Hi everyone!
The Indie Spotlight is a monthly blog feature here on the site where we show a little love to the great selection of indie works out there that might have flown under your radar.
But no longer.
The inaugural novel for our feature is the brilliantly suspenseful dystopian story The End of the Road by the very talented Anna Legat, whose work I was very lucky to discover on Twitter via the marvellous Darkstroke Books.
To cut right to the chase this is a gem of a book. Through the eyes of several different characters, all flawed and struggling against the weight of their own regrets, the author walks us through the literal end of the world. Despite this particular end coming in the form of nuclear war, and several other terrifying natural disasters, the apocalypse largely acts as the backdrop as the story focuses on the down-in-the-dirt human struggles of everyday people.
We're placed in the shoes of (amongst others) an unfaithful husband searching for meaning and a sense of belonging, a nun with a feral determination to survive, and a not-so-humble vlogger as they wrestle with their own private turmoils and struggles in their new, unforgiving worlds.
The author guides us through these intertwining stories of hardship with an immersive style that utilises a number of clever techniques with tense and point-of-view that give each section a fresh voice and helps make every character feel distinct. fleshed out, and vividly realised.
Although the story is sombre (and full of death and suffering) there's a wonderful sense of hope permeating through each character's journey, and the book becomes a really thoughtful account of the triumph and human connection despite the hellish events depicted.
A highly recommended read for all you lovers of taught, character-driven tales, full of unexpected twists and turns. Even if you usually wouldn't pick up a book in the suspense, sci-fi, or dystopian genres I would still suggest you give this one a look for its strong character work and the amount of well-executed story in its no-word-wasted style.
The End of the Road is available in all the usual lovely formats here on Amazon.
And you can check out Anna's website at https://annalegat.com/
