Finale [Paperback]

Paul A. Toth (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 27, 2009

When Jonathan Thomas receives a threatening letter apparently sent by an ex-girlfriend, he pursues the sender but finds himself unraveling another mystery he would have better left unsolved. FINALE tells the story of this wanderer's journey to a faultline deep within himself. The chapters descend from eight to zero as Jonathan travels from his most recent lover to first, finally reaching zero when he leaps into the fissure that divides him. Between lovers, internal "earthquake" chapters rise in magnitude from 1.0 to 8.0. The lovers include: Mary Whitcomb, a Zelda Fitzgerald double now selling endangered turtle eggs; Azal, who forces Jonathan to visit her father's grave wearing the dead man's clothes; Kerrie, ex-speedfreak and comic book junky; Marnie, a future soccer mom whose seductive and very white mother has deemed herself an honorary African; Chartrise, a psychic waiting with bad tidings; Caitlin, on the way to nunhood; and Holly, who invites Jonathan and the other lovers to his "funeral." Will the funeral startle Jonathan out of self-deception, or lead to knowledge he never should have gained?

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A whipsmart coming-of-age story that comes a bit too late for our hero, Finale is both satirical and sincere; psychologically astute and certifiably insane. Paul Toth puts on the page the kind of story the Coen Brothers put on film. Someone get them a copy." --Jonathan Messinger, Time-Out Chicago

From the Inside Flap

"Simply put, if someone had to give Finale a one-word review that begins with the letter "F", many would probably say "Formidable" because it seems numerous writers will attempt to compose a great American novel and never produce anything with as much artistic astonishment as Toth has done with Finale."
--Tony R. Rodriguez, East Bay Literary Examiner

"Paul A. Toth's novel Finale concludes in a surrealist declension, in the sense of both the grammar and plot, which collides with all the fractal possibility and random order of a Jackson Pollock painting....Dramatic? Yes. Entertaining? In its entirety."
--Cynthia Reeser, Prick of the Spindle

"Toth is undeniably talented, and has all the makings of a notable force in contemporary fiction."
--Bookgasm

"Toth is a skilled writer who has selected words to paint pictures, or a movie, for each of the scenes. While the reader may get caught up in the story, one has to appreciate the beauty of the words on the page and how eloquent the descriptions and phrasing of the sentences are to this novel."
--Aldo T. Calcagno (aka Mystery Dawg) for FMAM

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 164 pages
• Publisher: Raw Dog Screaming Press (July 27, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933293853
• ISBN-13: 978-1933293851
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,711,955 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Paul A. Toth's next major work, Airplane Novel, will prove to be THE 9/11 novel and departs in July 2011 from Raw Dog Screaming Press. For a spectacular preview of the first chapter, narrated by Cary Grant, please see http://www.airplanenovel.com. Toth's first three published novels form a nonlinear trilogy consisting of Fizz, Fishnet and Finale.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Avoid the Measure at Your Local Biker Bar, July 29, 2009

By 

Gabriel Orgrease (Bullamanka, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Finale (Paperback)

Finale is a highly amusing and frisky fast-paced sexy (sort of sexy), road trip, romp, misadventure mystery where the protagonist Jonathan Thomas backtracks through the history of his male-female relationships to an unexpected, but fully plausible, conclusion.

Toth is an accomplished writer (this is the third in a novel of Fs, the first two being Fizz and Fishnet) and brings a wide variety of talents (you need to check out his podcast series that promotes the work of various flavors of contemporary writers) and interests to his work. A relatively light and at times hilarious, but not burlesque, read in a pseudo-mystery genre (though some may say it is an outright mystery I find it to be something more hybrid and original than a pure who-done-it). In bits and pieces I was reminded of Georges Simenon, James Crumley, Jim Thompson (a hard edge Mr. Toth sometimes shows but that is appealingly not very strong here in this novel where our sympathy for Jonathan builds measure by diminutive measure), and the often imaginative quirkiness of a Carl Hiaasen (cars with stuff writ on them reminds me of cars I have driven, and abandoned). At one scene there is an obvious homage to Elmore Leonard vs. the Gideon Bible. It makes my heart thump.

Finale is a combination of plot driven, backwards it seems, and depth of character based narrative. We are brought Jonathan Thomas' characterization in a first person exploration, a style of perception that Mr. Toth brings to a fine edge between paranoid sanity, absurdity and madness. I look forward to Steve Buscemi as lead in the movie as Toth's style here reminds me very much of the laid back flow of the 1996 Trees Lounge.

My favorite part of the novel is the scene after Jonathan drinks tea with Chartrise. It reminds me so much of places I have been. Likewise, I cannot imagine driving all that distance in California, or hardly anywhere on a moped. And though I have never been to Bakersfield it is nice to be reminded why I might not be in a hurry to go there.

Highly recommended for those who like to read and who enjoy the authors I have referenced above.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A gonzo psychosexual romp, November 13, 2009

By 

Michael Jandrok (Lockhart, Texas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Finale (Paperback)

Man, this has to be one of the hardest reviews that I've written in a while. It's not because the book is bad (it isn't, it's quite good). I think it may be that I'm still trying to get a grasp on this thing. It's clearly impossible to assign a genre to 'Finale'. It's a murder mystery where the action takes place before the murder (Is there even a murder in the physical sense? Read it and find out.) It's a gonzo psychosexual farce. It's a tragicomedy rolled up into a road adventure. Jiminy Christmas, it's ALL of those things and quite possibly more. It's out there on the cutting edge of modern fiction, and I appreciated the originality of the effort.

Main protagonist John Thomas has settled into a tenuous marriage when he receives a threatening note from someone who he believes to be an old flame. The note rekindles the wanderlust in his restless soul, and he takes a road trip to visit past lovers in an attempt to get to the bottom of exactly who sent the note and why. Slowly but surely, his encounters reveal his existential truths, so that all is laid bare by the end of the book.

I liked the format of the book. Traveling backwards in his history, John Thomas ratchets up the pressure on his own psyche. Short 'earthquake' chapters written in verse reveal the inner cracks taking place, until they reach a climax at the end of the book. Very nice work, and the layout gives depth to the forces at work in our (anti)-hero.

I really wish that I could go 4 1/2 stars on this one. I saw the end coming a little too quickly and felt like a couple of the characters could have used a little more depth, so it's not a perfect work. It IS pretty dang ambitious, though, and I'd love to see more from this author. 'Finale' kinda stuck with me after I read it, and that's the hallmark of an interesting story.

Recommended.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Clear and Surreal Read, July 26, 2009

By 

Ginnetta Correli "author of The Lost Episode... (Nevada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Finale (Hardcover)

Paul A.Toths third novel Finale is a story about human self deception. Finale focuses on Jonathan Thomas who receives a threat letter that may have been sent by his ex-girlfriend. Wondering about the mysterious letter, Jonathan the character takes an absurd journey of his past while trying to escape his decent into a lack of passion and doom. An intoxicating surreal read as the reader goes backwards visiting Jonathan's past relationships of emotional demise.
I found myself laughing and crying as the character Jonathan sort of comes to an understanding of what has happened to his life and why. Climaxing at the end to ground zero when exactly appropriate.