Customer Reviews

Last Words

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

 

 

If you read my reviews you will see I am a tough but fair critic and I am not involved with the author or publisher in any way,shape,or form.I highly suspect that 80-90% of the reviews you read are affiliated with the author in some way.Now that I have finished my tangent,here is my review.

Liked
1.good story,good/believable characters
2.story paced nicely
3.decent and believable action

Disliked
1.dialogue was stiff/not realistic
2.plot holes,with that kind of carnage going on ONE man's story is standing out?
3.BIGGEST problem,144 pages wtf for 10$ you owe me the sequel free MICHEAL!!!
4. would like some more backround on the origins of the virus.

Overall good read, Mike what's up with the sequel?

So...I picked this up last night, thinking that I would read a few pages, and 2 hours later, I closed the back cover. Definitely a quick read, not necessarily a thorough one.

Interesting twist on the plague inception, and these were "infected" (a la 28 Days Later), not necessarily "zombies", per se, but it was...I don't know....like, disconnected or something.

It is described on the back as "short stories", which I didn't know when I bought it - I HATE short stories. But it's not, really. It's sort of random chapters of different people as they go through the disaster experience, and then sort of ties in together in the end, but not really.

It was....random, I think, is the best word I can come up with to describe it. I'm not saying it was BAD, it wasn't. But the way this book was written comes across as piecemeal and disconnected and didn't really work for me.

But definitely read it....it does have zombies after all. :-)

As a child, I was not a fan of movies or books that detailed a violent apocalypse or a Hobbesian return to our primal selves. I was introduced to The Stand by Stephen King and the terrifying mini-series The Day After when I was college, however, and my interest in the darker elements of storytelling started to awaken. My accompanying studies of the Cold War in its waning days focused my attention further on the very real prospect of cataclysmic events affecting our planet. My love for the genre was sealed after marrying my husband, who is a devoted fan of the Sci-Fi Channel. Between ridiculous movies about spiders mutated by radiation, I discovered some serious cinematic commentaries on our current global state. I am now an advocate of the idea that extreme and violent stories of human destruction can provide wonderful insights into how carefully we all walk that line of maintaining a civil sanity. I share this background story to let you know how excited I am to discover author Michael Presutti and his recently published novel, Last Words. Presutti's novel about traveling hordes of monsters, fratricide, and the daily fight for survival is terrifying and absolutely spellbinding ... primarily because the possible reality of such a scenario is not as far-fetched as we might hope.

The author begins Last Words with a prologue that is guaranteed to grip the reader's attention. We learn that a lone man bent on teaching the world a lesson has infiltrated a military compound and is set to release a deadly virus over the skies of the western United States. This brief and startling introduction is followed by a series of short broadcasts from a cable news network that tracks the progress of the virus as it spreads across the country. After only a week, the transmission signal goes dead. I knew that I was reading a piece of fiction, but I still felt a very real pang of helplessness and frustration with just this hint about the devastation that had occurred. Through his powerfully abrupt language, Presutti does a masterful job of creating emotional investment from his readers right away.

Throughout the pages of Last Words that follow, Presutti invites his readers into the lives of people who are simply trying to survive the virus that spreads to their communities through the ever-growing population of "infected ones." We meet parents who kill their own children and wives who feel compelled to attack their husbands, all due to the unforgiving virus. With wild eyes and mutilated bodies, the infected beings feast upon human and animal flesh alike. The author creates vivid descriptions of these encounters that are both jarring and utterly fascinating. The visuals play clearly in the mind of the reader with every page that is turned.

One of the most effective ways that Presutti develops his tale of zombie-like predators, the breakdown of society, and the heroic fight for survival is through the short story format he employs. Each chapter is only about ten pages in length but packed with action. This layout creates frantic episodes featuring the lives of those who are desperate to see another sunrise. At no point in Last Words does the reader get a chance to relax or even take a deep breath. Even the interludes between each chapter feature single quotations printed on a stark white background. These words offer thoughts of Armageddon and often the human contribution to the approaching end of the world. Not exactly a respite from the agony felt through the main text of the plotline.

The new novel Last Words by Michael Presutti is a stunning read that leaves its readers thinking long after the final pages are closed. The author creates a scenario that could be campy and almost perversely comical if told from a different perspective. However, he instead develops a novel that delivers relatable characters and a mesmerizing plot. We feel the loneliness of the individuals who have managed to survive the grips of the virus and now long for any connection with another human being. We ache for those who have the charge of protecting our leaders but realize the bunker has become nothing more than an inevitable death trap. We cheer for the few who choose to forge ahead and help as many people as possible along the way. Last Words should be read not only by those who are drawn to the X-Files aspect of the book, but also anyone who can appreciate a story about the human condition under the most unimaginable of circumstances.

