The Last Dog on Earth is the second novel by British author, Adrian J. Walker. By 2021 London is virtually empty, the political upheavals having caused most people to vacate. Electrician Reginald Hardy stayed: he prefers his own company, doesn’t like to be touched, and is perfectly happy in his little flat, keeping an eye on the surrounding area with his 12x binoculars and following his daily routines. And he has Lineker, his Heinz 57 variety dog, whose company is preferable to that of any person he knows. Lineker is deliriously happy with this arrangement.

But then a truck stops outside Reginald’s flat: soldiers (he thought they’d all left) and children. Worse still, another truck turns up with a mob of those purple-clad nasties. Shouted words lead to bullets and people die before the Purples clear off elsewhere, leaving behind an apparently mute seven-year-old girl. Lineker is excited; Reginald is not. Responsibility for another human being is the absolute last thing he wants. Eventually, Reginald has to compromise: he will escort little Aisha in the direction of the soldiers’ destination, then get back to his own peaceful life. Lineker is thrilled to partake of adventure, but things don’t go quite to Reginald’s plan.

Walker employs two narrators: the mild-mannered Reginald and the utterly foul-mouthed (but superbly entertaining) Lineker. It is soon apparent that Reginald has suffered a great loss, and that he is perhaps somewhere on “the spectrum”. Lineker, meanwhile, is a wonderfully imagined character, a quite convincing version of “this is what dogs think”. As long as they are not too offended by his copious use of the f and c words and his musings on some rather base topics, dog owners (and even those not of that persuasion) will delight in Lineker.

Walker’s version of near-future London is eminently believable, and Lineker’s perspective of life is refreshing. Walker gives both his main characters and some of the minor ones insightful thoughts and wise words: “I am not a hero. Altruism does not exist. There are the things a man wants to do and there are the things he must do, and the things he must do must be done because if he does not then the consequences linger. That is really all there is to altruism: the avoidance of bad feeling.”

As the story progresses, the reader gradually learns of the events that had such a profound effect on Reginald, and led to his owning Lineker, who believes for some time that he is the last dog on earth. Walker adds a few other quirky characters to be enjoyed: a topless sunbather and her always-cooking mother; several pet dogs of various breeds; a charitable barge-owner; a wolf who speaks in capitals; and a few nasties who eventually get their just deserts. Funny, sometimes sad and ultimately uplifting, this is a marvellous read.