Last Call for the Living [Hardcover]

Peter Farris (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 22, 2012

For bank teller Charlie Colquitt, it was just another Saturday. For Hobe Hicklin, an ex-con with nothing to lose, it was just another score. For Hobe's drug-addled, sex-crazed girlfriend, it was just more lust, violence, and drugs.  But in this gripping narrative, nothing is as it seems.

Hicklin's first mistake was double-crossing his partners in the Aryan Brotherhood. His second mistake was taking a hostage. But he and Charlie can only hide out for so long in the mountains of north Georgia before the sins of Hicklin's past catch up to them. 

Hot on Hicklin's trail are a pair of ruthless Brotherhood soldiers, ready to burn a path of murder and mayhem to get their revenge. GBI Special Agent Sallie Crews and Sheriff Tommy Lang catch the case, themselves no strangers to the evil men are capable of. Soon Crews is making some dangerous connections while for the hard-drinking, despondent Lang, rescuing Charlie Colquitt might be the key to personal salvation.

Prodigious talent Peter Farris has written a backwoods fairy tale of fate and flight that is also a dark, modern thriller. Like the bastard child of Stephen Hunter's Dirty White Boys and Cormac McCarthy's No Country for Old Men, Last Call for the Living is a smashing debut from a writer whose unique and disturbing vision of the world cannot be ignored.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A wild, rocketing roller-coaster of a ride. Farris’s writing is reminiscent of Stephen Hunter and Cormac McCarthy at their brutal best.”

     —Douglas Preston, New York Times bestselling author of Impact

“With Last Call for the Living, Peter Farris sticks a shotgun in your face, cracks you a beer, works you over with a meat tenderizer, insults your mama, punches your junk, and otherwise gives you the wildest Southern vacation you've ever had. Farris has just announced himself as a major new talent in crime fiction, and he ain't telling us politely.”

      — Duane Swierczynski, Anthony Award winning author of Fun Games

“Last Call for the Living left blisters on my eyelids and teeth marks on my soul. Combining razor sharp prose, a tight plot and characters I could relate to, the narrative tension bites down and doesn't let go.”

     —Frank Bill, author of Crimes in Southern Indiana

“This novel comes at you like an abusive parent, succors you like a mother, smacks you down like a bully, then helps you back up to see the light like a blood brother—but one cranked on meth, steeped in whiskey, and gunned-up for a final showdown. Last Call for the Living is a debut novel with true regret in its heart, and a poignant sadness at the implacability of fate. It is probably the most ballistic family values story you'll ever read.”

     —David J. Schow, author of Gun Work

“Sam Peckinpah meets Flannery O'Connor in Peter Farris's astonishingly good debut. The veracity of violence, the beauty of brutality, and the majesty of the marginalized all align like malignant stars in this disturbing, literate, and authentic novel. Last Call for the Living is the manifesto of a talent who deserves your attention.”

     —Grant Jerkins, author of A Very Simple Crime

From the Author

"A book that is going to be on the Top Ten list of anyone who reads it."
-- Bookreporter

"Last Call for the Living is a debut announcing a serious new talent."
-- Ransom Notes

"Those who savor violent action will welcome Farris's debut, a bleak crime thriller."
-- Publishers Weekly

"A raw and frantic race to an explosive finish in this gritty and fascinating southern noir gem."
-- Criminal Element

"A debut that demands attention."
-- MysteryPeople

"Even veteran authors would be hard pressed to outdo this."
-- Noir Journal

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books; First Edition edition (May 22, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765330075
• ISBN-13: 978-0765330079
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #983,888 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Peter Farris is a graduate of Yale University. He lives in Cobb County, Georgia. Last Call for the Living is his first published novel.

www.peterfarris.com

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Well written, and VERY dark June 15, 2012

By J. Prather TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Last Call for the Living is a very well written novel. The author's prose is simply beautiful, whether he's describing a meth addicted former teacher, or a naive bank teller's innocent love of rocketry, he's right on the money each and every time. This novel is unapologetically dark and gruesome. There's little hope to be found in this tale, just plenty to ponder about the nature of humanity and the gift of life that we all receive. Last Call for the Living is an apt title, since practically all of these characters are bellying up to the bar for their last call at life, whether they be the ex-cons, the drunken sheriff, or the young man who's life doesn't seem to be going anywhere.

I can't say that I actually enjoyed this novel, but I also can't bring myself to give it less than four stars, because it's just so good. I usually have a problem with books that don't have any characters that I care about, but strangely enough, by the end of this tale, I found myself caring about some of these really bad people and actually feeling sorry for some of the others that just weren't very lovable. Charlie Colquitt is the character that carries this book, and he is so multi-faceted, I still find myself thinking about him long after I've turned the last page. This is certainly a recommend, even if it is a cautious one. Just be prepared for one dark and wild ride.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Beer, cigarettes and bullets, please. In an emergency, do you deliver? June 4, 2012

By Dick Johnson TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

The cast of characters is made up of bad people and other generally unlikeable people. Since they are like real people, this means that some are really bad and some are really unlikeable and others are really unlikeably bad.

