Review: The Last Tribe by Brad Manuel, read by Scott Brick
I first stumbled upon The Last Tribe when I was writing the article for the Audie Awards 2017. One of my favourite narrators, Scott Brick is nominated there for Best Male Narrator with The Last Tribe by Brad Manuel. immediately after publishing the list of nominees on the blog I when on Audible and purchased the audiobook. It was one of the best books I listened to in a long time and I’ll tell you about it below, without spoilers of course…
The story follows the Dixon brothers and their relatives as they travel through the United States with hope of reuniting the entire remaining family after a plague decimates the population of the World, leaving behind just a few survivors. The action moves easily between the family members as they follow different paths in order to get to the rendezvous location. There are some adults alive and they do their best to keep everything in check, but the stars of this book are the children.
I’m vague with my description for a good reason. I really want you to be as surprised as I was as I discovered each new character, location and the personal stories of this superb group of survivors. Don’t worry, of cours, there are more people alive, not only the Dixon‘s and, sadly, they all have their share of dramatic stories to tell. But, even as the World shut’s down around them, hope remains for a new, different future for those who want to join ”the tribe” and work together for a better life in a new World.
Brad Manuel is a superb writer, the story is beautifully told from many angles, the characters feel alive and real. Their adventures will keep you up all night, listening to Scott‘s stelar performance. Although there are a lot of dramatic moments where you may think everything is lost, what I love the most about this contemporary post apocalyptic thriller is its positive vibe! There are no zombies, no roving bands of hateful scumbags, just scattered survivors, predominantly good at heart and a few misguided individuals…
I won’t tell you anything else about the plot or the characters,. The only thing I’ll add before moving on to the narration is that The Last Tribe made me see a better side of the human race than other books like it.
As I said when I started this review, Scott Brick is performing The Last Tribe and he gives life to all the characters with such passion and emotion that I can tell that he enjoyed the story as much as I did. He differentiates each important character in the listener’s mind with different voices, accents, tones, inflections and sometimes he gets close and personal in order to drive home some really intense scene.
I’m sure that Scott is everything and more that Brad Manuel imagined a narrator will sound when he was writing The Lost Tribe and I hope he wins Audie….
fans of Stephen King‘s The Stand and Justing Cronin‘s The Passage will enjoy The Last Tribe tremendously as long as they want a fantastic, positive story, without all the gore, blood and virals, which in case you are not familiar with the amazing The Passage Trilogy are a sort of vampires imagined by Mr. Cronin.
If the End of the World comes, I hope people like these will survive and start a new society!
Author: Brad Manuel
Narrator: Scott Brick
Duration: 22 hrs and 42 mins
Genre: Fiction / Thriller / Contemporary
Release Date:06-14-16
Publisher: Podium Publishing
Get more Audiobooks performed by Scott Brick
Publisher’s Summary
Imagine being alone in the world, one of only a handful to survive a global pandemic. Not only do you struggle to find food, water, and shelter but you also deal with the sadness and losing everyone you know and everything you have.
Fourteen-year-old Greg Dixon is living that nightmare. Attending boarding school outside of Boston, he is separated from his family when a pandemic strikes. His classmates and teachers are dead, rotting in a dormitory-turned-morgue steps from his room. The nights are getting colder, and his food has run out. The last message from his father is to get away from the city and to meet at his grandparents’ town in remote New Hampshire. Knowing the impending New England winter could be the final nail in his coffin, Greg packs what little food he can find and sets off on his 100-mile walk north with the unwavering belief that his family is alive and will join him.
As the fast-moving and deadly disease strips away family and friends, Greg’s father, John, is trapped in South Carolina. Roadblocks, a panic-stricken population, and winter make it impossible for him to get to his son. John and his three brothers appear to be immune, but they are scattered across a locked-down United States, forced to wait for the end of humanity before travelling to the mountains of New Hampshire.
Spring arrives, and the Dixons make their way north to find young Greg. They meet others along the way, slowly forming the last tribe of humanity from the few people still alive in the Northeast.
©2015 Brad Manuel (P)2016 Podium Publishing
What the Critics Say
- Nominated: 2017
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nemmo
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Omg. Just finished listening to The Last Tribe!
Loved it! I read about 100 books a year… and listen to about 75. I SO LOVED THIS BOOK!
He is absolutely wonderful!
Please keep writing!
Paige Saussy