I have only a few observations to make. I did find the story interesting,though it was presented in an unusual way. I'm not a fan of zombie novels, but I bought this one out of curiosity, because it was short, not too expensive, and had received some glowing reviews. One review was extremely negative, far more than I would be, and I find that my feelings about the book lay somewhere between what I consider the two extremes.

I do have to agree, however, that the book is replete with editing errors. Even Hemingway, Mailer or Updike would have been attacked if a book of theirs had been published with such grammatical errors and omissions. In some places a comma was missing; in a few instances, the comma on the page was completely misplaced, or wasn't needed at all, and the use of apostrophes seemed to be haphazard at times. (Example: one character noticed that he didn't wet his "pant's.") There are just too many mistakes that distracted my attention from the story itself, and that was a shame, I felt.

I can't trash the book and say it was worthless. I understand that many publishing houses today do not employ editors, and it is up to the author to edit the manuscript since it will be printed as submitted by the author. If such is the case with this book, then the author must shoulder the blame for letting his ms go to the publisher in such a condition. All I'm saying is that the next time the author writes a novel, sequel or not, he would be well-advised to edit the book well before submitting it for publication. Another book by this author with such editing errors will lose many potential readers. Unfortunately, this first book may have already done that. But I like to encourage new authors, so I won't just lash out at the author and tell him he doesn't know what he's doing. It's fairly well known that the editing of the manuscript by the author is usually when the book is made. First drafts are always garbage, or so it is said. This book just needed a good final edit and revision. I don't know the history of the publication of this book; perhaps the author submitted it with the belief that it would be edited by someone at the publishing house. Well, it obviously wasn't, so the author won't have the excuse of ignorance on the second book. There are many fine books on revision available.

I'm not the kind of reader who just looks for editing errors. I prefer following the narrative and wondering, "what happens next?" But too many language and grammar errors remind the reader that what he is reading is just something written by someone else, so puts a barrier between the reader and the protagonist. And sometimes the narrator of a chapter addresses the reader directly, and I found that off-putting, and makes it harder to believe the story.

Let's hope that the author learns from his mistakes in this book and keeps at it, with a little more attention to the final manuscript, and perhaps he will have a future readership to speak of. I think he has potential.

I just finished reading 'Last Words' and as finished I found myself wanting and craving more. This book is not your typical zombie novel as in the dead aren't rising, this is a virus that makes people something more diabolical and terrifying then your typical slow moving zombie. The creatures or the 'infected' are insane homicidal machines.
The book is written from peoples experiences involving the same outbreak of the virus. From an old farming couple to a young teenage boy trying to survive, along with a few others. There is one character that is kind of the main focus throughout the novel, William Dobbs who was part of the Marine Corp. This book will keep you on the edge of your seat as you read action, heartbreak and hope involving the different characters. Get this book!

This was more of an collection of short stories like Dead Walk Diaries than a book with the same people from beginning to end but it was a cool read. Glad I found it on Amazon.

The cover art is the best part of this book. It must be self-published...
The stories are trite, the characters are cliche'. A total disappointment.

Reading these stories is like having a co-worker you're not fond of tell you in excruciating detail about a movie that's not very good.

Sorry Mr. Presutti.

I really enjoyed how the author started the book and how he had the characters interact in different ways.This book takes place in the near future in which a virus is released and it makes people turn into blood thirsty maniacs.Something out of 28 Days Later.My favorite character is Lt. Dobbs USMC, who takes on the mission of trying to kill as many of the "infected" as possible and saving survivors as he moves north into Canada.
I am disappointed that the book was not longer.I definitely look forward to seeing more from this author.

Great read! Love the multiple stories within keeps your mind engaged continuously. Dobb's is a great character to follow as he is intertwined thru the entire story and keeps you turning the page. If you're a Steven King fan you'll love this author as his style touches upon King's influences and many other genuine drama/horror authors. Keep your eye on this upcoming writer! Completely recommend purchasing this book.

Not a bad book but a little sketchy. It comes across as not so much of a book but rather as a number of slices of life from a zombie-like (although the book doesn't have zombies so much as infected people and animals) outbreak. The book is open-ended and does not really come to any story or plot conclusions. It could have been a really good book (interesting characters/good writing style) if the author had taken the time to finish what he had begun. Under the circumstances it is a fairly entertaining, if somewhat disatisfying read.