Last Pilot

&quotNostalgic and heart-rending... hypnotic. Not only has [Johncock] stripped his narrative down to sleek, aerodynamic paragraphs, but he tells much of this story in clipped dialogue that only suggests the pain swelling beneath the lines... the effect is supercharged Hemingway at 70,000 feet." - Washington Post

&quotReading Johncock one is reminded of Hemingway, Cormac McCarthy and especially of James Salter's The Hunters... a first-rate novel by a major new talent." - The Spectator

&quotA big, muscular novel... tenderly undercut by the quite different theme of a marriage and a family under unbearable stress... convincing and moving." - Guardian

&quotA taut domestic drama whose stringent prose evokes the emotional and physical landscape of a time and a place, this is a remarkably accomplished debut." - Mail on Sunday

&quotHis descriptive writing has a clean grace that recalls Cormac McCarthy... Johncock's story and characters take flight: this is a very promising debut." - New Statesman

&quotIn this riveting and beautifully written novel... Johncock brings fresh perspective and new energy to this old story ground." - Daily Mail

&quotA remarkable achievement... lit by the fire of 1960s adventure, and also by the blazing beauty of a new literary star." - Boston Globe

"[In] this spare gem of a novel... Johncock is superb at crafting suspenseful scenes. A dramatic tale." - BBC Culture

&quotTightly told with searing uncomplicated prose, The Last Pilot is as engaging for its emotional gravitas as it is for its enthralling story of the race to space I couldn t put it down." - Amazon: Best Books of the Month

&quotThe dialogue is clean and smooth and Johncock's spare prose gallops along at a fair pace." - Herald

&quotMarvellous... Johncock seamlessly blends history and fiction, science and intimacy." - Sunday Express

&quotOne of the most authentic pieces of fiction set in America in years... a distinct and unique new voice in fiction." - Huffington Post

&quotJohncock's characters are his real accomplishment. The author offers such emotional insight." - Big Issue

&quotProviding a much-needed fix for those suffering from Mad Men withdrawal." - The National

&quotAn ideal read for history buffs and space race enthusiasts." - Kirkus

&quotIngeniously plotted, deftly written and engrossing." - People Magazine

&quotA touching and fascinating tale of a man forced to choose between family and his place in the history books." - We Love This Book: Book of the Week

&quotAn impressive debut... a marvellous, emotionally powerful novel." - Publishers Weekly

&quotA confident, engrossing debut novel with great warmth and a real sense of time and place. Great stuff." - A.L. Kennedy

&quotBy far the best debut novel I've read in years. To me, it reads like the reclusive disciple of Cormac McCarthy and Saint-Exupéry." - Joanne Harris

&quotA hugely impressive piece of work. I loved it." - Ian Rankin: Book of the Year 2015

&quotBenjamin Johncock is a writer of great craft and integrity. His dialogue is desert-dry, and his sentences crackle with the energy of things unsaid." --Jon McGregor

&quotThe writing is machine-cut and spare... like the pilots at this story's centre, Johncock has dared to reach for the stars." - DW Wilson

&quotTold in language as beautifully spare and unsparing as a desert or a moonscape, The Last Pilot reminds us in powerful ways that the real unknown frontier still lies within the mysteries of the human heart." - Kim Edwards

&quotJohncock's impressive debut takes us back to the era of test pilots and the dawn of the space age. Jim Harrison is a man pushing technology to the limits at the same time as dealing with immense personal tragedy. This clever fusion of fact and fiction, combined with a sparse writing style, is a Great American Novel - written by a Brit." --Times Higher Education

&quotIt made me cry. I loved it." - Helen Macdonald

"The Last Pilot nods to some august literary forebears Tom Wolfe, Raymond Carver, James Salter and yet moves to an internal beat of its own. Covering an era of American aviation from breaking the sound barrier to the space race of the 1960s, its dry, laconic prose is as acute in unpicking the mysteries of marriage and bereavement as it is in conveying the vertiginous limits of ambition and daring." - Anthony Quinn

&quotExhilarating." - Jonathan Lee

&quotWith its Lucky Strike-smoking hero, pithy prose and terse, no-frills dialogue, this classic tale of love and loss is steeped in the American tradition... Although the idea of the personal and professional in conflict is a familiar one, this big-hearted, atmospheric narrative is charged with the tension of the times and carried along by its compassionately imagined characters." - The Lady

&quotA soaring, exhilarating, emotional read, a mesmerising family story... that plumbs the depths of grief and mental illness." - Eastern Daily Press

&quotYou may cry, but this story is worth every tear." - Metro

&quotA heart-wrenching tale of loss and discovery." - Paste Magazine, Best New Books of the Month

&quotA stellar debut... one of those terrific reads that deliver a compelling story against an interesting historical backdrop." - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

&quotJohncock has the Carveresque ability to pack feeling into and between and beneath a few words of dialogue; and the Salterish knack of constructing the tightest of sentences. There are moments of desert heat which recall Cormac McCarthy; dust bowl fences and silence Steinbeck.... Johncock s novel of marriage and family and endeavour is a truly impressive achievement... one of the best debuts I ve read in a long time." - Words of Mercury

&quotFar and away the best debut novel of the year. It left me an emotional wreck. The spare style is reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy, Hemingway, and especially Updike. One of the most confident, assured debut novels I have ever read. Emotionally gripping, and absolutely compelling, I cannot recommend this highly enough." --Bookmunch