Customer Reviews

The Last One Home

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Populated by one-dimensional characters, who seem always to be "over-the-top" (can't they just talk to each other once in a while, as most people do, instead of operating constantly in some kind of emotional hyperdrive?) It is so mushily sentimental and portentous that I think Ms Appollo may very well get rich (think "The Bridges of Madison County," think "Love Story"), with a smash movie, visits to the talk shows, etc. (I imagine that both "Bridges" and "Love Story" got mostly one-star and five-star reactions too.) I think I learned more about Ms. Appollo in reading this obviously autobiographical novel than I could possibly have learned about her characters, who work so frantically to figure out what life is all about...and, in the end, fail to present us with anything that is really TRUE about life, because in reality they are simply not alive in any sense of the word. Much as I admire and want to give credit and praise to anyone who will do the hard work that's involved in writing and getting published ANY novel, I still have to say that this is, simply, a bad book.

I've gotta say that I was really looking forward to reading this book as a close friend of mine is really great friends with the author. I was horrified to find that this book I'd really looked forward to was just awful! Swearing, drinking, "almost got some" priests??? Sheesh. The main character is prickly to the point that you wish it was her, not her uncle, on her last legs. Yes, there were some touching moments in it toward the end if you could dredge that far through it... But I also slow down and check out car accidents while driving by... I do realize that this is the authors first novel, but could someone have at least had the courtesy to explain to her what run on sentences are, and more importantly how to avoid them?? If you don't believe me, just check out the back cover -- it's just one HUGE run on. To anyone that's actually finished this book like i did still hoping beyond hope it'd get better, stand up and cheer for yourself! You've accomplished a mighty feat.

As a 73 year old woman, I don't enjoy reading many of today's books because they lack original thought, are predictable, and downright boring. This book captivated me from the cover alone and, once I began reading it, I couldn't put it down. I was so impressed with the way the author writes. She has a style I haven't ever experienced before. She writes as if you are actually there with her...as people speak, as people feel. The story brought back so many of my own memories. Flashbacks of my own high school days, friends, fun times, sad times. Gifts that I thought I had lost forever rekindled by one woman's great mind for storytelling. Because of this book, I was prompted to call my old friends. I wanted to tell them to get this book and savor it as it is our story the author tells. I am sure this will be true for so many people. Take this book and let it remind you that, indeed, you can go home again...if only in your heart and soul.

It's not often one comes across a book in which a brilliant first-time author ties together such diverse elements as a dust buster, some barbed wire, a priest, a funeral, a drunk, a clown, some interfering aunts, and a mouthy babe of a lawyer. "How does she do it?" you might ask - Well that, dear friends, is a question easily enough answered by diving head first with eyes open, a nose clip and rubber bathing cap on, into this wonderfully funny and poignant book about the reunion of four high school friends some 30 odd years after their graduation. Their mission is not just to compare wrinkles, sagging boobs and receding hair lines...

The common thread between the four, besides their penchant for graveyards, lies in the impending death of a beloved, yet sometimes cantankerous, old man, who is the mentor and savior of little children and tomatoes and, not least of all, the godfather and soulmate of our gal, Gia Scarpino, the book's central character. Aah, beloved Uncle Tony. But believe me, kind readers, this is only where the fun begins.

Annette Appollo's first novel, THE LAST ONE HOME, is truly an unexpected delight. It's the kind of book that is literally hard to put down. (So what if the wash doesn't get done, the kids don't get fed or the bills don't get paid!) There is a time and a place for all things, and this book should be right at the top of everyone's "Things To Do - Immediately" list.

This is the kind of book that makes you only half listen (and with a bit of irritation) when your youngest child interrupts your reading with whining questions like "MOM, do we have to have cereal again tonight for dinner!?" This is the kind of book that as soon as you are done reading it, you want to turn it over and start again. This is the kind of book that you can't wait to see be made into a movie. This is the kind of book that you won't want to lend out to your friends, because you just know you'll never get it back again. This is the kind of book that teaches you a few things about life, love, friendship, loyalty, longing, hurt, disappointment and family, and even a new way to clean your toaster.

