Lorraine Preston’s brother, Michael, was sent down for life for the murder of their father — and now he’s being allowed out for their mother’s funeral. A hardened criminal, Michael Preston is the last person Resnick wants back on the streets, especially now when Resnick is struggling to contain an explosive situation on the streets, where the spread of guns has led to a frightening escalation in drug-related crime. With his previously stable relationship with Hannah Campbell wavering, Resnick is forced back on his self-belief, and his understanding of people.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
"Back outside, walking away from the hospital toward Old Lenton, Resnick's step was springier, lighter. He couldn't remember the last time he'd struck a blow outside of self-defense; couldn't recall when he'd last used force of any kind. And although he knew that later his conscience would be giving him gyp, right now he felt one hundred percent better."
That, of course, is Nottingham's own Charlie Resnick, a smart British policeman of Polish origins who would rather eat a sausage sandwich or listen to a Duke Ellington record than threaten a criminal. But threaten a drug dealer is exactly what he has just done; times are changing, and this will be Charlie's final case. John Harvey says he's ending his distinguished series because he no longer lives in Nottingham.
Resnick's last stand involves a prisoner named Michael Preston, who was incarcerated for murdering his father, but absconds while he's out on compassionate leave. He vanishes into the streets of Nottingham and begins to torment his family. Meanwhile, rival drug gangs are shedding blood on Resnick's turf, and a corrupt copper is at large in the department. This is typical John Harvey fare: Charlie's sporadic affair with social worker Hannah is more off than on; dozens of greasy sandwiches are consumed; Charlie's many cats nap while Art Tatum and Thelonius Monk play quietly in the background. It's a fine, rich atmosphere, now so familiar that it's hard to say good-bye. Although there have been stronger, more spectacular entries in the Resnick series, Last Rites has enough of the familiar ingredients and the gritty street poetry to make a satisfying finale. --Dick Adler --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
Harvey's series about Charlie Resnick, the jazz-loving, melancholy cop in provincial Nottingham, England, has long been one of the finest police procedural series around (Rough Treatment, Cold Light, Easy Meat, others). "Has been," because with this exceptionally good entry, poet Harvey says he is leaving Nottingham and Resnick behind. At least he has quit on a high note. A building turf war between drug lords, and an escape by a prisoner who had murdered his own father, are at the heart of the new yarn, skillfully interwoven in a way that only Harvey at his best can contrive. Michael Preston had gone willingly to jail for his father's murder, and when he escapes on an escorted visit to his mother's funeral, his sister Lorraine, always close to him, is fiercely divided. Only she has a sense of what may have driven himAbut now he is hopelessly lost to a criminal life, and Lorraine has her own husband and children to care for. Harvey's feel for the fearful compulsions of love is as unerring as his ear for the hard-bitten Midlanders whose lives are Resnick's beat. A decent, thoughtful man in a tough job, whose tender instincts are constantly at war with his duty, Resnick is a splendidly conceived character who will be much missed.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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More About the Author
JOHN HARVEY is the author of eleven Charlie Resnick novels and the Frank Elder series, and is a recipient of the Silver Dagger Award, the Barry Award, and the Cartier Diamond Dagger Award for lifetime achievement, among other honors.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Running Out Steam...,
By A. Ross (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER) (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Last Rites: A Crime Novel (Charles Resnick Novels) (Hardcover)
The not-so-grand finale in the Charlie Resnick series certainly exhibits the signs of Harvey's weariness with the series. The highly predictable main plot features an escaped murderer with a sordid childhood, and is the least interesting element of the book. The police efforts to stem a series of drug-related killings brings in a number of minor players from past books and is somewhat more interesting. But of course it is the developments in Resnick's private and professional life that drives the book and rescues it in the end.
7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Will be sadly missed,
By Tove Larson (tove@netcom.ca) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Last Rites: A Crime Novel (Charles Resnick Novels) (Hardcover)
I did not realize until nearly at the end that this was the last of the Resnick novels. I'm embarassed to admit that he has become a part of my life and that I awaited his next installment like a child on the first day of school. I feel like my life will somehow be incomplete without the wisdom of Charlie but anxiously await the latest character. This series will be well worth the attention.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great end to a great series,
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This review is from: Last Rites: The 10th Charles Resnick Mystery (A Charles Resnick Mystery) (Paperback)
Sadly, this great series comes to an end. A remarkably consistent set of stories, each touching on a different social issue. Harvey is a genius at developing characters, some who seem destined to be fixtures only to leave the series due to death or other causes but who remain in Charlie's memory in later stories. Poor Charlie, who stumbles into relationships in one novel only to see it end in later ones. Living with his four cats amidst constant jazz, and spending time at Polish events to refresh his Polish roots, Charlie Resnick became a close friend. Of all the British police procedural characters, Charlie is the one I'd most like to meet and befriend. I suspect John Harvey misses him too.
A word of caution. This series is best read in sequence, precisely because they are in fact one continuous story of one man's remarkable life.
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