What could be a hard, unhappy hostage story is anything but in Jane and Dan at the End of the World, a wild, witty romp of a novel from Colleen Oakley (The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise). Jane has not necessarily fallen out of love with Dan, her husband of 19 years, but she's fallen out of love with their life together. Her teenage kids ignore her, her one published book was a total flop, and she carries the mental load of everything and everyone in her household. As Dan plans an over-the-top anniversary dinner at the fanciest restaurant in California, Jane plans to ask him for a divorce--both plans that go horribly awry when the restaurant is taken over by people armed with guns. But these gunslingers are not very good at taking hostages, it seems, and slowly, Jane realizes they are using her not-bestselling novel as a playbook of sorts. Which means she knows what comes next, and even if Dan doesn't believe her (she's not even sure he's read her novel, after all), she'll need his help to try to stop this chaos.
Jane and Dan are lovable in their relatability, bickering and bantering across the well-worn paths of their marriage even as they face down a group of bumbling idiots with guns (and possibly bombs). Oakley is a master at dark humor, and she bakes truly laugh-out-loud lines seamlessly into a fast-paced, gripping novel of suspense. Packed with twists, turns, absurdities, social commentary, helicopters, climate angst, cliff jumps, and a whole lot of heart, Jane and Dan at the End of the World is a delight from start to startling finish. --Kerry McHugh, freelance writer