The Quiet Earth

'I was sitting bolt upright in bed breathing fast and staring at the wall. The daylight was streaming into the motel room through the slats of the blinds. I seemed to have been awake, and asleep, for ages...'

John Hobson, a geneticist, wakes one morning to find his watch stopped at 6.12. The streets are deserted, there are no signs of life or death anywhere, and every clock he finds has stopped: at 6.12. Is Hobson the last person left on the planet?

Inventive and suspenseful, The Quiet Earth is a confronting journey into the future—and a dark past.

This new edition of Craig Harrison's highly sought-after 1981 novel—which was later made into a cult film starring Bruno Lawrence, Pete Smith and Alison Routledge—comes with an introduction by Bernard Beckett.

About the Author

Craig Harrison was born in Leeds in 1942. He left for New Zealand in 1966 after being appointed a lecturer at Massey University. There he devised a course in art history, which he taught until his retirement in 2000. His award-winning play Tomorrow Will Be a Lovely Day (1974) was performed for a quarter of a century, including in the Soviet Union. He is the author of five other plays, includingGround Level (1974), which led to a television series, Joe & Koro. Craig's most recent book, the young-adult comedy The Dumpster Saga, was a finalist in the 2008 New Zealand Post Book Awards. He lives in Palmerston North.