The Last Survivor – Book 1
Content : Cassandre Lambert’s triumphant return: In a dark future, a reality TV show promises a life-changing jackpot to determined contestants with terrible secrets…
In a polluted and deeply unequal future France, Cléo works two jobs just to make ends meet and pay for the treatment her sick little brother desperately needs. When a new reality TV show called The Last Survivor promises the winner a huge fortune, her best friend secretly enters her into the competition. Against all odds, her application is accepted. If she wins, Cléo will be able to afford a miracle treatment in the capital and save her brother!
She is thrust into a terrifying adventure whose consequences she could never have imagined. On a deserted island, contestants face increasingly difficult challenges under the watchful eyes of eager viewers, who can follow them 24/7 and even interact with the game. To make matters worse, each contestant has a secret that the others must try to uncover. The competition may bring out the best in them — solidarity, courage and loyalty — but above all, it may bring out the worst. How far will the show go to create a sensation?
A delicious blend of genres and inspirations: with echoes of Koh-Lanta and Secret Story, alongside a brilliant nod to The Hunger Games, the ultimate literary reference for young readers. All set against a chilling dystopian backdrop, despite the tropical heat!
A fast-paced narrative: the story skillfully alternates between the heroine’s point of view, TV studio analysis from experts and psychologists, and casting extracts revealing the contestants’ painful secrets. In a subtle spiral, the plot delivers an increasingly gripping series of twists and turns…
An incredibly realistic immersive experience: inspired by the author’s own experience of taking part in Koh-Lanta, the story is so vividly written that readers can almost feel the heroine’s hunger, injuries and exhaustion as if they were experiencing them alongside her.
A sharp exploration of the ethical limits of reality TV: although the stakes are pushed far beyond anything seen on real-life shows, the reader is prompted to question their own voyeurism, the contestants’ unconscious self-sacrifice, and production companies’ relentless drive to generate buzz, with seemingly no moral boundaries.
About the author: Cassandre Lambert was born in 2000 and grew up in the countryside near Lyon in a large family. She is studying Law at university and enjoys taking on sporting challenges. As far back as she can remember, she has always written. Her first novel, The Deadly Antidote, Books 1 and 2, was born during long, sleepless nights in her teenage bedroom towards the end of secondary school. Published in 2021 by Didier, it began as a novel she wrote “just for fun” — until one day her mother planted a little seed of an idea: “Cassandre, you have a lot of talent… Why not send it to a publisher? You might have a chance.”
