The Last Bartender [Kindle Edition]

Anthony F. Lewis (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Set in the near future, The Last Bartender follows Justin Gardiner, a highly-decorated Operation Enduring Freedom veteran who returns home to work as a bartender.

Just a few years into his new career, rising healthcare costs and other political factors lead to a new prohibition on alcohol — all bars are closed, retail alcohol sales are halted and criminalized, and Justin finds himself out of work. Soon afterwards, Justin and his barroom cohorts buy a rundown Catskill resort and set up an ambitious bootlegging operation, supplying keg beer to the New York City area.

Events start rapidly spiraling out of control as the Drug Enforcement Agency closes its net and the mob aggressively moves in on the moneymaking operation, leaving Justin and his friends caught in the crossfire of the opposing forces.

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 611 KB
• Print Length: 456 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1452891435
• Publisher: Ten Mile Press; 1.02 edition (February 28, 2010)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B003AKY5SU
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #340,341 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

I started my first novel sometime in mid-2000, on a Metro-North commuter train traveling into Manhattan, writing on my then new Mac Powerbook. The title stuck--The Third Revolution--but the rest of the work I'd completed was tossed out in early 2002 when I started the project anew. I completed that manuscript, found and worked with a professional editor, and, after spending about a year learning how not to attract a literary agent, I eventually took a chance on the then cutting edge publish-on-demand technology and got the book "out there." The first paperback edition of The Third Revolution appeared on Amazon (as well as in several local bricks-and mortar bookstores) in May of 2004. I have to admit, I liked the feeing.

Better than a decade later I'm still working on that same Mac Powerbook, and have somehow managed to write and publish five novels (The Third Revolution, Middle America, Little Birdies!, The Last Bartender and The Cenacle Scroll). As proof-positive that abject economic failure presents no impediment to the truly thickheaded, I'm presently working on a sixth, Aqua Vitae, which should be completed this year.

In my pre-MBA days, a time when I had ready access to fast motorcycles and sympathetic women, I worked as a bartender at the historic Peter Luger Steakhouse in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Manhattan, the El Morocco Club on Second Avenue, the infamous Diamond's Whisky Parlor in Flushing and poured shots-and-beers (and kept my head down) through several stabbings and the occasional gunfire at Pirate's Pub in Kew Gardens, Queens. Today I can be found plying my trade at Frogs End Tavern within the elegant Glenmere Mansion, an exclusive eighteen-room boutique hotel in Chester, NY. The motorcycles and women have yet to reemerge, but I remain ever hopeful in that regard.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From a Master Brewer, a Master Beer, August 25, 2010

By 

FURB Furbish "FURB" (Taylorsville City, Salt Lake County, Utah, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Bartender (Paperback)

With "The Last Bartender," from Anthony F. Lewis comes this master tale. Set in the not too distant dystopia, "The Last Bartender" chronicles the exploits of Justin Gardiner, a sharp shooting bartender turned brew meister.

Justin, bar owner Sam, and local guitar hero Larry, have all been put out of a job as new federal regulations have shut down their Flushing, Queens establishment. When Justin has a house party fueled with homebrewed beer, local goombah Johnny V. becomes very interested in wort Justin has been cooking up since he put his claim in for an unemployment check. And so Justin, Sam, and Larry begin their entry into the market for beer despite its being outside the legal paradigm.

From the get-go, their brewing operation is a success, and expansion efforts have quickly tapped out all the available space in Justin's home. During a keg party at the American Legion hall, Justin hears of an abandoned upstate resort that is going to be auctioned off at a tax sale. With Johnny V.'s underworld connections, further rapid expansion of the brewing business is quickly realized.

Johnny, Sam, and Larry quickly set up the available brewing equipment in the kitchen of the resort. Since the Sherriff of the local county was involved in the sale, Sam invites the local blue light gang to enjoy some libations. All decide that it should be a regular weekend thing, and the resort becomes a cops only speak-easy.

Things quickly spiral out of control, with a maelstrom of cops, mafioso, and snipers. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, with its spirit of adventure, rebellion, and mafia figures. "The Last Bartender" has a few enjoyable tangents which tie together very nicely at the climax of the book. Unlike the beer of the same name, "The Last Bartender" truly is a Meister Brau, and its author is a master craftsman.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Complete Page-turner!, June 14, 2011

By 

RockDoc - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Bartender (Kindle Edition)

Great story, well developed plot, and believable characters. Not nearly as deep or long as the author's other works but is a solid read and well worth the kindle price.