What do you think?
Rate this book
Last Call for the Living
For bank teller Charlie Colquitt, it was just another Saturday. For Hobe Hicklin, an ex-con with nothing to lose, it was just another score. For Hobe's drug-addled, sex-crazed girlfriend, it was just more lust, violence, and drugs. But in this gripping narrative, nothing is as it seems.
Hicklin's first mistake was double-crossing his partners in the Aryan Brotherhood. His second mistake was taking a hostage. But he and Charlie can only hide out for so long in the mountains of north Georgia before the sins of Hicklin's past catch up to them.
Hot on Hicklin's trail are a pair of ruthless Brotherhood soldiers, ready to burn a path of murder and mayhem to get their revenge. GBI Special Agent Sallie Crews and Sheriff Tommy Lang catch the case, themselves no strangers to the evil men are capable of. Soon Crews is making some dangerous connections while for the hard-drinking, despondent Lang, rescuing Charlie Colquitt might be the key to personal salvation.
Prodigious talent Peter Farris has written a backwoods fairy tale of fate and flight that is also a dark, modern thriller. Like the bastard child of Stephen Hunter's Dirty White Boys and Cormac McCarthy's No Country for Old Men, Last Call for the Living is a smashing debut from a writer whose unique and disturbing vision of the world cannot be ignored.
Hicklin's first mistake was double-crossing his partners in the Aryan Brotherhood. His second mistake was taking a hostage. But he and Charlie can only hide out for so long in the mountains of north Georgia before the sins of Hicklin's past catch up to them.
Hot on Hicklin's trail are a pair of ruthless Brotherhood soldiers, ready to burn a path of murder and mayhem to get their revenge. GBI Special Agent Sallie Crews and Sheriff Tommy Lang catch the case, themselves no strangers to the evil men are capable of. Soon Crews is making some dangerous connections while for the hard-drinking, despondent Lang, rescuing Charlie Colquitt might be the key to personal salvation.
Prodigious talent Peter Farris has written a backwoods fairy tale of fate and flight that is also a dark, modern thriller. Like the bastard child of Stephen Hunter's Dirty White Boys and Cormac McCarthy's No Country for Old Men, Last Call for the Living is a smashing debut from a writer whose unique and disturbing vision of the world cannot be ignored.
301 pages, Hardcover
First published May 22, 2012
31 people are currently reading
1050 people want to read
About the author
Peter Farris
12 books125 followersCalled a “serious new talent” by Barnes & Noble, Peter Farris is the award-winning author of Last Call for the Living, The Clay Eaters and The Devil Himself. Published in France to critical acclaim, The Devil Himself won Le Prix 813, Best Foreign Novel at the Beaune International Film Festival, Le Prix Totem Des Jeunes Libraires, was an official selection for the prestigious Grand Prix de Littérature Policière and named a finalist for Le Prix SNCF du Polar. Among other accolades the novel received starred reviews in Rolling Stone, Hebdo and Le Parisien, and was picked one of the best mysteries of the year by ELLE and L'OBS Magazine. Also published in France by Éditions Gallmeister, The Clay Eaters was praised in Le Monde, debuted on the Palmarès Livres Hebdo des libraires Bestseller List, selected a Bookseller Best of the Year by Palmarès Livres Hebdo, was shortlisted for le prix Libr'à Nous 2020 and was a finalist for the 2021 Le Prix Lire En Poche. In 2022, Arcade Crimewise published The Devil Himself in English worldwide and the novel saw an Italian translation courtesy Milan-based publisher NN Editore. The French translation of a new novel The Bone Omen ("Le Presage") was released this year by Éditions Gallmeister and named an Official Selection for the 2024 Prix Libr’à Nous. Peter lives with his family in Georgia.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews
June 3, 2020
ANOTHER great literary crime novel! i am on a roll!
it's got all the things i like: multiple viewpoints, southern locale, blood splatter, and people down on their luck, but with dreams as big as all the outdoors.
but not everyone's dreams are of nasa. hicklin's dreams are more self-serving - to jump the gun and single-handedly pull off a bank robbery intended for three men, keeping all the cash for himself. unfortunately, that leaves two men very pissed off. and even though hicklin does in fact get away with all the money during his robbery, he "has to" kill one bank teller and takes another hostage and is now hiding out in a remote cabin with a horny lady-tweaker and his aspiring rocketeer-hostage.
and the good guys and the bad guys would both like a word, please.
it's pretty great. relentless and spare with plenty of sympathetic characters as long as you don't get attached. this would be a good match for someone who likes cormac mccarthy, but doesn't like his purty language. no "sluicing" here. but plenty of jailhouse philosophy and a curveball for nature v. nurture, and a lady named kalamity. oh, and snakes. this wins the award for "best snake scene in a book." (but not a golden globe. everyone knows those are the special olympics of awards, anyway.)
definitely recommend, and am definitely sniffing around for farris' next book.
i did not win this book through the firstreads program. thought that was worth a mention...
come to my blog!
it's got all the things i like: multiple viewpoints, southern locale, blood splatter, and people down on their luck, but with dreams as big as all the outdoors.
"I raised him myself," she said with particular pride. "He was always a bit peculiar, kept to himself, never had friends except for some kids from the rocket club at school. Charlie wants to build rockets and jet planes, work for Lockhead or NASA one day. I sent him to Space Camp over in Huntsville. He loved it. Just loved it. But I never did have the nerve to tell him that some things are just beyond the reach of people like us."
"He's an overachiever?" Crews said.
"Oh yes. It's just the money, and, well, the scholarship he's on is okay, but that college ain't like the schools rocket scientists graduate from."
but not everyone's dreams are of nasa. hicklin's dreams are more self-serving - to jump the gun and single-handedly pull off a bank robbery intended for three men, keeping all the cash for himself. unfortunately, that leaves two men very pissed off. and even though hicklin does in fact get away with all the money during his robbery, he "has to" kill one bank teller and takes another hostage and is now hiding out in a remote cabin with a horny lady-tweaker and his aspiring rocketeer-hostage.
and the good guys and the bad guys would both like a word, please.
it's pretty great. relentless and spare with plenty of sympathetic characters as long as you don't get attached. this would be a good match for someone who likes cormac mccarthy, but doesn't like his purty language. no "sluicing" here. but plenty of jailhouse philosophy and a curveball for nature v. nurture, and a lady named kalamity. oh, and snakes. this wins the award for "best snake scene in a book." (but not a golden globe. everyone knows those are the special olympics of awards, anyway.)
definitely recommend, and am definitely sniffing around for farris' next book.
i did not win this book through the firstreads program. thought that was worth a mention...
come to my blog!
July 3, 2012
"Cold steel and gun metal grey.
Nightmares, another night has turned to day."
Peter Farris is a new talent to take note of alongside recently Frank Bill and Donald Ray Pollock these writers waste no words and really engage you right from the start.
What should have been a usual day at work turns out to be the mark of a pivotal point in a young mans life. A bank teller Charlie a model rocket enthusiast, and a kid that many fathers would be proud to have, finds himself in a three week hostage situation after a bank heist.
This is has a fast pace and packs a punch with a motley crew of shady characters. It hooks you with the dieing need to know will Charlie make it through to safety and be of the living?
The said bank robber and hostage taker is a man whose earned fear in men, he's part of the Aryan brotherhood, his loyalties have changed since being out of the pen. He finds himself battling wether to keep Charlie alive while on the run or just plain blow his brains away due to one very gut feeling he finds he has about this man. Something kept him from doing the kid in.
A twist of fates brought them together so to speak and just how it all pans out and the main protagonist battle with his psyche, his dark passenger, provides a page turning story of break-neck pace.
Writing with characters of the darkest of hearts but with one light in the core of this story Charlie. Its visceral with solid prose and all the hallmarks of good writing.
A story involving bank heists, ex-cons, the incarcerated, the brotherhood and Kin.
A look through the keyhole of the incarcerated, being captive, being without a father and of those that fell through the fabric of society who could have been something else.
His writing is in the league of Jim Thompson and Daniel Woodrell in on hell of a debut. We can only expect more fireworks from Peter Farris.
Visit the Peter Farris blog Here
An interview with Peter Farris last year by another awesome writer John Hornor @ http://bastardizedversion.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/why-im-badass-peter-farris.html
Read the Authors flash fiction piece DISNEY NOIR it has been nominated for Best Short Story on the Web by Spinetingler Magazine. : http://www.shotgunhoney.net/2011/04/disney-noir-by-peter-farris.html
My review also @ http://more2read.com/review/last-call-for-the-living-by-peter-farris/"
Nightmares, another night has turned to day."
