Last Call [Paperback]

JD Seamus (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2008

Manhattan newcomer Nathan Melton is looking for a place to connect. Lucky for him, Jimmies is just around the corner--Jimmie Collins is a man with connections! From beat cops to Mafioso, career women to former linebackers, Jimmies patrons take care of each other and their neighborhood barkeep. A beloved priest needs some thugs taught a lesson? No problem! Trouble with your love life? Let Jimmie apply his matchmaking skills. Need a place to sell some merchandise that might have fallen off a truck? No questions asked. Nathan has found his home away from home. Jimmie has an ailing wife and disabled daughter nestled in Florida, and his bar family is all he s got. They understand about the childrens charity balancing out the part time smuggling job, that offshore accounts are necessary when medical bills arent covered by health insurance. When Jimmie reveals his own terminal diagnosis, his friends vow to help him recover the millions he has in foreign bank accounts. Somewhere between that promise and Jimmies death, things go terribly wrong. The money is gone, their friend is dead, and it s up to this close-knit cadre to track the cash.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The best one can ask for in life is many friends, or so Jimmie Collins thought. Last Call is the story of Nathan and his arrival in Manhattan, and his quick connections that help get him settled into his new life. As Nathan gains a friend in Jimmie and his family, it's found that Jimmie isn't long for the world, and asks for help in recovering his lost funds for health care. Nathan's new family in Jimmie's bar soon grows closer as Jimmie passes on, but there's still the subject of his money. Last Call is a story of friendship and how money can strain such things, poignant and recommended. --Willis M. Bhule, Midwest Book Review, December 2008

This is one of the must fun reads I have had in a while. It's funny, and it's well written and has interesting characters. That adds up to a very pleasant reading experience and I was entertained. That's why I like to read. Nathan Melton is a former pro football player who moves to New York City to form and internet Startup Company and has a hard time finding the perfect bar. One night after he is mugged, the police officers take him to Jimmie's. Here he finds the perfect bar, lots of new friends, a new lady and a very interesting owner. Jimmie Collins knows everyone of his regulars. It doesn't matter if they are beat cops, bookies, Mafioso, hardworking stiffs or career women; they all come in to unwind, relax, and avoid what goes on in the other bars. Jimmie has an interesting history. He can be a matchmaker, a fence, an enforcer, or a giver of toys at Christmas. Jimmie also has a wife with MS and a disabled daughter living in Florida . He learns he has cancer and makes arrangements for them to be taken care of after he is gone. Only problem is he picked the wrong person to help set up their trust fund. When Nathan and the rest of the bar family set out to set things right and find out where the money is and set things straight. As they plan for the recovery of the money and carry out their plan, it oft times reads like an Abbott and Costello comedy. Like I stated earlier, this is a fun read. Be sure to look for a copy of this and don't wait for the LAST CALL, start this one at Happy Hour --Barry Hunter, The Baryon Review Issue #110

With a mentally handicapped daughter functioning at the level of an eight year old and a wife going into the downside of multiple sclerosis, Big Apple bar owner Jimmie Collins has been dealt a difficult hand. While it is not his nature to complain about such profoundly bad luck, Jimmie does find it difficult to keep his two ladies properly cared for while trying to build up enough of a nest egg to retire on. To make ends meet with a little left over, Jimmie has carefully cultivated a tight network of friends and a quiet little fencing operation. He countered these slightly illegal operations by overseeing an enormous toy charity and taking special care of his regular customers including acting as matchmaker. Over the years, Jimmie amassed a sizeable retirement savings of seven million dollars stashed in overseas accounts, which ought to keep his family well provided for. When Jimmie is diagnosed with terminal cancer, his close-knit network of friends vows to take care of him while procuring his savings from the overseas accounts. Best intentions run into some serious snags, not the least being Jimmie s death and empty accounts. His friends attempt to make good on their promises and rapidly find themselves in trouble as they follow the missing money. The diverse, well-developed characters have their share of interpersonal hang-ups and dating scene nightmares. These, in combination with perverse humor set in that gray zone between absolute right and wrong make for an entertaining read as the cast of friends try to honor Jimmie s wishes. It helps to have spent some time in New York to fully appreciate the perspe --Sandy Amazeen, Monsters and Critics.com

Last Call, Capital Press, September, 2008-was selected as First in the Best Regional Fiction category of 2008 by Reader Views Annual Literary Awards Reviewers Choice. The annual awards were established to honor writers who self-published or had their books published by a small press, or independent book publisher. --2008 Reader Views Annual Literary Awards, February 2009