At least one of these people is a bank robber; a couple are bank tellers; some are parents; some are cops; some are crooks; some are bit players and I'm not telling which are the truly bad or the most unlikeable. (Caveat: There is a group of characters that I'm not including in my assessment since they are in a world of their own. I also am not including their group of friends who may actually be likeable.)

We're in northern Georgia and get to sit in on the drama of what happens when criminal and hostage take flight. Who they meet and how they meet and what they do after they meet fills the pages with non-stop action (and non-stop violence). Given the Book Description, there should be no surprise that the story includes weapons, sex, drugs, even more violence, lots of ammunition, booze, and maybe some unlikeable people.

If any of the above bother you, then don't even think of picking this up - though you will miss a very good book. If you can handle all of that (I don't want to consider that you really revel in such), then you will be in for an intense story. If you are in doubt, give it a go. The story is really that good.

So, what else happens when bad people meet up with unlikeable people who aren't (at least yet) bad also? Tune in to this poster child for "page turner" and find out. You won't believe this is Farris' "first published novel" (the publisher's words). I'll look forward to his second one.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars "Last Call for the Living" is Bloody, Provocative Noir Set in the Wilderness of the Georgia Mountains June 8, 2012

By J. B. Hoyos VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

If you like gritty tales of prison life [such as HBO's groundbreaking "Oz" (Oz: The Complete Seasons 1-6)] and stories of businessmen being pursued by murderous hillbillies [such as the classic thriller, "Deliverance" {Deliverance [Blu-ray])}, then you will enjoy Peter Farris' bloody, provocative noir, "Last Call for the Living." Set in the wilderness of the Georgia Mountains, this extremely suspenseful novel has some of the most amoral, despicable characters you will ever encounter. When I read in the Acknowledgments that David J. Schow [author of the ultraviolent "Internecine" (Internecine) and "Upgunned" (Upgunned: A Novel)] had mentored Farris, I knew that I would be experiencing an extremely brutal thrill ride. Honestly, however, I was more shocked than I had expected.

Young bank teller, Charlie Colquitt, nicknamed Coma because he sleeps like a dead man, is one of the novel's few redeemable characters. I kept fretting about whether or not he would be murdered by vicious ex-con Hobe HICKlin or Hicklin's meth-addicted girlfriend Ellamae Bibb (a.k.a. Hummingbird). A geek who is obsessed with studying aerospace engineering and building model rockets, Charlie experiences a transformation. As his world explodes around him, he grows stronger, more resilient. Hicklin, however, develops a fatherly attraction to the much younger Charlie--an attraction that leads to his desire to protect him from the brutal Aryan brothers who want the money Hicklin stole from the bank where Charlie was taken hostage. Meanwhile, I went through a transformation. Instead of loathing and detesting Hicklin, I began rooting for his escape to freedom. Hicklin and Charlie's yearning to be part of a family is what ultimately leads to their downfall.

An expertly plotted, extremely researched novel, "Last Call for the Living" is a sad, cautionary tale that will be difficult to erase from one's memory. I kept thinking that one of those vile characters could've easily have been me if my parents had been different. I grew up in the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee and am very familiar with the beautiful scenery that Farris describes. Blount County, Tennessee, is very much like Jubilation County, Georgia. We also have holy rollers, snake handlers and lots of rednecks with pickup trucks. I've actually had a few King Snakes as pets; however, they're not poisonous and they eat rattlesnakes. Also, instead of moonshine stills, the country hicks in Tennessee have meth labs.

If the reader ever had romantic notions about being taken hostage during a bank robbery, "Last Call for the Living" will squash them very quickly. Charlie is tied and brutalized, physically and psychologically, by Hicklin, Hummingbird and the two Aryan Brothers, Leonard Lipscomb and Nathan Flock. There are graphic scenes of violence and torture, mostly perpetrated against women. The quantity of obscene language, racial slurs and sexual innuendoes is off the chart. This is the type of novel where, if Mom found me reading it, she would slap me in the face. In other words, it is not intended for children, the timid of heart, and those who love old-fashioned, Agatha Christie-like cozies and whodunits.

"Last Call for the Living" is definitely recommended for those, like myself, who enjoy reading bloody, violent shocking crime noir with high body counts. You have been warned. Also, if you enjoyed reading Peter Farris' excellent debut, you may want to consider indulging yourself in the novels of David J. Schow who mentored him: "Internecine" and "Upgunned." They also have ultraviolent plots involving despicable characters and protagonists who transform into lean, mean killing machines; however they are set against the wealthy, upper-class environs of Las Angeles and Manhattan.

Joseph B. Hoyos