Peter Farris is a new talent to take note of alongside recently Frank Bill and Donald Ray Pollock these writers waste no words and really engage you right from the start.
What should have been a usual day at work turns out to be the mark of a pivotal point in a young mans life. A bank teller Charlie a model rocket enthusiast, and a kid that many fathers would be proud to have, finds himself in a three week hostage situation after a bank heist.
This is has a fast pace and packs a punch with a motley crew of shady characters. It hooks you with the dieing need to know will Charlie make it through to safety and be of the living?
The said bank robber and hostage taker is a man whose earned fear in men, he's part of the Aryan brotherhood, his loyalties have changed since being out of the pen. He finds himself battling wether to keep Charlie alive while on the run or just plain blow his brains away due to one very gut feeling he finds he has about this man. Something kept him from doing the kid in.
A twist of fates brought them together so to speak and just how it all pans out and the main protagonist battle with his psyche, his dark passenger, provides a page turning story of break-neck pace.
Writing with characters of the darkest of hearts but with one light in the core of this story Charlie. Its visceral with solid prose and all the hallmarks of good writing.
A story involving bank heists, ex-cons, the incarcerated, the brotherhood and Kin.
A look through the keyhole of the incarcerated, being captive, being without a father and of those that fell through the fabric of society who could have been something else.
His writing is in the league of Jim Thompson and Daniel Woodrell in on hell of a debut. We can only expect more fireworks from Peter Farris.
"It reminded Lang of the footage captured during earthquakes. Security cameras in a grocery store, a restaurant, an office building. The shaking and the people suddenly look frantic, their day going from zero to pole position in the blink f an eye. That was real terror. Nothing to hold on to, trying to find balance in a situation where theres none to be had."
"He began to pace, tiger-walking as if the cottage were a cage. The muscle in Hicklin's forearms and shoulders seemed to pop and writhe with every movement. Charlie watched him, noticig Hicklin's tattoos in greater detail, a few so intricate they seemed like a picture show on flesh, a righteous hatred in the details. He found Hicklins gait strange. The man walked with a swagger, guarded, like a lion stalking the fringes of a pride area. Hicklin turned on the radio, turning to a country station."
"Do you know what its like to be watched? I mean really watched. Stared at. Studied?
'I'm not just talkin' guards and video cameras and such. I mean jobs, paperwork, receipts, bills, insurance claims, doctor visits, taxes, satellites up in the goddamn sky. The all-encompassing gaze. And someones' always watchin' and you don't know when or where or who, but there is no escaping it. I spent twelve years being watched."
"Blood in. Blood out."
"Heroin. Meth. OxyContin. Cough syrup. Cell phones. Cigarettes. Addresses. Bank accounts. Contracts. Protection. Prostitution. Politics. We play the game because the game is there to be played."
Visit the Peter Farris blog Here
An interview with Peter Farris last year by another awesome writer John Hornor @ http://bastardizedversion.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/why-im-badass-peter-farris.html
Read the Authors flash fiction piece DISNEY NOIR it has been nominated for Best Short Story on the Web by Spinetingler Magazine. : http://www.shotgunhoney.net/2011/04/disney-noir-by-peter-farris.html
My review also @ http://more2read.com/review/last-call-for-the-living-by-peter-farris/"
April 12, 2013
This is a must-read book for those who like their crime fiction dark, violent and unrelenting, populated by characters almost all of whom are lost in one way or another, and very few of whom will be redeemed in the end.
Charlie Colquitt comes from an extremely broken home. He's shy, withdrawn, physically unappealing and interested in little more than the model rockets he builds and flys. He supports himself by working as a teller at a small branch bank, and it's his serious misfortune to be on duty early one quiet Saturday morning when a ball-busting, Aryan Brotherhood gang member named Hicklin kicks in the door and robs the bank. Hicklin shoots and kills the manager on duty without a second thought and drags Charlie out of the bank as his hostage.
Hicklin drives Charlie to a remote cabin in the Georgia woods and ties him to a chair. Also in residence is Hicklin's girlfriend, a meth addict whose brain has been fried down to the size of a pea. The woman takes pity on Charlie for all the good that will do him.
It turns out that the heist had been carefully planned by imprisoned AB gang members. It was to be executed by Hicklin and two equally depraved compatriots. But Hicklin jumps the gun by a week, taking all of the score for himself, apparently in the fantasy that he will use the money to run away to Montana and start a new life.
Unsurprisingly, the rest of the gang is not happy.
The thugs that Hicklin betrayed are now hot on his tail, and will deal brutally with anyone who gets in their way. The law, of course, is also after Hicklin, and that includes a county sheriff who's well onto the downward slide into alcohol abuse and irrelevance. What follows from all of this is a gripping tale that will hardly warm your heart but which will certainly command your attention. Peter Farris writes beautifully about some very ugly activity and this debut novel heralds the beginning of a very promising career.
Charlie Colquitt comes from an extremely broken home. He's shy, withdrawn, physically unappealing and interested in little more than the model rockets he builds and flys. He supports himself by working as a teller at a small branch bank, and it's his serious misfortune to be on duty early one quiet Saturday morning when a ball-busting, Aryan Brotherhood gang member named Hicklin kicks in the door and robs the bank. Hicklin shoots and kills the manager on duty without a second thought and drags Charlie out of the bank as his hostage.
Hicklin drives Charlie to a remote cabin in the Georgia woods and ties him to a chair. Also in residence is Hicklin's girlfriend, a meth addict whose brain has been fried down to the size of a pea. The woman takes pity on Charlie for all the good that will do him.
It turns out that the heist had been carefully planned by imprisoned AB gang members. It was to be executed by Hicklin and two equally depraved compatriots. But Hicklin jumps the gun by a week, taking all of the score for himself, apparently in the fantasy that he will use the money to run away to Montana and start a new life.
Unsurprisingly, the rest of the gang is not happy.
The thugs that Hicklin betrayed are now hot on his tail, and will deal brutally with anyone who gets in their way. The law, of course, is also after Hicklin, and that includes a county sheriff who's well onto the downward slide into alcohol abuse and irrelevance. What follows from all of this is a gripping tale that will hardly warm your heart but which will certainly command your attention. Peter Farris writes beautifully about some very ugly activity and this debut novel heralds the beginning of a very promising career.
January 10, 2024
One of the best crime novels I have read in the past several years...Peter Farris is the real deal! A tale of deceit and greed that will keep you guessing till the very end. Peter Farris is able to 'place' you in this web of lies that only gets harder to escape from as the story unwinds; this book would be a perfect movie or crime GN!
June 7, 2012
In a hick town in Georgia about the size of a thumb, a larcenous ex-convict, Hicklin, executes a bank robbery. He leaves a blood splattering mess behind and abducts a bank teller on the way out. He double-crosses some other ex-cons and goes into hiding with his frightened hostage at a cabin in the wooded hills, where his crack addled lady friend is embedded. Now the story REALLY begins.
The prison-tatted ex-cons are part of the Aryan Brotherhood, a group of loathsome, odiferous men that were loyal to each other behind bars. Now? Not so much. And the poor abductee is a nerd named Charlie who is obsessed with rockets and wants to be an engineer. He's a bit of a reluctant mamma's boy, too.
This is a witty, acerbic cat and mouse thriller a la Tarantino/Coen Brothers with a bit of Cormac McCarthy thrown in for good literary measure. (But the body count/pile-up is less than its predecessors.) The cast are a company of tweakers and rank losers--you may want to bathe every few pages. The sheriff is a pitiful drunk, but there's a fifth of him still operating at maximum capacity. The characters are sketched with a compact but fecund economy, enough to provoke some empathy in just the right places and times.
The prose is sophisticated, laconic, and periodically elegiac, placing this way above genre-type novels. It is also disturbing, and surprisingly poignant. A few tender themes pop out and grab you by the heartstrings, but it is best to discover it on your own. If you are okay with graphic violence, drugs, and sex, then you will sink your teeth into this one and crunch some bone.
The prison-tatted ex-cons are part of the Aryan Brotherhood, a group of loathsome, odiferous men that were loyal to each other behind bars. Now? Not so much. And the poor abductee is a nerd named Charlie who is obsessed with rockets and wants to be an engineer. He's a bit of a reluctant mamma's boy, too.
This is a witty, acerbic cat and mouse thriller a la Tarantino/Coen Brothers with a bit of Cormac McCarthy thrown in for good literary measure. (But the body count/pile-up is less than its predecessors.) The cast are a company of tweakers and rank losers--you may want to bathe every few pages. The sheriff is a pitiful drunk, but there's a fifth of him still operating at maximum capacity. The characters are sketched with a compact but fecund economy, enough to provoke some empathy in just the right places and times.
