
Last One Out A Novel
From the New York Times bestselling author of Exiles and The Dry comes a captivating new novel set in a modern ghost town.
Carralon Ridge, a once vibrant village in rural New South Wales, has become a shell of itself, its houses and buildings bought up and left to rot by the mining company operating at its borders. A decade into its slow death, surrounded by industrial noise and swathed in thick layers of dust, the skeletal town is all but abandoned, with just a handful of residents clinging onto what remains.
After years of scorning those who left the Ridge behind as it fell into ruin, Ro never imagined she'd become one of them. But everything changed when she lost her son. Five years ago, Sam vanished while visiting during a break from college, leaving behind a rental car with his belongings inside. Sam had loved Carralon Ridge, and had been working on an oral history of the town to preserve its legacy before it vanished altogether. It wasn't long after his disappearance that the rest of the family began to crumble away too.
But when Ro returns to Carralon Ridge to be with her husband and daughter on the anniversary of Sam's disappearance, she begins to suspect that something important was overlooked in his case. Because while nothing can stop Carralon Ridge from dying, someone seems to want to make sure that its secrets die with it.
Published: April 14, 2026
Pages: 368
ISBN: 9781250291394
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1 rating
Chelsey H.
I found myself struggling to stay engaged throughout. I had to re-listen to several sections multiple times because my attention kept drifting, which made it difficult to fully immerse myself in the plot. The pacing felt slower than necessary, and overall, the book seemed longer than it needed to be.
The characters were another challenge for me. There were quite a few introduced and revisited throughout the story, but I had a hard time keeping track of them. More importantly, I didn’t feel invested in their journeys—they came across as fairly flat, which made it difficult to care about what was happening.
Ultimately, this took me much longer to finish than expected simply because I couldn’t stay focused or fully connect with the narrative. While I can see the potential and why this book might work for other readers, it just wasn’t the right fit for me.