The Last Days of Madame Rey: A Stephan Raszer Investigation [Hardcover]

A. W. Hill (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 18, 2007

Private investigator Stephan Raszer is back. Action-packed, combining spiritual detection, paranormal events reminiscent of The X-Files, this is a metaphysical mystery with a keen postmodern edge.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In Hill's second Stephan Raszer thriller (after 2002's Enoch's Portal), an odd blend of suspense and the supernatural, Raszer, who bases his operations in California, hires himself out to clients seeking the rescue of individuals who have-willingly or not-joined obscure cults and religious sects. When Abel Cohn, senior partner at a prominent Los Angeles law firm, hires Raszer to track down his missing son, Fortis, Raszer crosses paths with the Military Order of Thule, a group of right-wing extremists led by the charismatic but psychotic Bronk Vreeland. Aided by the requisite attractive sidekick, April Blessing, who inevitably is captured by Vreeland and sexually assaulted, Raszer pursues his quarry around the world even as his shadowy allies suggest he probe a link between the Order of Thule and the legend of Lemuria. Labored writing and an indifferent plot make this series a mere shadow of Seabury Quinn's classic Jules de Grandin stories, which likewise feature a supernatural sleuth in over-the-top adventures.
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Review

"Reads like Ludlum by way of Thomas Pynchon, with a hero who is a James Bond for the spiritually uncertain twenty-first century...This guy can really write!" -- Ian Rankin

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf (April 18, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786718811
• ISBN-13: 978-0786718818
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,986,014 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A stylish page-turner that respects its audience, July 16, 2007

By 

beach bookworm - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Days of Madame Rey: A Stephan Raszer Investigation (Hardcover)

Mr. Hill's writing is stripped down but evocative, making this a page-turner with surprisingly weighty content. Whereas most writers of supernatural thrillers use esoteric details as bits of colorful window dressing for stock scenario's (e.g. the dressed-up extended chase sequence that is the core of the Da Vinci Code) Mr. Hill works for his effects --- he shows some actual knowledge of and thought about the ideas he deploys, and he makes his mystical themes an integral part of his plot line. The minor characters who come to Stephan Raszer's aid - a female ex-Israeli commando, a love-sick Hell's Angel --are sharply drawn and enjoyable and help keep the plot spinning at crucial moments. The locales -- from the tawdry magic of old Hollywood to the Atlas mountains -- crucial to a story like this -- are vividly evoked. Fans of the Da Vinci code will find as many thrills but more meat here.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's all in the cards, April 20, 2010

By 

Melissa Slachetka (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Days of Madame Rey: A Stephan Raszer Investigation (Stephan Raszer Investigations) (Paperback)

The Last Days of Madame Rey is a perfect companion to A. W. Hill's Nowhere-Land. Both feature the daring PI Stephan Raszer, and although Madame Rey came first, it has just been newly released in a paperback with brand-new cover art. Both reads are intense, but Madame Rey has an earthy mother-nature tone where science and religious dogma amalgamate. It will have its readers at the edge of their seats; instinctively checking the length on their tailbones.

"`Humans of your type retain the vestige known as the coccyx. This is your mark - the link to your fellows and to creation. Something happened, however, out on the savannah to those earliest and most eager of predators. The Stumps, you see, have no affinity for life in the trees. The truth is they do not have much affinity for life.'
`Are we still on the `parable?' Raszer asked. `Or can I spot these...Stumps...on Sunset Boulevard?'"
-pg 310

Hill's complex and intense story-telling make it hard to describe this novel without going into a 30 minute synopsis and that is one of the reasons it is so good. Private Investigator Raszer is tracking another lost soul. This time it is the son of a prominent Jewish lawyer who gets caught up in a Neo-Nazi supremacist group looking to turn the axis of our globe to point `true north'. Their target is Mt Shasta's active volcano, much to the dismay of geologists, new-age hippies, the Native American's that consider the volcano a holy ground, and the other habitants of the small town surrounding this natural landmark.

"Raszer shot his host a sidelong glance. `At the risk of presumption, Professor...you're not being coy with me, are you? It can't have escaped you that the Military Order of Thule has a polar fixation. Is `seismic chaos' what you think they're up to?'"
-pg 175

The miscreants call themselves the Order of Thule, and believe that lacking, or smaller than average tailbones are a sign of the supreme race. Commander Bronk Vreeland gained his status by having virtually no tailbone and his willingness to kill his only daughter, which has left him dangerously blinded by power and extremely unbalanced. Armed with weapons, and tactical training, this disillusioned militia holds fort on the volcano, blasting away as it core, and mind-washing a very confused young lawyer named Fortis Cohn.

The mountain volcano is showing signs of eminent explosion, when Raszer and his inside informant, April Blessing, attempt to retrieve Cohn's soul and stop the abuse to Mt. Shasta. Along with the fortuitous powers of tarot reader Madame Rey, and his trusty partner in soul searching, Monica Lord, Raszer just may have the advantage...if he gets there in time. This one is a page-turner and if it gets a little too highly scientific, at times, this only adds to the mystery and suspense. Raszer is at his best as romantic charmer and bad-boy sleuth. The Last Days of Madame Rey will have you on the edge of your seat until the last page.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Read, November 20, 2009

By 

S. Chambers (Fort Wayne, IN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Days of Madame Rey: A Stephan Raszer Investigation (Hardcover)

Stephen Raszer is back performing his specialized role of a PI of missing people who have been lost to the occult. This time, it's Fortis Cohn, the son of a prominent lawyer, who is lost to the Military Order of Thule. While tracking Cohn, Raszer discovers the connection of the Order to the legend of Lemuria and its relationship to the supernatural qualities of Mt. Shasta. His old lover and now friend, April Blessing, goes deep undercover to help him find out the truth, eventually finding herself at extreme risk when Bronk Vreeland, the Order's psychotic leader, kidnaps her. And if that's not harrowing enough for you, Raszer soon discovers the Order has dangerous plans for the volcano. In a nice twist of the romantic elements, a deep friendship could be sensed between Stephen and April underneath their undeniable physical attraction.

Hill obviously did his homework in researching the occult and the kinds of secret societies spawned from it, making the supernatural aspects integral to the story--which gives the story much more weight. I'll be thinking of the world a little differently as a result. Great read.