The prose is sophisticated, laconic, and periodically elegiac, placing this way above genre-type novels. It is also disturbing, and surprisingly poignant. A few tender themes pop out and grab you by the heartstrings, but it is best to discover it on your own. If you are okay with graphic violence, drugs, and sex, then you will sink your teeth into this one and crunch some bone.
December 9, 2012
Very interesting premise, very first-novel execution. What I really liked got mired in what was trying too hard and ultimately, it just didn’t click. The characters fell flat for me in a way that made the book seem tame, not something that should happen when violence is roiling like electricity. It was very written, and maybe that’s a nebulous kind of distinction to make, and a personal one, but I’m hypersensitive these days to when the writer keeps interjecting over the freight-train story and doesn’t just get out of the way.
Three stars, possibly, had it not been for the dreams, and also Charlie. By the end I still didn’t know who he was, although the very end: that was right on.
And well, shit. I hate leaving less-than-enthused reviews for Goodreads authors because they’re real people, not a name on a book jacket, and I clicked through to Farris’s website and he’s reading Rick Bass and listening to Patterson Hood. Goddamnit. Four stars now?
Three stars, possibly, had it not been for the dreams, and also Charlie. By the end I still didn’t know who he was, although the very end: that was right on.
And well, shit. I hate leaving less-than-enthused reviews for Goodreads authors because they’re real people, not a name on a book jacket, and I clicked through to Farris’s website and he’s reading Rick Bass and listening to Patterson Hood. Goddamnit. Four stars now?
July 7, 2018
Quote; Cold steel and gun metal grey.
Nightmares, another night has turned to day.
Hicklin becomes a member of the Aryan Brotherhood whilst serving 10 years in prison. It's do that or die, raped or constantly victimized by all the other gangs. Still, it's no great adjustment for Hicklin. It turns out the A.B. is well organised and business for them goes on, unimpeded by prison walls. Hicklin and two associates are supplied with all the information they need to rob a small town bank. The A.B. get a kick-back for funding the robbery and supplying all necessary firepower and logistics the three robbers may need. There's just one problem. Hicklin decides he can carry out the robbery on his own and to hell with the Aryan Brotherhood! As well as having two very pissed off associates looking for him, Hicklin murders the bank manager for no apparent reason, other than the pleasure he derives from shedding blood in a spectaculr way and he takes Charlie, a socially inept bank-teller hostage.
Quote;
"You win," Lipscomb said. "Just take me to a hospital... you can push me out the door. I don't care. Just don't leave me like this! I won't say nothin' to nobody! I swear it!"
Lipscomb's begging came like a poison chaser. Even with a leg one tug from coming clean off, Hicklin knew Lipscomb could talk his way through anything. A savvy pitch was coming.
You help him and see. He'll roll on you in a heartbeat.
Unless there was a bullet in his head. Hicklin looked around, dancing the tac light off tree trunks and thick nothingness. As if he half-expected to see a bystander frantically dialing the authorities.
Kill him.
Maybe.
Then what are my options?
Despite the protests, Hicklin pressed a muddied boot to Lipscomb's thigh, digging the muzzle of the .38 against his uninjured kneecap.
This is worse than any death...
Charlie looked away.
Hicklin pulled the trigger.
I recommend this to any fans of Sothern Gothic, Border Noir, et al.
P.S: On the cover of my kindle copy the cover's blurb compares Last Call for the Living to the most brutal work of Cormac McCarthy and Stephen Hunter. It's a pet hate of mine to read this type of blurb when describing a book. It would make more sense to say 'fans of said authors may enjoy this work', but to compare this book to another author/s is to do all authors concerned a disservice.
Last Call for the Living stands on it's own merits and needs no comparison. But if you happen to BE a fan of those authors mentioned (and i would add Don Winslow), then you may well enjoy this book.
Nightmares, another night has turned to day.
Hicklin becomes a member of the Aryan Brotherhood whilst serving 10 years in prison. It's do that or die, raped or constantly victimized by all the other gangs. Still, it's no great adjustment for Hicklin. It turns out the A.B. is well organised and business for them goes on, unimpeded by prison walls. Hicklin and two associates are supplied with all the information they need to rob a small town bank. The A.B. get a kick-back for funding the robbery and supplying all necessary firepower and logistics the three robbers may need. There's just one problem. Hicklin decides he can carry out the robbery on his own and to hell with the Aryan Brotherhood! As well as having two very pissed off associates looking for him, Hicklin murders the bank manager for no apparent reason, other than the pleasure he derives from shedding blood in a spectaculr way and he takes Charlie, a socially inept bank-teller hostage.
Quote;
"You win," Lipscomb said. "Just take me to a hospital... you can push me out the door. I don't care. Just don't leave me like this! I won't say nothin' to nobody! I swear it!"
Lipscomb's begging came like a poison chaser. Even with a leg one tug from coming clean off, Hicklin knew Lipscomb could talk his way through anything. A savvy pitch was coming.
You help him and see. He'll roll on you in a heartbeat.
Unless there was a bullet in his head. Hicklin looked around, dancing the tac light off tree trunks and thick nothingness. As if he half-expected to see a bystander frantically dialing the authorities.
Kill him.
Maybe.
Then what are my options?
Despite the protests, Hicklin pressed a muddied boot to Lipscomb's thigh, digging the muzzle of the .38 against his uninjured kneecap.
This is worse than any death...
Charlie looked away.
Hicklin pulled the trigger.
I recommend this to any fans of Sothern Gothic, Border Noir, et al.
P.S: On the cover of my kindle copy the cover's blurb compares Last Call for the Living to the most brutal work of Cormac McCarthy and Stephen Hunter. It's a pet hate of mine to read this type of blurb when describing a book. It would make more sense to say 'fans of said authors may enjoy this work', but to compare this book to another author/s is to do all authors concerned a disservice.
Last Call for the Living stands on it's own merits and needs no comparison. But if you happen to BE a fan of those authors mentioned (and i would add Don Winslow), then you may well enjoy this book.
May 16, 2016
The first seven chapters created a brutal, intriguing, and gritty atmosphere which are needed for a bleak crime thriller, then it hit rock bottom, particularly, in consideration of overabundant italics and needless narration about the lives of the fill-in characters that appeared trivial to the story, and left a room to ponder whether the story would've enhanced if the author kept his focus on telling us more about Charlie Colquitt's life and Hobe Hicklin's motive to double-cross his partners.
Ultimately, failed to accomplish in unfolding the transformation of a beast to human and a human's attempt to resemble the beast.
Ultimately, failed to accomplish in unfolding the transformation of a beast to human and a human's attempt to resemble the beast.
November 6, 2015
Review to come.
May 17, 2014
This was written in 2012 and published in the UK in 2013. Pretty much the same time, maybe a bit earlier, than Wiley Cash's A Land More Kind Than Home.
They share the genre, modern American noir, and they share snake loving pastors and churches. Although Cash's book is superior, the snake scene in Farris's novel is tremendous and will stay with me as one of the great scenes in books. For that reason it's a 5 star novel for me. His writing stumbles sometimes, with a habit of irrelevancies creeping in, but the characters are tough and down to earth, and the story is a proper pageturner.
The best parts, as in much of the new American noir, are the violent scenes.
It's the story of a bank robbery and a kidnapping that, with no surprise, doesn't go according to plan. The Southern US plays its role as it does with his counterpart writers of this genre, Pollock (The Devil All the Time), Cash as I have mentioned, and Cormac McCarthy to mention the best.
They share the genre, modern American noir, and they share snake loving pastors and churches. Although Cash's book is superior, the snake scene in Farris's novel is tremendous and will stay with me as one of the great scenes in books. For that reason it's a 5 star novel for me. His writing stumbles sometimes, with a habit of irrelevancies creeping in, but the characters are tough and down to earth, and the story is a proper pageturner.
The best parts, as in much of the new American noir, are the violent scenes.
It's the story of a bank robbery and a kidnapping that, with no surprise, doesn't go according to plan. The Southern US plays its role as it does with his counterpart writers of this genre, Pollock (The Devil All the Time), Cash as I have mentioned, and Cormac McCarthy to mention the best.
August 23, 2014
A very good debut novel that caught my attention from the very first page. I would definitely recommend it to people who like crime novels.
May 22, 2012
I really enjoyed No Country for Old Men when I watched the movie, so when this book was compared to that I thought I’d at least read the first chapter. These are not always my cup of tea. They’re gritty, harsh, in-your-face dark thrillers and they don’t always appeal to me. But, I gave it a try and was surprised at how much I liked it.
