Customer Reviews

Last Rites: A Novel

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LAST RITES by Charles Patterson is a compelling narrative that rings so true I wondered if it was partly memoir. Pure in spirit, the book speaks honestly to timeless family issues surrounding loyalty and expectations. Despite humorous vignettes bordering on sacrilege, Patterson deals respectfully with the church. Tom Reed's restless struggle to be true to himself pulls at the reader's heart. Believable events seamlessly unfold exposing Tom's quiet desperation as he rides life's conveyor belt of expected next steps. Patterson's LAST RITES is a well crafted tale that keeps us guessing until the very end and then leaves us wanting more.

Charles Patterson's latest book, and first novel, Last Rights, is the story of a young man coming of age. The main character, Tom Reed, is born into a long line of Episcopalian clergy - his father a widely respected rector and his grandfather the Bishop of Connecticut.

Patterson's first sentence, "The collar was waiting for me at birth," fairly describes the tension and conflict running throughout the story. Tom, an only-child, is a religious studies wunderkind who is expected by every Episcopal in New England, apparently, to walk in his father's and grandfather's footsteps. And he does, for a while, becoming one of the youngest priests and rectors; the sky's the limit for young Reverend Reed.

As Tom moves along his preordained path he increasingly wonders whether his early experiences and family's expectations were too limiting. He begins looking at what he sees as the deeper meaning of religion and eventually chooses to leave the ministry altogether, causing something of an event among the New England Episcopal church fathers (one of whom is his mother, really.)

Readers familiar with much of Patterson's work will be unsurprised by his religious theme. Readers familiar with his acclaimed, Eternal Treblinka, will not be surprised at the important central role that animals share in the story's climax.

On the whole, I was motivated to keep reading Tom's story and found him a sympathetic character. The story is subdued for the most part and understated.

More than anything else, Last Rights introduced us to Tom Reed. I'll be surprised if we don't hear more about Tom's adventures in some later novel by Patterson.

"Last Rites" was definitely an enjoyable read for this lapsed Episcopalian.

The story of Tom, the "hero", and his plight of feeling trapped by parental, and ancestral, expectations into living a life that was essentially counterproductive to what he knew in his heart and soul he should be doing moved along in such a way as to keep me connected and interested in what the outcome would be. There were times when I wanted to give Tom a gentle shake and tell him to stop letting them yank him around, but he was young, conflicted and insecure and so it was understandable how he got caught in a rut. This created an atmosphere then that made for an interesting and engaging flow of activities as the reader sees how his character matures and takes charge.

In the process of recounting Rev. Tom's saga the author works in some succinct comments on the hypocrisy, etc. of not only the "full of themselves" Episcopalians, but also the deeply disturbing history of atrocities committed in the name of Christianity, which continue to this day in various forms against both man and beast. It's a story that will keep you engaged on more than one level.

This is Mr. Patterson's (author of internationally acclaimed "Eternal Treblinka") first novel and hopefully there will be more to come.

A modern and hilarious version of Hamlet thorn by a new existential dilemma. Or is it new?

Charles Patterson entertains, enlightens, educates, but he ain' preaching in "Last Rites".

Tom Reed is preordained to the family business, the Episcopal clergy. He's much better at it than he realizes, and far better at helping others than himself. His metamorphosis is just beginning as the book ends, with a hint of what may be to come in the future. A second volume, if forthcoming, could be a challenge for the author, Mr. Patterson, but a joy for the reader.