Run, scamper or skip to your nearest bookstore to grab this one. But heavens, whatever you do, don't waddle

Annette Appollo has written a gem of a book. An impressive first novel, The Last One Home hits upon truth honestly and without affectation. Free from the trappings of heavy handed morality, the book explores the passage of time, it's effects on a family and on the lives of four best friends. The Scarpino family is real and believable as is the small Pennsylvania town which provides the backdrop. One puts down the book not with the sense of having just read a work of fiction, but of having just looked back on their own hometown, the people with whom they lived, and the idiosyncrasies of their own families. In simple and poignant language, Ms. Appollo speaks to the reader of the harder lessons in life - the ones you spend your life learning and for which you are never prepared. This is a book that could easily be a film with its fast pace, its strongly established setting and its natural dialogue. If you're interested in a book that speaks honestly and is well-written by an author who does not pretend to be above her readers The Last One Home will prove a worthy investment of your time.

Annette Appollo truly captured my attention, and my heart, with her first novel, "The Last One Home." She made me relish the episodes of revenge by her character Gia Scarpino, who, as a child, attacks a nun who unkindly humiliates a helpless boy friend and who smashes a classic car owned by the abusive husband of her friend from her high school days. Gia returns to her hometown to see to the funeral details of her beloved uncle after she has been away for three decades. She is a woman of strength and temper. She is easy to adore. The most endearing charcter in the novel is Yozo, who seemed hopelessly weak as a child but who grew up to be wealthy and eccentric. He reminds me of Skink in Carl Hiaasen's novels, in that he is free and colorful and intelligent and feels emotions deeply. Willie, Gia's former lover, who bacame a priest, never outgrew his adoration of Gia, and he still owns her heart too, but both their lives have been overtaken by other realities. I have to admit that it bothered me at first that Ms. Appollo tells her story in present tense -- very unusual for a novel, I think. I tried to convince myself that she does so to generate a feeling in the reader that the story is taking place now...in the reader's presence...sort of like the way radio news announcers tell the news in present tense. Eventually, I decided it doesn't matter why she did it. This is a free country, and Ms. Appollo can tell her story in whatever tense she damn well wants to. Present tense works for her, and it works for me. "The Last One Home" is one of the finest novels I have read in years. I hope to see more works by Ms. Appollo. She is a gifted writer.

Henry Cabbage Tallahassee, Florida

A disappointing read that lacks insight, verve, or style but overflows with bitterness, cliche, and predictability. Any television "movie of the week" offers more depth, any "Yo Mamma" joke offers more wit, and any newspaper's classified ads section offers a more deft choice of vocabulary. Fiction at its most mercenary, editing at its most lax. Take it off the shelves before someone else has to suffer through it!

I enjoyed the theme of this book. It drove home many things that are important in our relationships with family and friends. Close friends always remain close. Just beware - this author likes to use the "F word" very liberally, which seems to contradict the main character being a reputable lawyer. The story would have been an excellent one, if not for the language. Also, it is evident from her writing that the author is not particulary fond of her Catholic upbringing. As a Catholic christian, I was offended. I finished the book only because it was a good story. I would not read another book by this author, strickly because of the profanity.

Simultaneous plots interwoven in an unusual past / present format make Annette Appollo's "The Last One Home" a treat for any reader that loves to read of lawyers, love friends and loyalty. This NOT the formulaic lawyer story that usually bores into the best seller list. Be prepared for fresh and different. Hats off to Appollo for resisting the temptation to dumb-down "The Last One Home" for the few extra sales it might have garnered at first. Word-of-mouth and sharing between friends will make this book. The witty Dialogue crackles with sarcasm and realism for those of us who may have long been labled smart-mouthed. Yes, people really canand do talk to one another and remain friends. In fact, only the best of friends CAN talk so frankly. I recommend "The Last One Home" with only one warning: if you are an escape-reader with tastes that run closer to bodice-ripping than gritty realism, this book may be a bit much for you This first novel is one that many an elbow-patched author would move a small island with a shovel and sand bucket to call a sixth. A fine achievement of interaction between four old friends, characters you know and love by novel's end.

I read LAST ONE HOME and found the author to display a depth of understanding of what friendship is all about. She brought me back to a time past, and made me think of old friends that I have neglected.

It is my opinion that, for a first novel, this lady shows a great talent. I look forward to reading her next....Annette..DO IT AGAIN