This is one of the must fun reads I have had in a while. It's funny, and it's well written and has interesting characters. That adds up to a very pleasant reading experience and I was entertained. That's why I like to read. Nathan Melton is a former pro football player who moves to New York City to form and internet Startup Company and has a hard time finding the perfect bar. One night after he is mugged, the police officers take him to Jimmie's. Here he finds the perfect bar, lots of new friends, a new lady and a very interesting owner. Jimmie Collins knows everyone of his regulars. It doesn't matter if they are beat cops, bookies, Mafioso, hardworking stiffs or career women; they all come in to unwind, relax, and avoid what goes on in the other bars. Jimmie has an interesting history. He can be a matchmaker, a fence, an enforcer, or a giver of toys at Christmas. Jimmie also has a wife with MS and a disabled daughter living in Florida . He learns he has cancer and makes arrangements for them to be taken care of after he is gone. Only problem is he picked the wrong person to help set up their trust fund. When Nathan and the rest of the bar family set out to set things right and find out where the money is and set things straight. As they plan for the recovery of the money and carry out their plan, it oft times reads like an Abbott and Costello comedy. Like I stated earlier, this is a fun read. Be sure to look for a copy of this and don't wait for the LAST CALL, start this one at Happy Hour --Barry Hunter, The Baryon Review Issue #110

About the Author

jd Seamus has lived and worked among some of the most amazing characters to ever walk into a bar. After decades of working in the world of retail finance, e-commerce, and the venture capital industry, Seamus has written the first in a series of mystery novels based in Manhattan. Today, jd Seamus spends his days happily working on his sixth book in south Florida and dividing his remaining time between his family and Braves games.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Capital Press; 1st edition (September 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0980225604
• ISBN-13: 978-0980225600
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,757,720 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Read, February 7, 2009

By 

T. Sweat "mysterey lover" (Miami9) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Last Call (Paperback)

Last Call I was absolutely delighted that I discovered this book through product reviews in Amazon. The book is one of the funniest books I've ever had the pleasure to read, the characters are memorable and the dialogue is top notch. Seamus is a real find and I await his next book with a great deal of anticipation.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I had issues with the plot and pacing..., May 22, 2010

By 

Thomas Duff "Duffbert" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Last Call (Paperback)

In my pile of recreational reads, I recently pulled out a book I got from a publicist... Last Call by JD Seamus. Set in New York, its a crime mystery involving a dying Irishman, his wife and child who need special care, a large amount of money that ends up missing when he dies, and his close friends who attempt to solve the mystery and get the money back. While it had its moments, I had a real problem with the plot and the pacing. I was quite ready for the book to take off in the direction of the summary, and the author apparently had different plans.

The jacket synopsis has most of the action centered around the recovery of Jimmie Collins' money after he dies. He's the owner of a bar that Nathan Melton ends up hanging out at, and they become very good friends, even more so after Jimmie fixes him up with a woman that he starts to date. Jimmie's background is not exactly happy, in that his wife is slowly dying of multiple sclerosis and his daughter is mentally disabled. He eventually gives in and sets them up in an assisted living facility in Florida while he continues to run his businesses (both the bar and "other" side jobs) in New York. But Jimmie starts his own mortal slide when he's diagnosed with cancer. He makes sure to set up his family such that they will be provided for when he dies, but that hits a major hurdle when two months after his death, the nursing facility calls Nathan and mentions that payments are no longer being made. Nathan and the rest of Jimmie's friends decide to do whatever is necessary to find whoever embezzled the money, get it back, and also to dish out a bit of justice in the process.

As mentioned above, I expected Jimmie to meet his Maker pretty early on so that the story would revolve around the recovery of his funds. But Jimmy doesn't die until almost 3/4 of the way through the book, which doesn't leave much time for the crime to be discovered and the real action to play out. In the meantime, the reader is left with stories of how Nathan meets Jimmie, how Jimmie made his money, his slow death, and interactions between all the bar regulars. Once the action does start, the situations are a mix of gruesome death and crazy slapstick, some of which doesn't seem to mix very well in terms of being plausible. Other than Jimmie and Nathan, the rest of the characters are not highly developed, and I didn't really connect with any of them. I did enjoy some of the dialog between them, though it is very stereotypical of New York/Italian/Irish/mafia characters. Still, I found myself chuckling at times.

Last Call had the makings of an interesting story, and I wish I had liked it more. But I spent too long waiting for the premise, and then it was over far too quickly for the amount of time spent getting there.

Disclosure:
Obtained From: Publicist
Payment: Free

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars And Now for Something Completely Different, February 15, 2010

By 

Richard B. Schwartz (Columbia, Missouri USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Last Call (Paperback)

This is a mainstream novel that becomes a mystery approximately 2/3 of the way through. Jimmy Collins operates a bar in NYC. It is somewhat like Cheers in that everybody knows your name, it is the source of friendships (including romantic ones) and its cast of characters is interesting, engaging and amusing. It differs from Cheers in that it includes some guys from the NYPD who coexist with some guys from the Mafia. Oh yes, and Jimmy is a receiver of stolen goods, though this does not compromise his essential integrity.

When Jimmy dies and his wealth (some of it offshore) is ripped off by his crooked attorney, the denizens of his bar set off to right the wrong. Which they do. Violently (but humorously). Their interactions with Jimmy (alive and dead) are at the center of the novel. They are likable, sometimes laugh-out-loud funny and essentially comic, i.e., this is a novel closer to the spirit of Damon Runyon or a modulated Carl Hiaasen. There is crime and sex and violence, but they are relatively muted and the overall ethos is one of good fellowship.

The ending is a tad odd and the time frame of the novel (just prior to 9/11) is somewhat curious. Page by page: 5 stars. Overall concept/structure: 4 stars.

I would happily read another novel by jd Seamus.