Customer Reviews

Last One Left (Coronet Books)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This novel almost certainly started out as a Travis McGee story. Then, somewhere along the line, I'm guessing that it started to come alive in ways that demanded a more omniscient narrator. Just a guess, but MacDonald's dedication of the book to McGee himself is suggestive.

It's also worth noting that in this novel, McGee's runabout *Munequita* figures prominently..McGee acquired the boat after the events related in the novel--the sort of sly integration McDonald indulged from time to time.

So, for those of you who love the McGee stories, but haven't read this one yet, you're in for what may be the best Travis McGee story of them all, although McGee is nowhere to be found, at least, not directly.

Besides the usual MacDonald qualities of a wonderfully complex plot that unfolds in an entirely organic way; every character pretty much straight out of life; and all kinds of memorable local color, there is an elaborate portrait of one of the more frightening human beings to ever inhabit a crime novel. This character is straight out of Kraft-Ebbing's worst nightmares, and the way in which MacDonald gets inside her head is downright spooky. The novel is worth your time just for this character alone.

But there is so much more. The novel ranges over a vast swath of human experience. MacDonald's deep insight into the human condition is in full flower here, and makes for some of the most gratifying storytelling of the last 50 years. The little framing story that opens and closes the book is itself a small masterpiece. You'll be glued to this novel until you finish it.

In short, this is another one of MacDonald's deeply literary novels that masquerades as crime fiction. I've often thought that it's his best novel, and I've read them all, most more than once.

I've never been able to figure out why no-one has made this into a movie. Done right, this would be a very impressive flick.

This was quite a plot - murder, greed, money, lust, love, soul searching - the whole nine yards. And a murder at the core, with a persona just made for Sharon Stone to play on the big screen. Very carefully plotted and intrically woven, lots of detail, solid, thorough read. Not fast moving at all. Characters well drawn and complete. Kind of story where you basically know what is going on at all times, you're just reading to see how all the characters come to know what you know and so resolve the issues. Make a great film. Lots of sex and talk about it. Written in 1967. And lots of different characters. Each so sharply drawn I think that's what made the book so good. All the visuals very well described also.

Murder at sea. No survivors. No evidence. No reason not to be $800,000 richer. Crissy Harkinson knew all about the cash that had left the Gold Coast of Florida, headed for the Bahams on board a pleasure boat. It was Texas money...unrecorded, intended as a bribe. And then there was enough of it to change a dozen lives. Or end them...

I have discussed this novel countless times with other MacDonald readers and many feel it could be his best. I would find it difficult to argue. It has it all. Great major plot, great subplots, great characters, it's the perfect length. It moves perfectly, never drags.
MacDonald was so strong on character he could get away with an occasional weak plot. In fact I believe he sometimes wrote a weak plot on purpose so he could feature character. In this book he is strong on both. If it isn't his best it certainly is one of his best. Read it.

The Last One Left by John D. MacDonald is a remarkable novel. One of the best I've had the pleasure to read in quite some time. It's about an unspeakable crime wherein a pleasure cruise from Texas to the Bahamas by way of Florida ends in death for most of those on board. The plot has been superbly crafted so that details of the crime are skillfully and tantalizingly revealed to the reader as the narrative unfolds. Not only is the plot a great one but the multiple characters are sensational as well. There are no two dimensional stick figures here. These are well fleshed out characters who fascinate and sometimes shock even as they come across as highly believable.
MacDonald was in top form when he wrote The Last One Left. Very highly recommended.

This was my first non-Travis McGee John D. MacDonald novel. It was a well constructed story, and the suspense was quite a bit more than you get from the typical Travis McGee novel. But I was very disappointed with the ending. It just seemed like JDM couldn't figure out how to end it, mooted several options, then settled on something that didn't really work. I did not believe anything about how the case was resolved.

Too bad, because it had been an interesting read, with high suspense. It is really a forties film-noir plot (although set in 1967), and it has a gritty realism. It seems like JDM just didn't quite have the nerve to end the thing like it needed to be ended, and how he must have planned to have it end when he first started writing it. So, instead, he has the main protagonist tell us a couple of possible endings, either of which would have been better than what was chosen, and then he resolves the thing in a completely different way, one not particularly credible.

The book was not as good as advertised. The dust jacket was as expected but the binding was poor with the spine coming apart.