You’re almost afraid to say you enjoyed it, because it is so disturbing. But, though the story itself is good, it is really the characters that make it hard to put this book down. What the hell will they do next?! You just don’t know. It is a complex-character-driven story about an ex-con with nothing to lose, a girl who is as crazed for sex as for drugs, the bank teller lucky enough to live, but not lucky enough to be left behind and the agents on their trail who have problems of their own.
When Charlie went to work that day his biggest problem was his over-bearing mother. Now he’s a hostage surrounded by ruthless criminals with little hope of escape. But there are things about Charlie that are annoying. It’s not like your typical victim you immediately feel sorry for, though you do empathize with him. You want him to live.
The writing is captivating. The characters are captivating. The story is captivating and disturbing in a way that won’t let you but the book down.
You’re almost afraid to say you enjoyed it, because it is so disturbing. But, though the story itself is good, it is really the characters that make it hard to put this book down. What the hell will they do next?! You just don’t know. It is a complex-character-driven story about an ex-con with nothing to lose, a girl who is as crazed for sex as for drugs, the bank teller lucky enough to live, but not lucky enough to be left behind and the agents on their trail who have problems of their own.
When Charlie went to work that day his biggest problem was his over-bearing mother. Now he’s a hostage surrounded by ruthless criminals with little hope of escape. But there are things about Charlie that are annoying. It’s not like your typical victim you immediately feel sorry for, though you do empathize with him. You want him to live.
The writing is captivating. The characters are captivating. The story is captivating and disturbing in a way that won’t let you but the book down.
April 16, 2012
“Last Call for the Living” is a thriller, but it is also a study of character: of the good guys, the bad guys-and the innocent, such as poor Charlie Colquitt, an unmeaning victim on a date with destiny. In an economically isolated rural area of North Georgia, a lone branch bank remains, the sole business in an otherwise abandoned and vacant strip mall on a back road, far from Interstate traffic. Few customers hold accounts there; the branch mainly services paycheck cashing for mills. Not much of a job, engineering student and social isolate Charlie knows, but it does pay his rent and buy his course texts, and what little’s left over goes for his only hobby, model rocketry.
Along comes a hard guy with the wrong attitude, an ex-felon who’s done twelve years of hard time in various Georgia institutions, and he’s doing a bank heist. On a Saturday morning, only two tellers in the branch, and a fresh new delivery from the armored truck: the set-up is perfect, so thinks felon Hicklin-but he isn’t figuring on Charlie Colquitt, or the Georgia Bureau of Investigation-or the Aryan Brotherhood. Charlie is not the usual routine individual; and considering what a swamp of trouble Hicklin’s about to get into, maybe this is one job he should have just foregone and forgotten.
Along comes a hard guy with the wrong attitude, an ex-felon who’s done twelve years of hard time in various Georgia institutions, and he’s doing a bank heist. On a Saturday morning, only two tellers in the branch, and a fresh new delivery from the armored truck: the set-up is perfect, so thinks felon Hicklin-but he isn’t figuring on Charlie Colquitt, or the Georgia Bureau of Investigation-or the Aryan Brotherhood. Charlie is not the usual routine individual; and considering what a swamp of trouble Hicklin’s about to get into, maybe this is one job he should have just foregone and forgotten.
May 16, 2012
You may also read my review here: http://www.mybookishways.com/2012/05/...
Looking to settle down with a nice, gentle mystery, maybe about quilting, or something along those lines? Well, that’s not gonna happen with Last Call For the Living. Not by a longshot. Strap yourself in and get ready for a bumpy ride into the dark, Georgia woods with some of the nastiest characters I’ve come across in a long time. Young bank teller Charlie Colquitt was opening the bank with his manager on a normal Saturday morning, when hell burst through the door, killing his manager and taking him hostage. Hell, in this case, goes by the name of Hobe Hicklin, member of the Aryan Brotherhood, fresh off a long stretch in prison, and on the run from the partners that he decided to double cross out of the heist, and their take of the cash. Along with his junkie girlfriend, Hummingbird, Hicklin takes Charlie to a cottage in the woods to hide out and catch his breath. This is where things get really rough…
All Charlie can think about is going to school and building rockets. Somewhat of a savant, socially awkward, fiercely loved by his damaged and protective mother, Charlie is terrified when he’s taken hostage by Hicklin, but in the midst of the abuse that he suffers at the hands of Hicklin (and the pitiful, broken Hummingbird), something else begins to happen. Hicklin isn’t sure at all why he took Charlie hostage, but years of crime, prison, scoring quick cash, and doling out the abuse that was also heaped on him as a child have taken their toll, and you can sense the weariness in Hicklin, even if he is akin to a coiled snake, always just about to strike. The law is racing to find Hicklin and Co., in the form of Sheriff Tommy Lang and GBI agent Sallie Crews, but it’s not the law he’s worried about, it’s his former partners, and fellow AB members, that give him pause, because they’ll be out for blood (and they give Hicklin a run for his money in the mean department.) Make no mistake, Hobe Hicklin is a nasty, mean, no good son of a bitch, so how in the heck did I start to feel a glimmer of sympathy for this man by the end of this book?? I’m gonna chalk that up to Peter Farris’ talent as a writer, and he has plenty of it. I thought I knew where this book was going, and it surprised me at nearly every turn. Speaking of surprises: in addition to the tight, no-nonsense writing and pacing that doesn’t let up, there’s a scene in this book that I can only describe as awesome (in the classic sense.) I’ll just say that it involves a church revival, rattle snakes, and a shoot-out, and leave it at that. It’s amazing, and it left me with my jaw hanging open, blinking in shock. This whole book (in particular that scene) just screams “big-screen”, but I digress… It’s not for the faint of heart, though, and the terms “gritty”, “visceral”, and “raw” definitely come to mind. If you’re looking for a book that will shock you out of your current “book rut”, or a suspense novel that is just straight up made of awesome, look no further than Last Call For the Living!
Looking to settle down with a nice, gentle mystery, maybe about quilting, or something along those lines? Well, that’s not gonna happen with Last Call For the Living. Not by a longshot. Strap yourself in and get ready for a bumpy ride into the dark, Georgia woods with some of the nastiest characters I’ve come across in a long time. Young bank teller Charlie Colquitt was opening the bank with his manager on a normal Saturday morning, when hell burst through the door, killing his manager and taking him hostage. Hell, in this case, goes by the name of Hobe Hicklin, member of the Aryan Brotherhood, fresh off a long stretch in prison, and on the run from the partners that he decided to double cross out of the heist, and their take of the cash. Along with his junkie girlfriend, Hummingbird, Hicklin takes Charlie to a cottage in the woods to hide out and catch his breath. This is where things get really rough…
All Charlie can think about is going to school and building rockets. Somewhat of a savant, socially awkward, fiercely loved by his damaged and protective mother, Charlie is terrified when he’s taken hostage by Hicklin, but in the midst of the abuse that he suffers at the hands of Hicklin (and the pitiful, broken Hummingbird), something else begins to happen. Hicklin isn’t sure at all why he took Charlie hostage, but years of crime, prison, scoring quick cash, and doling out the abuse that was also heaped on him as a child have taken their toll, and you can sense the weariness in Hicklin, even if he is akin to a coiled snake, always just about to strike. The law is racing to find Hicklin and Co., in the form of Sheriff Tommy Lang and GBI agent Sallie Crews, but it’s not the law he’s worried about, it’s his former partners, and fellow AB members, that give him pause, because they’ll be out for blood (and they give Hicklin a run for his money in the mean department.) Make no mistake, Hobe Hicklin is a nasty, mean, no good son of a bitch, so how in the heck did I start to feel a glimmer of sympathy for this man by the end of this book?? I’m gonna chalk that up to Peter Farris’ talent as a writer, and he has plenty of it. I thought I knew where this book was going, and it surprised me at nearly every turn. Speaking of surprises: in addition to the tight, no-nonsense writing and pacing that doesn’t let up, there’s a scene in this book that I can only describe as awesome (in the classic sense.) I’ll just say that it involves a church revival, rattle snakes, and a shoot-out, and leave it at that. It’s amazing, and it left me with my jaw hanging open, blinking in shock. This whole book (in particular that scene) just screams “big-screen”, but I digress… It’s not for the faint of heart, though, and the terms “gritty”, “visceral”, and “raw” definitely come to mind. If you’re looking for a book that will shock you out of your current “book rut”, or a suspense novel that is just straight up made of awesome, look no further than Last Call For the Living!
