Four Last Things (Roth Trilogy Book 1) [Paperback]

Andrew Taylor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 5, 2001 | Series: Roth Trilogy Book 1

'Andrew Taylor digs deep to explore the tangled roots of sex, violence and religion. This is a fine thriller, with clues complex enough to tax a Morse' Reginald Hill Little Lucy Appleyard is snatched from her child minder's on a cold winter afternoon, and the nightmare begins. When Eddie takes her home to beautiful, child-loving Angel, he knows he's done the right thing. But Lucy's not like their other visitors, and unwittingly she strikes through Angel's defences to something both vulnerable and volatile at the core. To the outside world Lucy has disappeared into a black hole with no clues to her whereabouts!until the first grisly discovery in a London graveyard. More such finds are to follow, all at religious sites, and, in a city haunted by religion, what do these offerings signify? All that stands now between Lucy and the final sacrifice are a CID sergeant on the verge of disgrace and a woman cleric -- Lucy's parents -- but how can they hope to halt the evil forces that are gathering around their innocent daughter?

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Reverend Sally Applegate, a newly ordained deacon in a London parish, and her husband, Michael, a policeman, have already been experiencing hard times in their marriage for some time as The Four Last Things opens. When their daughter, Lucy, is kidnapped they grow even farther apart. Each turns initially away from the other and towards the source of their faith: for Lucy, it is the church, and for Michael, the police. Meanwhile the kidnappers, a pedophile named Eddie and a female serial killer named Angel, find themselves unexpectedly touched by the little girl they've abducted--a situation that makes this already unstable couple even more volatile and unpredictable. As a series of grisly discoveries of body parts seems to indicate that Lucy is in imminent danger of becoming the next victim, Sally and Michael's faith in themselves, each other, and the institutions that have nurtured them is tested to the breaking point. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Kirkus Reviews

Veteran Taylor (The Mortal Sickness, 1996, etc.) begins his ``Roth trilogy,'' suspense novels about the Appleyard and Byfield families, with the story of four-year-old Lucy Appleyard's kidnapping out from under the nose of her overburdened minder. Despite the stiff-upper-lip nostrums proffered by Chief Inspector Maxham, Lucy's parents are frantic. Her father Michael, a CID sergeant facing disciplinary charges for striking a suspect, has troubles of his own. And her mother Sally, incoming deacon at St. George's iffy congregation in Kensal Vale, is still smarting under years of opposition to her ordination, first from Michael's imperious godfather, David Byfield, and most recently from Audrey Oliphant, a crazy interloper who interrupted Sally's inaugural sermon with a stream of curses, only to return home and kill herself. The somber atmosphere, awash with intimations of the Four Last Things of Christian eschatology--death, judgment, heaven, and hell--isn't relieved by the revelation that the kidnappers are Eddie Grace, a fragile ex-teacher whose childhood was the stuff of nightmares, and Angel Wharton, the ethereal, hard-as-nails boarder who's kept Eddie effortlessly under her thumb throughout each of their three earlier experiments in child abduction. The constant use of flashbacks piles on the menace while oddly diminishing the immediate peril to Lucy. But it would be unwise to judge such an eschatological fantasy without seeing the design of the whole trilogy. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins Pb; (Reissue) edition (February 5, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0007105118
• ISBN-13: 978-0007105113
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,382,543 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Taut suspense story: very well written, April 23, 2003

By 

john c. (San Diego) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Four Last Things (Roth Trilogy) (Paperback)

Almost a horror story, this novel is highlighted by interesting characters and a plot that gradually tightens the pressure on the characters and the reader. Along with Breakheart Hill and Void Moon this is the finest mystery/suspense novel of the last decade. A must read.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A mesmerizing trip into the weird and macabre, March 27, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Four Last Things (Roth Trilogy) (Paperback)

This book is not for the faint of heart, especially if you read the text closely. The villain in this work could easily be the Marques de Sade's sister. The characterizations in this work are unusually rich and complex for a suspense novel. Also, the writing easily surpasses almost everything I've read in the mystery/suspense genre. This book takes risks and succeeds magnificently. Highly recommended.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Disturbing Story, April 17, 2003

By 

Wayne (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Four Last Things (Roth Trilogy) (Paperback)

I enjoyed reading this novel. It is not really a police procedural as the police play a small role. Nor is it really a mystery as we know quite early on who has commited the crine . Some people might find the story disturbing as it deals with crimes against children. The author is a very good writer and there is an atmosphere of menace through the book. The story jumps back and forth between the phsycopaths who have kidnapped a child and the distraught parents.Frankly I thought the parents considering there child has been stolen seemed to decend into self pity and I found the criminals to be more interesting.Anyway the book was quite good and I would reccomend it.