THE LAST PERSON IN THE WORLD

In Tree’s thriller set in late-1970s London, a college student finds himself swept up in a radical group’s violent plans.

The tale’s unnamed narrator is a 19-year-old who manages to get accepted into a venerable academic institution, Wolverton College at Wellingford University, despite his modest background and, by his own account, being “bereft of oomph.” But he’s full of youthful discontent. He joins the Real Workers’ Party, reads widely in Marxist literature, and believes, however inarticulately, that society is fundamentally corrupt: “All I’ve seen so far is that the system is rigged, rigged from top to bottom, you’re inserted into it at one level or another and once you’re in you have to do your best with your allotted lot.” Meanwhile, London is roiled by terrorist bombings; a group called The Vanguard claims responsibility but doesn’t seem to have any cause to push. The protagonist’s girlfriend, Beth, surmises that they’re a “bunch of nutters.” An intimidating MI5 agent, James Delaney, compels him to try to make contact with them, but he’s kidnapped in the process by Vanguard operatives. Their leader turns out to be Ralph Finns, an old school friend who hails from a wealthy family—a plot twist that readers may see coming. Otherwise, though, this is a stunningly unpredictable work; for one thing, it turns out that The Vanguard isn’t a political group at all. They’re an assemblage of people seeking to take down those who have victimized them in the past. This is an offbeat book that effectively combines humorous moments with disturbingly dark content, including descriptions of sexual abuse that are very difficult to read. But it’s also a gripping work that takes on the hypocrisy of the society in which the protagonist lives—one that confirms his intuitions, if not his Marxist leanings.

An engagingly original novel that’s by turns clever and discomfiting.