March 16, 2017
Coincidence and violence. When combined they create a force that uproots a person's life and sends their know world into chaos. This is what happened to bank teller Charlie Colquitt and Aryan Brotherhood member Hicklin. The abrupt impact of Hicklin's armed bank robbery creates an instinct for improvisation as he takes Charlie as hostage. Deep into the Georgia woods they flee...not from the police...but from other Brotherhood members who Hicklin has double crossed. The tenacious fury of these hunters transcends a cat and mouse plot as their extreme methods of tracking Hicklin and extracting information from bystanders are sure to make the most hardened reader of crime fiction cringe. This is beyond hardboiled. Dark hyperviolence with a southern/gothic elegance to Farris's prose.
I hesitate to divulge much more about the plot, characters or context simply because I had picked up the book without reading the back cover's outline. Being caught up in this unknown tale was a rewarding experience and I would encourage others to do the same. Be prepared though! This book is not for those who are repulsed by grotesque images of murder and violence. Last Call for the Living falls into the category of "Wow! I enjoyed this. I wonder what people would think if they found out I enjoyed this?"
Farris does have a talent that I would like to mention and emphasize. He can stretch and accelerate time. There are moments when the action flashes by and the reader is caught up in a whirlwind of suspense. There are other moments when the reader is trapped inside a character's mind, experiencing each fleeting moment as circumstance resulting from the previously mentioned coincidence catches up to them. Good stuff.
To all the tough sonsabitches and nitty gritty readers out there, give it a go. I'm talking birds posted to the East and West, don't give a shit don't bother me weekend read. You'll find that it is worth your time.
I hesitate to divulge much more about the plot, characters or context simply because I had picked up the book without reading the back cover's outline. Being caught up in this unknown tale was a rewarding experience and I would encourage others to do the same. Be prepared though! This book is not for those who are repulsed by grotesque images of murder and violence. Last Call for the Living falls into the category of "Wow! I enjoyed this. I wonder what people would think if they found out I enjoyed this?"
Farris does have a talent that I would like to mention and emphasize. He can stretch and accelerate time. There are moments when the action flashes by and the reader is caught up in a whirlwind of suspense. There are other moments when the reader is trapped inside a character's mind, experiencing each fleeting moment as circumstance resulting from the previously mentioned coincidence catches up to them. Good stuff.
To all the tough sonsabitches and nitty gritty readers out there, give it a go. I'm talking birds posted to the East and West, don't give a shit don't bother me weekend read. You'll find that it is worth your time.
March 19, 2017
Author Peter Farris' debut thriller has the literary impact of a 12 gauge shotgun blast in a small room. A relatively simple bank robbery on a quiet Saturday morning deep in rural Georgia goes sideways for young bank teller Charlie Colquitt when he's taken hostage by an ex-con named Hicklin right after he murders the bank manager. Complications develop quickly because Hicklin decided he wanted to keep the entire score and hide out on his home mountain in Jubilation County instead of sharing it with his AB brothers who set up the heist. They want the money and serious payback on Hicklin whose past sins double back on him with surprising consequences. Charlie is a shy young man who just wants to lead a quiet life working at the bank, attending college and building rockets but as a hostage, survival requires him to grow up quickly. Also in pursuit is the burned out County Sheriff Tommy Lang and the very able and interesting GBI Agent Sally Crews in what is definitively not your usual hostage rescue story. All these wonderfully developed characters are metaphorically doing 90 in the back of a pickup truck heading for a bridge abutment. Country Noir at it's best!
December 11, 2016
yes yes yes!
Dark, twisted, Love it.
Charlie is a naive bank teller. He goes to work on Saturday, just like every other Saturday. Only this isn't just an ordinary Saturday. The bank Charlie works at robbed, his co worker murdered, and Charlie is taken hostage by career criminal Hobe Hinklin.
While reading this book, I wasn't sure gow to rate it. 4 stars? Then there it was.. about 3/4 of the way through the book- the 5th star. The charecter development in this story was superb. You will hate Hobe for what he has done. You will want him to die, you will rage against him.. until the author tells his story.
This story isn't " pretty". The ending has a cliffhanger that is left unanswered, It doesn't get packaged up with wrapping paper and a pretty bow. But that is what I love about this book, its grittiness, it doesn't need to please.
Can't wait to read more from this author.
Dark, twisted, Love it.
Charlie is a naive bank teller. He goes to work on Saturday, just like every other Saturday. Only this isn't just an ordinary Saturday. The bank Charlie works at robbed, his co worker murdered, and Charlie is taken hostage by career criminal Hobe Hinklin.
While reading this book, I wasn't sure gow to rate it. 4 stars? Then there it was.. about 3/4 of the way through the book- the 5th star. The charecter development in this story was superb. You will hate Hobe for what he has done. You will want him to die, you will rage against him.. until the author tells his story.
This story isn't " pretty". The ending has a cliffhanger that is left unanswered, It doesn't get packaged up with wrapping paper and a pretty bow. But that is what I love about this book, its grittiness, it doesn't need to please.
Can't wait to read more from this author.
July 30, 2013
A parolee and member of the Aryan Brotherhood (AB), robs a bank solo without waiting for his two partners, grabs a bank teller as a hostage and holes up in the mountains with his meth addict girlfriend. Violent and dark, the police and the AB brothers work to bring him to justice of one type or the other. There is some weirdness around the bank robber, the loner bank teller, who is the highlight of the book, and his mother. If you like Blood Meredian or No Country for Old Men, you will like this; if not, read something else.
June 21, 2024
4.5 closer, to a 5 than 4 but not quite a 5*
May 20, 2012
I received an Advanced Read Copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
The good first: I couldn't put this book down. I read it in one day. From the minute Hobe Hicklin changes Charlie Colquitt's life forever, to the very end where Charlie begins to live the changes instigated by these events, this book is an attention grabber. It winds through the dark world of the prison system, the Aryan Brotherhood and the stark brutality of stone cold killers who exploit others without guilt or remorse. The juxtaposition of hapless, naive Charlie, thrown into this world by circumstances beyond his control, serves to highlight the amorality of Hicklin and his brothers. The past is deftly woven into the present, deftly telling a backstory that adds to the psychological thrill of the story.
Although there are a lot of loose ends left, in my opinion they didn't spoil the basic telling of the story. The brief introduction of the "travel teller," revealing part of the plot in an interview with GBI Special Agent Crews, doesn't go anywhere beyond that. The purpose of the introduction, apparently, is only to reveal how the scores are set up. The author never reveals why Hicklin jumped the score - kind of an important point, since he knew it would set the Brotherhood against him. Hicklin himself can't explain why he abducted Charlie when he robbed the bank or why he drags him along, keeping him captive for days, in spite of his apparent uselessness in the situation. I really didn't buy the one event that sent Sheriff Lang into a downward spiral of alcoholism that cost him his family and self respect, but felt it was incidental to the story itself - and the story itself was strong enough to carry through the weak points.
My favorite part? The buildup to the scene in the church. I could feel the tension, wondering where the story was going, because it seemed unrelated to what was happening with Charlie and Hicklin, but feeling like I was right there in the church with the worshipers and then with Charlie, Hicklin and Lang.
This is not a book for the faint-hearted. The author doesn't pull punches with respect to the brutality of the prison system or the Aryan Brotherhood. If you can't tolerate torture, excessive use of drugs, rape, racism, and killing, don't read it. This story details the worst aspects of human nature. I occasionally felt somewhat sick to my stomach, but I kept reading.
The characters are very well done. The only character I felt was under developed was Special Agent Crews. Otherwise, the author does a really great job of conveying the nature of the main characters and a couple secondary characters. I felt the changes occurring in Charlie. When he thinks to himself that he wants to kill Hicklin and Hummingbird, I felt connected with him and the changes that were beginning to take place in him as a result of his experience. For Charlie, this is a dark coming-of-age story. Hicklin himself is a dark study in the career criminal.
The setting is compelling, as well. Most of it takes place in the remote mountains of Georgia, a wild place that seems beyond the reach of civilization or laws. It's the perfect place for Hicklin to hide out, and the perfect place for many of the events that subsequently take place.
OK, the bad... I'm seeing more and more debut novels riddled with incomplete sentences. I'm not quite sure why - I suspect the authors think this style of writing "punches it up." Or something. I find it gimmicky, annoying and it frequently makes reading difficult. More than once, I had to go back and reread an entire paragraph, piecing together the sentences in my mind, in order to make sense of it. Who decided this gimmick was a great idea? I'm trying to picture writing groups or classes where someone says if you make entire paragraphs of nothing but incomplete sentences, it really punches it up! In my opinion, occasional and infrequent use of incomplete sentences may draw attention to a point, or "punch it up." However, paragraphs of incomplete sentences sprinkled liberally throughout a novel are just tiresome and difficult to follow. There's a reason for grammar and punctuation - it facilitates communication and understanding. I think an author needs to consider whether the gimmick is worth the degradation in communication. Obviously, I was able to overlook it (for the most part) because I finished the book and I enjoyed it - but it still annoyed me throughout.
