“Now, here we are, ankle deep in cow shit. This is nearly as bad as drinking in a Wetherspoons.”
On a stag party in a remote part of the Lake District, four old university friends are dragged into a bizarre local ritual. Immersed in a fight for their lives – only one of them is guaranteed to make it home…
Fifteen years after graduation, four old university friends get together to celebrate Luke’s stag party. Tucked away in a remote village in the Lake District, they expect a weekend of real ale, log fires and gentle hikes – but a stag party of locals have other ideas.
Unwillingly drawn into one-upmanship and animosity, the four friends find themselves being hunted across unfamiliar ground in a game of deadly consequences. With only one of them guaranteed to survive, old wounds and resentments threaten to tear them apart as much as their pursuers.
Can the four friends unite to fight back, or will they fall, divided and broken?
Dark bleatings, my prenuptial tribe! We’re taking a look at Dan Howarth’s latest offering today, Last Night of Freedom. A stag group of four friends – Luke (groom), Connor (best man), Jay (police officer, married with kids), Ethan (free-spirited, financially successful, kind of a dick) – have gone to a remote little town to drink and play pool to celebrate Luke’s upcoming wedding. Not the typical stag do, one might say, but there are interesting reasons. When they end up partaking in a challenge with some antagonistic locals (also enjoying their own stag party), they soon realise they’ve bitten off way more than they can chew, and a battle for survival begins!
The story is told in first-person narrative that jumps from character to character, and not only between our protagonist’s group, but it also includes Gav and Wallace, our antagonists. It was a brilliant story-telling decision because being inside the heads of our characters helped me empathise with them – initially they’re not that likeable, you see. I grew to like all of them in some way (in Ethan’s case, an extremely small way but still…), and they did all become somewhat relatable as time went on. It also kept the pacing moving along swiftly, amped up the tension, and really centred the frequently increasing danger.
I’m one of those “BUT WHY DIDN’T THEY JUST…?!” readers. I’m super picky about real-world elements, and I especially can’t stand it when characters just do stupid things or plot holes are ignored for the sake of servicing the plot. I have to say, the author did a fantastic job of covering the bases here. Because there are a lot of bases. There are a thousand different things that could have let the story down, but didn’t, because Howarth was very careful about establishing the rules of this world and how it works. So, if you’re like me and have a tendency to look for the holes in everything, rest assured that this book will not be a constant annoyance in terms of how much you have to suspend your disbelief. It’s very smooth!
This is a really fun story with excellent pacing, and honestly I had an absolute blast reading it. I think what impressed me the most was that the characters all read like real people – there was no hint of “but a real person wouldn’t act like that” anywhere. I suppose if I have any complaints, I wish it had leaned a bit more into the folky elements. There’s quite a lot that’s hinted at but not expanded on, which does work within the confines of this particular snippet of this town’s life, but I LOVED those hints and really wanted more. Generally, if I really enjoy a book, I hope it’s just left alone and not extended into sequels. In this case, I really hope there’s at least one sequel (or prequel, actually!). This story is perfectly wrapped up and it doesn’t feel like anything’s missing, but I’d be the first in line if Howarth ever announces a prequel because I’m fascinated by the people and their ritualistic ways, and I’d love to read more about where it all came from.
Overall, this is one of my favourite reads of the year (and that’s saying something because we’re in October and almost done, and this has trumped at least 90% of the 120 books or so I’ve enjoyed so far in 2024).
If you’d like to check out the book or author, I’ve popped some links below for you:
Bleeeeat!
Happy Goat Horror 
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