The Last Ship

A Novel

By: William Brinkley

Narrated by: Christopher Lane

Hailed "an extraordinary novel of men at war" (Washington Post), The Last Ship is the book that inspired the TNT mini series starring Eric Dane, Rhona Mitra, and Adam Baldwin, with Michael Bay as executive producer.

The unimaginable has happened: The world has been plunged into all-out nuclear war. Sailing near the Arctic Circle, the USS Nathan James is relatively unscathed, but the future is grim and Captain Thomas is facing mutiny from the tattered remnants of his crew. With civilization in ruins, he urges those that remain - 152 men and 26 women - to pull together in search of land. Once they reach safety, however, the men and women on board realize that they are the earth's last remaining survivors - and they've all been exposed to radiation. When none of the women seems able to conceive, fear sets in. Will this be the end of humankind?

This thrilling tale of post apocalyptic suspense is perfect for readers of Going Home by A. American, Lights Out by DavidCrawford, The End and The Long Road by G. Michael Hopf, and One Second After by William Forstchen.

©1988 William Brinkley (P)2014 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Wordy

I really enjoyed this book, even with its lack of any kind of action and the excessive word usage. The writer tends to ramble quite a bit, and is very impressed with his own vocabulary. An intimate knowledge of the Navy is obvious, but also excessive. There’s no action in the book, but the story itself doesn’t feel lacking for that. Worth the slog to get to the end.

Wow. Just--WOW!

I was, at first, annoyed by the Captain's insistence on being so wordy. He just went on and on before coming to the point. The first book (The Island) was frustrating because he spoke as if we knew what happened. No. I didn't. Book two (Our City) was where it got interesting. He used his wordiness to explain what the Nathan James was doing and why. It became and endearing trait, IMO, as the book progressed.

Although a work of fiction (obviously--we're still here!), it was unsettling and emotional to listen to the narrative of the destruction of all we know. The characters and their struggles to come to terms with the destruction were hard to listen to. It had me wondering what I would do or feel in that situation.

The narration by Christopher Lane was well done. After listening to his voice for nearly 30 hours, I'm going to miss him. His voice has become soothing.

I used my Map App frequently during the narration because I had no idea where the land masses or oceans and seas were. If nothing else, this book was educational. I won't win a geography bee, but I won't be dead last, either. Another thing, this book made me curious about Soviet-era nuclear submarines. I'll be reading about them to learn more about them. Ditto for US nuclear destroyers of the same period.

Well worth the initial frustration of the first book. I think the story would've been better if the first and second books were reversed or combined. It might not have been so frustrating. I felt as though I was reading the sequel to a book I had never read.

Slow start

Great book. Slow start…but hang in their for a good read / listen. I I

Astonishingly captivating plot; poor execution.

Lane's narration is what got me through this book captivating plot but poorly executed the setting jumps, without warning, seeming to the reader like an utterly frustrating Tarantino plot.
Let it not be said this is a poorly written piece by Brinkly (for that would be untrue) conversely the story was, at times, alarmingly suspense but the lack of direction vastly outweighed the tension of feelings. It seems as if right at the climax of tension once reaching the peak of the rising action the final climactic reward for the reader paled in comparison to the development of the story. Exceptional character development but ultimately this book is not one I would ever reread. The Last Ship is an affectionate readers "one night stand" good once but never would one willingly subjugate oneself to return to such murky waters.

A different look at the aftermath of shtf

I love the change in literacy and wordsmith. This is a fresh look at the end of the world books and series that are flooding the book market.

Cringe-Worthy Misogyny

I actually had to find out when this book was published (1988) because of some of the attitudes and comments of the main characters. It is all about the navy and no one can argue the military is less than enlightened when it comes to attitudes about women but there are parts of this narrative that seem like they come from the 1880s. (For example, when a rape occurs aboard ship, the Captain actually asks the ship’s physician if the woman had been a virgin?!).

That aside, the story did hold my attention because of the premise. Multiple mutual nuclear missile strikes take out almost all of humanity. The missles are launched from navy ships and enemy submarines. Some of the few survivors of the apocalypse are shipmates aboard U.S. Navy Destroyer, the Nathan James. The Nathan James is one of the first few Navy vessels to hold a mixed gender crew. There are several plot lines (scarcity of food and fuel, PTSD, radiation contamination, command authority, reproduction ethics, religion…) that raise interesting questions and kept me listening. But, everything in the book is forced through the spectrum of THE SEA. Everything is seen, told, evaluated and experienced from a naval standpoint. There are several instances where it is stated outright with no irony what so ever that seamen are just better people in general and certainly better equipped to withstand the apocalypse not because they happened to be at sea when the bombs start to fall but because they are better trained, better equipped, smarter, stronger and better disciplined than ANYONE else in the world.

As noted by other reviewers, the story is bloated with extra narrative, but I would recommend the listen if you have a diehard interest in naval or post-apocalypse adventure. Christopher Lane is one of my favorite narrators and did a fine job here.

Gripping post-apocalyptic tale

If you could sum up The Last Ship in three words, what would they be?

Contamination. Searching. Captain.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The captain! We got to see into his mind, as he is the narrator of the story. He was real in that he had internal conflicts, normal human instincts and urges, and he was constantly balancing on a tightrope.

What about Christopher Lane’s performance did you like?

He has distinct voices for each character, including a pretty good Russian accent. Since the book is narrated by the sea captain, he really had to give the whole story some grit. He did a beautiful job of it, I thoroughly enjoyed every minute. The real way to know if the performance was good is that I never for a moment became focused on Lane as a reader, I was completely sucked into the story.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Is there life after nuclear war?

Any additional comments?

I just loved this book so much. One of the most entertaining things I've read or listened to in quite some time. I read some reviews on the book itself saying that the author was long-winded and boring, but as an audio book that really doesn't hold true. Christopher Lane does an excellent job in his performance and you really feel as though you are listening to a hardened and salty old sea captain and naval officer. Highly recommend.

ASTRONISHINGLY BRILLIANT POST-APOCALYPTIC NOVEL!!!

Brinkley's amazing novel follows the crew of a U.S. Navy destroyer trying to find safe harbor after most of the world has been ravaged by nuclear war. Although somewhat dated now (published in 1989, three years before the USSR was dissolved), the story remains totally engaging and is ultimately timeless. It is certainly in the same class as Nevil Shute's "On the Beach," David Brin's "The Postman," and Pat Frank's "Alas Babylon." The novel is very well written, told in the first person from the perspective of the destroyer's captain, a highly intelligent and philosophical man. My enjoyment of Brinkley's writing skill was greatly enhanced by the tremendous job of narration done by Christopher Lane. Highly recommended!

smashing

This story has a great plot and keeps you on the edge of your seat with a surprising ending!

good but hard

wonderful story! but drags on terribly describes things in a extreme detail makes up atleast 60 percent of the book