The title: what is the title about? I'm not sure where it comes from, and it doesn't tell me anything about the story. I wouldn't pick up this book based strictly on the title.
Last but not least, the price. At the time of this review, this book is available on preorder. The Kindle price is $11.99, the paperback is $13.91. It's typical pricing for a "publisher" novel; i.e., overpriced in my opinion. It's a really good read but if it wasn't available in my local library, I would pass it up for other good reads that are more reasonably priced.
The good first: I couldn't put this book down. I read it in one day. From the minute Hobe Hicklin changes Charlie Colquitt's life forever, to the very end where Charlie begins to live the changes instigated by these events, this book is an attention grabber. It winds through the dark world of the prison system, the Aryan Brotherhood and the stark brutality of stone cold killers who exploit others without guilt or remorse. The juxtaposition of hapless, naive Charlie, thrown into this world by circumstances beyond his control, serves to highlight the amorality of Hicklin and his brothers. The past is deftly woven into the present, deftly telling a backstory that adds to the psychological thrill of the story.
Although there are a lot of loose ends left, in my opinion they didn't spoil the basic telling of the story. The brief introduction of the "travel teller," revealing part of the plot in an interview with GBI Special Agent Crews, doesn't go anywhere beyond that. The purpose of the introduction, apparently, is only to reveal how the scores are set up. The author never reveals why Hicklin jumped the score - kind of an important point, since he knew it would set the Brotherhood against him. Hicklin himself can't explain why he abducted Charlie when he robbed the bank or why he drags him along, keeping him captive for days, in spite of his apparent uselessness in the situation. I really didn't buy the one event that sent Sheriff Lang into a downward spiral of alcoholism that cost him his family and self respect, but felt it was incidental to the story itself - and the story itself was strong enough to carry through the weak points.
My favorite part? The buildup to the scene in the church. I could feel the tension, wondering where the story was going, because it seemed unrelated to what was happening with Charlie and Hicklin, but feeling like I was right there in the church with the worshipers and then with Charlie, Hicklin and Lang.
This is not a book for the faint-hearted. The author doesn't pull punches with respect to the brutality of the prison system or the Aryan Brotherhood. If you can't tolerate torture, excessive use of drugs, rape, racism, and killing, don't read it. This story details the worst aspects of human nature. I occasionally felt somewhat sick to my stomach, but I kept reading.
The characters are very well done. The only character I felt was under developed was Special Agent Crews. Otherwise, the author does a really great job of conveying the nature of the main characters and a couple secondary characters. I felt the changes occurring in Charlie. When he thinks to himself that he wants to kill Hicklin and Hummingbird, I felt connected with him and the changes that were beginning to take place in him as a result of his experience. For Charlie, this is a dark coming-of-age story. Hicklin himself is a dark study in the career criminal.
The setting is compelling, as well. Most of it takes place in the remote mountains of Georgia, a wild place that seems beyond the reach of civilization or laws. It's the perfect place for Hicklin to hide out, and the perfect place for many of the events that subsequently take place.
OK, the bad... I'm seeing more and more debut novels riddled with incomplete sentences. I'm not quite sure why - I suspect the authors think this style of writing "punches it up." Or something. I find it gimmicky, annoying and it frequently makes reading difficult. More than once, I had to go back and reread an entire paragraph, piecing together the sentences in my mind, in order to make sense of it. Who decided this gimmick was a great idea? I'm trying to picture writing groups or classes where someone says if you make entire paragraphs of nothing but incomplete sentences, it really punches it up! In my opinion, occasional and infrequent use of incomplete sentences may draw attention to a point, or "punch it up." However, paragraphs of incomplete sentences sprinkled liberally throughout a novel are just tiresome and difficult to follow. There's a reason for grammar and punctuation - it facilitates communication and understanding. I think an author needs to consider whether the gimmick is worth the degradation in communication. Obviously, I was able to overlook it (for the most part) because I finished the book and I enjoyed it - but it still annoyed me throughout.
The title: what is the title about? I'm not sure where it comes from, and it doesn't tell me anything about the story. I wouldn't pick up this book based strictly on the title.
Last but not least, the price. At the time of this review, this book is available on preorder. The Kindle price is $11.99, the paperback is $13.91. It's typical pricing for a "publisher" novel; i.e., overpriced in my opinion. It's a really good read but if it wasn't available in my local library, I would pass it up for other good reads that are more reasonably priced.
May 25, 2012
As a lifelong fan of Harry Crews, William Gay and Larry Brown, I have been concerned with who would pick up the torch and carry on after these greats had passed. Having just read Peter Farris's debut novel "Last Call For The Living" I know the futures in good hands. I really dug this book, it's a violent, steam locomotive ride from the first page. I love southern goth & this is definetly one of the best I've read in awhile. The book is fast paced and full of engaging characters. You will want to read it in one sitting, but it was so good that I purposely did not rush through it in order to savor it. The book begins with a cold blooded bank robbery & after that it's touch and go till the end. Anybody who can write a scene involving snake handling gone bad like Peter can, is someone to be watched & followed in the future. Start here with LCFTL & then go pick up Frank Wheeler Jr's "WOWZER, Frank Bills "CRIMES IN SOUTHERN INDIANA",Jake Hinkson's "HELL ON CHURCH STREET", Benjamin Whitmer's "PIKE, and finally Donald Ray Pollocks "DEVIL ALL THE TIME"...along with Peter, these are the new voices of Southern Goth at its best.
August 13, 2012
very nice 1st novel of crime and police procedural, with some nice twists, like primitive baptists having a snake handling/strychnine drinking service and then bad guy hides in amongst the congregation and the suffering bent sheriff comes in and a huge ass gun battle slash snake biting ensues. yeah, so lots of prison info and that angle of the con world running crime syndicates outside the walls.
so lots of unique things here, beautifully written and quite exciting and very violent. 4 STARS . reminds me a lot of "billy bean" The Baptism of Billy Bean: A Novel and "the other shoe" The Other Shoe: A Novel
so lots of unique things here, beautifully written and quite exciting and very violent. 4 STARS . reminds me a lot of "billy bean" The Baptism of Billy Bean: A Novel and "the other shoe" The Other Shoe: A Novel
November 19, 2025
"I knew God was real when I saw the walls and walked the yard of a state penitentiary for the first time. God is just another security system.”
I really liked the movie The Devil Himself based on the author's novel and I liked this one just as much. Mr. Farris does not pull any punches, this is a brutal book, but if you enjoy reading crime thriller novels with a Southern flavor this is definitely for you.
I really liked the movie The Devil Himself based on the author's novel and I liked this one just as much. Mr. Farris does not pull any punches, this is a brutal book, but if you enjoy reading crime thriller novels with a Southern flavor this is definitely for you.
April 29, 2013
Completely blown away! LAST CALL FOR THE LIVING by @PJFarris - phenomenal. Cannot believe this is his first book. Rural noir at it's best!!! This is going to be a tough one to follow up. I have read about 60 books in 2013. This book and Donnybrook by Frank Bill are at the top of my list. Highly recommended.
April 12, 2015
A criminal thriller set in the rural South of north Georgia that explores violence, family, longing and belonging among people the future has no use for. Fast-paced from the beginning, the book reads like a combination of 'No Country for Old Men', 'In Cold Blood' and 'American History X'.
December 10, 2023
Beschwöre
Davon träumt wahrscheinlich kein Bankangestellter. Charlie Colquitt, der sein Studiengeld mit einem Bankjob aufbessert, gerät an einem sowieso schon schlechten Morgen in einen Banküberfall. Nachdem der Räuber Charlies Chefin erschossen hat, sieht Charlie sein letztes Stündlein gekommen. Warum der Gangster ihn als Geisel mitnimmt, ist ihm schleierhaft, aber Charlie hängt am Leben. Sheriff Tommy Lang hat auch schon bessere Zeiten gesehen. Seine Ehe ist kaputt, nur noch zu seiner Tochter hat er manchmal Kontakt. Seine Depressionen ertränkt er im Alkohol. Und die Ermittlungen in diesem Banküberfall wird auf die Staatspolizei oder die Bundespolizei übernehmen.
