1970s book - Man wakes to find most of the population has disappeared

[Swix]

I read this book sometime in the mid to late 1970s. Not a famous author I don't think, starts with a man waking up to find his wife, neighbours and nearly everyone else have disappeared. He does find a few people, only 3 or 4 I think, and all these people discover that they are suffering from the same rare illness for which they had been taking a new medication. It is set in the UK. The weather is very hot and they decide to travel north (to escape the heat?) At the end they each disappear one by one and then they wake up back in the "real world" having been given some treatment to combat the effect of the experimental drug which had made them go into a coma. But they remember each other (although strangers before) and their adventure after everyone else disappeared. A weird book and not well-known, never heard of it again but the story has stayed with me all this time. I'd love to know if anyone else read it and/or knows what it was called.

 

[Homemom]

I read this book sometime in the mid to late 1970s. Not a famous author I don't think, starts with a man waking up to find his wife, neighbours and nearly everyone else have disappeared. He does find a few people, only 3 or 4 I think, and all these people discover that they are suffering from the same rare illness for which they had been taking a new medication. It is set in the UK. The weather is very hot and they decide to travel north (to escape the heat?) At the end they each disappear one by one and then they wake up back in the "real world" having been given some treatment to combat the effect of the experimental drug which had made them go into a coma. But they remember each other (although strangers before) and their adventure after everyone else disappeared. A weird book and not well-known, never heard of it again but the story has stayed with me all this time. I'd love to know if anyone else read it and/or knows what it was called.

Journey of the Joenses is the only thing coming to my mind right now but do not think this is it

 

[CassFrank]

Strangely similar in ways to The Quiet Earth by Craig Harrison and made into a NZ film.