on a decaying planet. Totally absorbing.”

Crime Time FM Paul Burke

A stunningly original thriller set in the world of tomorrow that will make you think about what’s happening today.”

Harlan Coben

Absolutely brilliant. I’m thinking it should be made into a movie!”

radio and television presenter Zoe Ball

Gripping, unsettling, and original.”

Sunday Times (London) bestselling author Tim Harford

Murray’s disturbing eco-thriller keeps its readers spellbound until the final chilling twist.”

Daily Mail (London)

A brilliantly clever thriller by a brilliantly clever author.”

New York Times bestselling author Richard Osman

Its intelligence and bravura characterization will have you turning page after page. A fabulous achievement.”

Stephen Fry

Wonderful: boldly imagined and beautifully written—the best future-shock thriller for years.”

#1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Child

A stunningly original thriller set in the world of tomorrow that will make you think about what’s happening today.”

#1 New York Times bestselling author Harlan Coben

2023-10-20
An island thrives on a planet in crisis.

The world is slowly dying. One species after another is becoming extinct, and the last elephant has died. In this cheery world, portraitist Ben Parr is engaged to Cara Sharpe, who’s currently working on Sanctuary Rock, an island off the mainland. He earns his living by painting portraits of folks in wealthy enclaves called Villages—whenever he’d drive away from them, “the aura of money disappeared from the land, ray by ray.” But on the island is the ultimate Village, secretive and exclusive. Ben and Cara regularly exchange letters until she writes that she’s not coming back. Well, this is no good. Cara and his painting are Ben’s whole life, so he decides to go get her from this island to which no ferries go. He borrows a boat and nearly kills himself in the crossing, a brave act for one who says that “cowardice always was a weed scattered through the underbrush of my character.” A clinic cares for his wounds and asks who he is because he doesn’t belong there. He meets the super-wealthy Sir John Pemberley—just John, please—the man in charge. The island is almost completely disconnected from the mainland and will soon cut the final cord. Then they expect to survive and thrive while the rest of the world does neither. But all Ben really wants is to find Cara. Where is she? And what’s really happening on the island? Why is everyone so young? How did they eliminate rats, thus allowing seafowl to flourish again? The interesting answer matters more than just to birds. Ben is loaded with angst, but he paints and writes well, occasionally using curious words like rejectamenta and rugose. Will he ever find Cara—alive? One false note: “The very worst acts in history have been committed by men acting for the good.” Oh, really? Like Auschwitz?

A suspenseful read with a dystopian theme.

Kirkus Reviews