Dieser Roman scheint wirklich wie ein letzter Aufruf zu sein. Es fängt schon damit an, dass sich der Gangster nicht an die Regeln hält und meint, er kommt damit durch. Er weiß aber, dass ihm nicht nur die Polizei auf die Spur kommen wird. Charlie Colquitt, die Geisel, ist in seinem normalen Leben eine eigenartige Persönlichkeit. Richtigen Kontakt hat er nur zu seiner Mutter Lucy, Freunde sind nicht zu finden, dafür interessiert er sich für Raketen und er möchte nach seinem Studium als Ingenieur für die Nasa arbeiten. Mit seiner Chefin Niesha hat er sich eigentlich ganz gut verstanden. Sie hatte sich gerade verlobt und nun ist sie tot.
Dass in diesem Roman ein Weihnachtswunder beschworen wird, lässt sich wahrlich nicht behaupten. Sehr hard boiled kommt die Handlung daher und es fängt schon am Anfang mit dem sinnlosen Sterben an. Nach fragt sich gleich, wieso Charlie den Überfall zunächst mal überlebt. Der Polizist Lang ist auch ein gebrochener Mensch, jedoch ein gewiefter, seinen Instinkten folgender Ermittler. Seiner Ortskenntnis und dem Gefühl für die Menschen im Süden der USA, hat die überörtliche Behörde zwar ihre Technik entgegenzusetzen, aber manchmal reicht das nicht. Es wird etwas viel gestorben und auf grausame und brutale Art. Einzig für Charlie erhofft man ein gewisses gutes Ende. Der Autor schont die Leser und Leserinnen nicht, irgendwie muss man das Buch ertragen. Dennoch fesselt die Geschichte mit ihren präzisen Charakterzeichnungen und der ausgeklügelten Handlung.
3,5 Sterne
Davon träumt wahrscheinlich kein Bankangestellter. Charlie Colquitt, der sein Studiengeld mit einem Bankjob aufbessert, gerät an einem sowieso schon schlechten Morgen in einen Banküberfall. Nachdem der Räuber Charlies Chefin erschossen hat, sieht Charlie sein letztes Stündlein gekommen. Warum der Gangster ihn als Geisel mitnimmt, ist ihm schleierhaft, aber Charlie hängt am Leben. Sheriff Tommy Lang hat auch schon bessere Zeiten gesehen. Seine Ehe ist kaputt, nur noch zu seiner Tochter hat er manchmal Kontakt. Seine Depressionen ertränkt er im Alkohol. Und die Ermittlungen in diesem Banküberfall wird auf die Staatspolizei oder die Bundespolizei übernehmen.
Dieser Roman scheint wirklich wie ein letzter Aufruf zu sein. Es fängt schon damit an, dass sich der Gangster nicht an die Regeln hält und meint, er kommt damit durch. Er weiß aber, dass ihm nicht nur die Polizei auf die Spur kommen wird. Charlie Colquitt, die Geisel, ist in seinem normalen Leben eine eigenartige Persönlichkeit. Richtigen Kontakt hat er nur zu seiner Mutter Lucy, Freunde sind nicht zu finden, dafür interessiert er sich für Raketen und er möchte nach seinem Studium als Ingenieur für die Nasa arbeiten. Mit seiner Chefin Niesha hat er sich eigentlich ganz gut verstanden. Sie hatte sich gerade verlobt und nun ist sie tot.
Dass in diesem Roman ein Weihnachtswunder beschworen wird, lässt sich wahrlich nicht behaupten. Sehr hard boiled kommt die Handlung daher und es fängt schon am Anfang mit dem sinnlosen Sterben an. Nach fragt sich gleich, wieso Charlie den Überfall zunächst mal überlebt. Der Polizist Lang ist auch ein gebrochener Mensch, jedoch ein gewiefter, seinen Instinkten folgender Ermittler. Seiner Ortskenntnis und dem Gefühl für die Menschen im Süden der USA, hat die überörtliche Behörde zwar ihre Technik entgegenzusetzen, aber manchmal reicht das nicht. Es wird etwas viel gestorben und auf grausame und brutale Art. Einzig für Charlie erhofft man ein gewisses gutes Ende. Der Autor schont die Leser und Leserinnen nicht, irgendwie muss man das Buch ertragen. Dennoch fesselt die Geschichte mit ihren präzisen Charakterzeichnungen und der ausgeklügelten Handlung.
3,5 Sterne
January 26, 2022
In Last Call For the Living by Peter Farris, Charlie Colquitt is a modern-day milquetoast, fond of rockets and a steady schedule of day-to-day sameness while working as a bank teller at a local small-town bank in Georgia. Hobe Hicklin is a White supremacist former convict, tasked by The Brand, AKA The Aryan Brotherhood, to rob banks with other members to supplement income for The Brand's organization.
Hicklin, a man of no known redeeming qualities and quick to utilize violence, decides to rob Colquitt's bank without the others and after the violent robbery, takes the docile Colquitt along as a hostage. Hicklin then drags Colquitt to a decrepit hideout to lie low along with Hicklin's methamphetamine-addicted girlfriend "Hummingbird."
Because Hicklin has gone against the orders of The Brand and has apparently fled with the money for himself and Hummingbird, not only is Hicklin being hunted by authorities, but also other violent members of The Brand, and to The Brand, any form of non-conformity only has one result: a violent death.
Joining in the chase, aided by more capable investigators, is Sheriff Tommy Lang, a weary and world-worn man that needs and enjoys the drink too much while ruminating on his own failures as a family man. Lang knows he is in a pursuit beyond his skillset and has come to the belief that safely freeing Colquitt may lead to his own salvation.
Last Call for the Living is more than a mere hunt and pursuit crime novel, with Farris developing each character and plotline with depth and layers. The novel is with violent depictions and language some may find offensive but language that is genuine to the characters involved.
Last Call For The Living is recommended to those that enjoy crime novels, with a touch of rural noir and bleak characters.
Hicklin, a man of no known redeeming qualities and quick to utilize violence, decides to rob Colquitt's bank without the others and after the violent robbery, takes the docile Colquitt along as a hostage. Hicklin then drags Colquitt to a decrepit hideout to lie low along with Hicklin's methamphetamine-addicted girlfriend "Hummingbird."
Because Hicklin has gone against the orders of The Brand and has apparently fled with the money for himself and Hummingbird, not only is Hicklin being hunted by authorities, but also other violent members of The Brand, and to The Brand, any form of non-conformity only has one result: a violent death.
Joining in the chase, aided by more capable investigators, is Sheriff Tommy Lang, a weary and world-worn man that needs and enjoys the drink too much while ruminating on his own failures as a family man. Lang knows he is in a pursuit beyond his skillset and has come to the belief that safely freeing Colquitt may lead to his own salvation.
Last Call for the Living is more than a mere hunt and pursuit crime novel, with Farris developing each character and plotline with depth and layers. The novel is with violent depictions and language some may find offensive but language that is genuine to the characters involved.
Last Call For The Living is recommended to those that enjoy crime novels, with a touch of rural noir and bleak characters.
October 2, 2012
Fresh out of prison after a long stretch, what’s the first thing up on ex-con Hobe Hicklin’s ‘To Do’ list? Rob his hometown North Georgia Savings and Loan, of course. In and out in under 3 minutes with the cash, as robberies go this one goes pretty smoothly.
Well, except for killing the bank manager. Probably shouldn’t have taken the teller hostage either. Oh, and considering the job was planned with his fellow Aryan Brotherhood members while he was inside, Hicklin probably should have waited for them instead of jumping the score.
Now not only does Hicklin have local Sheriff Tommy Lang and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation on his ass, he has some very seriously pissed off Brotherhood members gunning for him as well. On top of which, Hicklin’s got to juggle his tweaking junkie girlfriend, Hummingbird, and that skittish mama’s boy of a teller, Charlie Colquitt.
Come to think of it, maybe that score didn’t go so smoothly after all. And it’s a good thing for readers it didn’t, because author Peter Farris’s debut Last Call for the Living is an intensely engaging exploration of the aftermath of a robbery which initially seems to have gone right, only to be revealed as having gone gloriously wrong in virtually every way possible.
On the surface things unfold as a classic fugitive in hiding tale, with the twist of Hicklin being wanted by not just the law but his former “brothers” as well. And given what nasty pieces of work the two thugs the Brotherhood sends after Hicklin are, there’s a good argument to be made he’d be better off in the hands of the law. Except, of course, Hicklin has no plans of going back to prison. Ever. Which makes Hicklin an extremely motivated and dangerous man, one who flashbacks to his time in prison demonstrate is every bit the ruthless, coldblooded killer as the two on his trail.
