The Last Toll Collector

Author(s): S S Turner

Location(s): Westfjords, Iceland

Genre(s): Fiction

Era(s): contemporary

Valerie Tobruk’s job as a toll collector on the Golden Gate Bridge was made redundant when toll collection was automated in 2013. Since then, she’s failed to find a job which AI can’t do better than her. She feels useless and lost.

To escape from her life, Valerie travels to the Westfjords, a remote part of Iceland where people go to disappear and nature reigns supreme. Once there, she discovers an abandoned herring factory where she decides to reside as the founder of a new independent nation called Tobruk where people are valued for their humanness.

Valerie doesn’t remain alone for long. A cast of lost souls descend upon Tobruk, as do a series of perplexing challenges presented by the outside world. But there’s worse to come. When the darkness of winter descends, the citizens of Tobruk must face up to their deepest fears if they are to survive.

“A combination of Lord of the Flies meets Life of Pi meets the Simpsons episode where Lisa creates an entire civilization in a petri dish, this is a riveting, modern take on the classic hero’s journey … a true page-turner.” — To Make Much of Time

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