What raises Last Call for the Living head and shoulders above your standard shoot ‘em up, however, is the masterful attention to character development Farris has put into the story. For a man prone to extreme violence and hateful, racist language, Hicklin is actually so well developed – the prison flashbacks graphically explain why a man has no choice but to make alliances, even distasteful ones, inside to survive – that the reader finds himself actually caring about the character, even if you don’t exactly like him per se. This is especially true when it comes to Hicklin’s unusual attachment to his hostage, Charlie.
A nerdy, awkward, introverted young man, Charlie goes through life on autopilot with only his love of rockets dreams of getting a degree and working at NASA to keep him going. Initially overwhelmed by the situation – he pisses himself when the bank’s robbed and later faints dead away while at the hideout – Charlie slowly finds himself inexplicably drawn in by Hicklin, whose hardened and confident personality represent everything Charlie is not. It’s a relationship Farris nurtures and develops over the course of the story, leading Charlie, Hicklin, and the reader down a path which ultimately ends in both triumph and tragedy.
You see, despite all the fisticuffs and shootouts, and there is a spectacular one which takes place amongst the parishioners at a snake handling church, Last Call for the Living is at heart a character driven story, one which isn’t afraid to look at the dark side of human nature and explore evil as shades of gray and not an unyielding pitch-black. It’s a novel that recognizes sometimes a man actually wins by losing, least if it’s on his terms, and that even when one wins it can sometimes feel like a loss. Triumph and tragedy; they’re more closely linked than most people realize. Peter Farris certainly gets it, and if you read his amazingly nuanced Last Call for the Living you will too.
Well, except for killing the bank manager. Probably shouldn’t have taken the teller hostage either. Oh, and considering the job was planned with his fellow Aryan Brotherhood members while he was inside, Hicklin probably should have waited for them instead of jumping the score.
Now not only does Hicklin have local Sheriff Tommy Lang and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation on his ass, he has some very seriously pissed off Brotherhood members gunning for him as well. On top of which, Hicklin’s got to juggle his tweaking junkie girlfriend, Hummingbird, and that skittish mama’s boy of a teller, Charlie Colquitt.
Come to think of it, maybe that score didn’t go so smoothly after all. And it’s a good thing for readers it didn’t, because author Peter Farris’s debut Last Call for the Living is an intensely engaging exploration of the aftermath of a robbery which initially seems to have gone right, only to be revealed as having gone gloriously wrong in virtually every way possible.
On the surface things unfold as a classic fugitive in hiding tale, with the twist of Hicklin being wanted by not just the law but his former “brothers” as well. And given what nasty pieces of work the two thugs the Brotherhood sends after Hicklin are, there’s a good argument to be made he’d be better off in the hands of the law. Except, of course, Hicklin has no plans of going back to prison. Ever. Which makes Hicklin an extremely motivated and dangerous man, one who flashbacks to his time in prison demonstrate is every bit the ruthless, coldblooded killer as the two on his trail.
What raises Last Call for the Living head and shoulders above your standard shoot ‘em up, however, is the masterful attention to character development Farris has put into the story. For a man prone to extreme violence and hateful, racist language, Hicklin is actually so well developed – the prison flashbacks graphically explain why a man has no choice but to make alliances, even distasteful ones, inside to survive – that the reader finds himself actually caring about the character, even if you don’t exactly like him per se. This is especially true when it comes to Hicklin’s unusual attachment to his hostage, Charlie.
A nerdy, awkward, introverted young man, Charlie goes through life on autopilot with only his love of rockets dreams of getting a degree and working at NASA to keep him going. Initially overwhelmed by the situation – he pisses himself when the bank’s robbed and later faints dead away while at the hideout – Charlie slowly finds himself inexplicably drawn in by Hicklin, whose hardened and confident personality represent everything Charlie is not. It’s a relationship Farris nurtures and develops over the course of the story, leading Charlie, Hicklin, and the reader down a path which ultimately ends in both triumph and tragedy.
You see, despite all the fisticuffs and shootouts, and there is a spectacular one which takes place amongst the parishioners at a snake handling church, Last Call for the Living is at heart a character driven story, one which isn’t afraid to look at the dark side of human nature and explore evil as shades of gray and not an unyielding pitch-black. It’s a novel that recognizes sometimes a man actually wins by losing, least if it’s on his terms, and that even when one wins it can sometimes feel like a loss. Triumph and tragedy; they’re more closely linked than most people realize. Peter Farris certainly gets it, and if you read his amazingly nuanced Last Call for the Living you will too.
March 4, 2013
This book is like an onion. A violent onion. There’s no backdrop here except the mountains. No one is a minor character. In each layer, each person is the center of his or her own story. They all have their own motives, their own reasons and fears, their own skin only they can inhabit. As such, no matter how intertwined they become, no matter what alliances – formal or otherwise – they make, in the end, they all stand alone.
Last Call for the Living is not the kind of uplifting, feel-good book you shut with satisfaction. It’s peopled with the disparate, desperate parts of humanity squeezed together, plucked and pulled, mined for the best and worst of themselves and pushed to their limits. Even those left standing are changed – no so much for the better or worse as much as forever. Like the line in that song from Wicked, they can’t say if they’ve been changed for the better, but they’ve been changed for good.
The catalyst is a bank robbery, planned by prisoners, by members of the Aryan Brotherhood, assisted by informants and gang members, and executed on the wrong day by the wrong person. Into the maelstrom go tellers and managers, mothers and neighbors, local and state law enforcement, victims and hostages, drug addicts and bar owners, church goers and criminals. Oh, and snakes. A whole lot of snakes. (Note: If you have snake issues, you might want to read this only in the mornings, with the lights on.) It’s the resulting collision course that makes up the plot of the book.
It’s dark and twisted and raw. And it’s fantastic.
Pros: Well-written, fast-paced, it’s a helluva good book. Terrific characterization that should satisfy all but the haughtiest of the literary set and the right about of double-crosses and shootouts to keep crime genre fans sated. Pretty cover, too.
Cons: It’s violent and profane and realistically depressing. If you’re already lacking faith in humankind, this won’t likely make you feel differently. It also feature characters, who, while realistically portrayed, are racist and sadistic and hateful.
Bottom Line: If you can handle the imagery and language and don’t need a happy, fairy-tale ending, pick this one up and read it already.
Last Call for the Living is not the kind of uplifting, feel-good book you shut with satisfaction. It’s peopled with the disparate, desperate parts of humanity squeezed together, plucked and pulled, mined for the best and worst of themselves and pushed to their limits. Even those left standing are changed – no so much for the better or worse as much as forever. Like the line in that song from Wicked, they can’t say if they’ve been changed for the better, but they’ve been changed for good.
The catalyst is a bank robbery, planned by prisoners, by members of the Aryan Brotherhood, assisted by informants and gang members, and executed on the wrong day by the wrong person. Into the maelstrom go tellers and managers, mothers and neighbors, local and state law enforcement, victims and hostages, drug addicts and bar owners, church goers and criminals. Oh, and snakes. A whole lot of snakes. (Note: If you have snake issues, you might want to read this only in the mornings, with the lights on.) It’s the resulting collision course that makes up the plot of the book.
It’s dark and twisted and raw. And it’s fantastic.
Pros: Well-written, fast-paced, it’s a helluva good book. Terrific characterization that should satisfy all but the haughtiest of the literary set and the right about of double-crosses and shootouts to keep crime genre fans sated. Pretty cover, too.
Cons: It’s violent and profane and realistically depressing. If you’re already lacking faith in humankind, this won’t likely make you feel differently. It also feature characters, who, while realistically portrayed, are racist and sadistic and hateful.
Bottom Line: If you can handle the imagery and language and don’t need a happy, fairy-tale ending, pick this one up and read it already.
July 23, 2012
Peter Farris comes out blasting with a real scorcher here, hard to believe it's a debut novel. Starts with a bank robbery and, as you know, mostly losers rob banks these days, not exactly the heroic desperado move it used to be, and the gunman takes a hostage, a fat slobby geek who digs rockets and has a one-eyed mom, all in the first couple dozen pages. Then it turns out that this bank robber has jumped the gun on the heist, grabbing all the honey before his amigos, both ex cons, like him, and it's one of a series of jobs carefully planned by the old guys still in the joint, and there's about to be a sort of apocalyptic hoedown between prison gangs, etc. And all that happens before the shoot out in church that happens in the middle of a snake handlers revival. This is wild stuff. Kudos, Peter Farris, you are one hardboiled dude. Looking forward to what comes next.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews