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Quarry #7
The Last Quarry
Coming out of retirement to do one last—and extremely lucrative—job for a media magnate, professional killer Quarry finds himself unable to take out his target, a young, beautiful librarian. This is also Book 7 of the Quarry novels.
201 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2006
48 people are currently reading
529 people want to read
About the author
Max Allan Collins
803 books1,321 followersReceived the Shamus Award, "The Eye" (Lifetime achievment award) in 2006.
He has also published under the name Patrick Culhane. He and his wife, Barbara Collins, have written several books together. Some of them are published under the name Barbara Allan.
Book Awards
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1984) : True Detective
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1992) : Stolen Away
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1995) : Carnal Hours
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1997) : Damned in Paradise
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1999) : Flying Blind: A Novel about Amelia Earhart
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (2002) : Angel in Black
Japanese: マックス・アラン・コリンズ
or マックス・アラン コリンズ
He has also published under the name Patrick Culhane. He and his wife, Barbara Collins, have written several books together. Some of them are published under the name Barbara Allan.
Book Awards
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1984) : True Detective
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1992) : Stolen Away
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1995) : Carnal Hours
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1997) : Damned in Paradise
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1999) : Flying Blind: A Novel about Amelia Earhart
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (2002) : Angel in Black
Japanese: マックス・アラン・コリンズ
or マックス・アラン コリンズ
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews
July 13, 2023
alright, i’m fast becoming a big max allan collins fan. his crime fiction books are consistently hella entertaining (not to mention his work with keeping mickey spillane’s legacy going). even when one of his quarry books doesn’t fully hit the spot, they’re still quick satisfying reads of fun and darkly comic pulp writing with enough twists and turns. he seems to actually care about his readers attention span and delivers colourful characters in the form of assassins and marks that are fun to listen to as they interact with the main character, quarry.
this instalment in particular comes out the gate with a blazing pace and the little twists soon start piling up. big recommend if you want a down and dirty pulpy hitman book that reads like a freight train.
hard case crime might be my favorite publisher ever. they’ve done an outstanding job with these books as well as reissuing older forgotten classics. i know i’m quite late but i just discovered the label and couldn’t be a happier lad with what they’ve done with these old crime pulp paperbacks.
obviously this not for the overly sensitive or casual reader. this is hard “R” stuff.
this instalment in particular comes out the gate with a blazing pace and the little twists soon start piling up. big recommend if you want a down and dirty pulpy hitman book that reads like a freight train.
hard case crime might be my favorite publisher ever. they’ve done an outstanding job with these books as well as reissuing older forgotten classics. i know i’m quite late but i just discovered the label and couldn’t be a happier lad with what they’ve done with these old crime pulp paperbacks.
obviously this not for the overly sensitive or casual reader. this is hard “R” stuff.
February 10, 2025
From 2006
A great book, smooth and suspenseful. Fairly casual in its violence, like all the Quarry books. Just a delight to read.
I could almost give this 5 stars, but for all the sex, which is as baked in to the Quarry books as his swimming. It doesn’t bother me but it doesn’t interest me either.
A great book, smooth and suspenseful. Fairly casual in its violence, like all the Quarry books. Just a delight to read.
I could almost give this 5 stars, but for all the sex, which is as baked in to the Quarry books as his swimming. It doesn’t bother me but it doesn’t interest me either.
May 1, 2020
THE LAST QUARRY sees series protagonist Quarry take on one last assignment, one that he falls into by way of professional curiosity. Having spotted a rival mob guy at a store, Quarry follows him back to his place of residence only to discover a damsel in distress - a kidnapped young woman, naked and tied-up to prevent her escape.
After taking care of the mob guys, and having returned the young woman to her wealthy father, Quarry is asked to take on one last assignment.
Quarry's latest target is a curvy and unassuming librarian. The reason for the murder contract isn't made clear early but delivers a delicious twist in the later stages of the novel.
Not one to shy away from the opposite sex, Quarry, during a routine follow op blows his cover by coming to the aid of his target when her abusive boyfriend makes a very public scene at a local watering hole. It's at this point the novel takes a turn and evolves into a more complex crime novel with motives and mystery at the forefront.
THE LAST QUARRY packs a hell of a punch, more impressive given the small page count. I love books that are fast paced, full of character and are concise; THE LAST QUARRY delivers on all fronts.
http://justaguythatlikes2read.blogspo...
After taking care of the mob guys, and having returned the young woman to her wealthy father, Quarry is asked to take on one last assignment.
Quarry's latest target is a curvy and unassuming librarian. The reason for the murder contract isn't made clear early but delivers a delicious twist in the later stages of the novel.
Not one to shy away from the opposite sex, Quarry, during a routine follow op blows his cover by coming to the aid of his target when her abusive boyfriend makes a very public scene at a local watering hole. It's at this point the novel takes a turn and evolves into a more complex crime novel with motives and mystery at the forefront.
THE LAST QUARRY packs a hell of a punch, more impressive given the small page count. I love books that are fast paced, full of character and are concise; THE LAST QUARRY delivers on all fronts.
http://justaguythatlikes2read.blogspo...
October 24, 2011
When I hear the term hack writer the first name that pops into my head is Max Allan Collins. That is probably unfair of me, since before yesterday I had never read a word he had written, but seeing all the books he's written at work I can't help but think that is one of those mercenary write anything for pay writers. It seems like almost every movie novelization or tv show tie-in gets penned by him. Unfair to think hack, I know, but it's tough to take people seriously who write those novelizations of big block buster movies.
My two star rating for this book is also a little unfair. I enjoyed this book quite a bit, actually. It's just that the day before reading it I found myself thinking about how I rate books, and I thought, maybe I'm getting a little soft, maybe I'm giving too many high ratings, maybe I need to spread out my stars a little bit. Then later in the same day I was having a conversation about what Batman graphic novels I'd read with a girl at work and my swiss cheese memory was failing so I logged into goodreads so she could see which ones I read. I noticed that some of my memories of the books were not in line with what I had rated them originally, and that too many of the books were just rated three stars and I could remember that some of them I didn't think too highly of. I think sometimes I give three-stars the same way some teachers hand out high grades just because students put a little effort in to the piece of drivel they handed in.
Back to my earlier musings on how I rate books, I spent quite a while at work thinking about what makes a crime book good versus great. The story is definitely important, but most of the stories are just rehashings of older stories, there is a degree of originality that comes in to play, and was the author able to cover up the giant plot holes so that whole thing just doesn't come across as farcical, but generally this kind of stuff is done well enough in most of the books I've been reading lately. What it came down for me was the writing, the writing is what separates these books (crime novels I'm thinking about here) from being good to great. Raymond Chandler or James Ellroy are great because their writing is fucking amazing. Hammett and Spillane I generally can't get into because I find their writing to be plodding and strained. It's subjective, sure, but some writing can be amazing, some distracting and unnecessarily difficult (like my reviews, with strained syntax and poor grammar) and some can be seamless where the writing isn't great but it falls enough into the background to let the story unravel without any distractions. I think the bulk of good crime novels fall into the last category.
This book falls into the middle category.
The book is competently written, unlike a couple of portions of the Mickey Spillane book I finished this morning where an unclear sentence here and there would throw the breaks on the story for me. But there were just too many little annoyances in the narration in this book, things said that made me want to roll my eyes or cringe. Things that if I heard someone in real life saying I'd think what a juvenile asshole. Lines like, "I got bored--being seen by the target was one thing, eating her pussy was another." Or in interactions with a Paris Hilton-ish spoiled brat every interaction with her was something like this, "I glanced over at Julie. She was standing next to the kitchen table, now, slipping out of the t-shirt. She tossed it on the table and stood there grinning at me, fists Superman-style on her hips, the nice little pierced-nippled breasts bare and perky and proud. My dick twitched." Oh, I forgot the mention the narrator is a middle-aged guy and there is really no reason ever given for this girl to out of nowhere just keep throwing herself at him like this. At the time of this scene they were eating breakfast or something, and the narrator was talking on the phone to someone.
And then there is all the musings on women's pubic hair. It comes up quite a bit in this book and in case your wondering the narrator isn't a fan of any kind of landscape work down there. I don't think my quotes are necessarily damning to the book, but they are just a couple of examples where I would put a bookmark after thinking enough is enough of this kind of thing.
In Collins defense he did have this line that I also tagged. "...I was stalking my prey-in jeans, running shoes, brown sweater, lighter brown shirt-with-collar, I might have been a teacher or writer, the kind of rumpled jerk who browses endlessly at Borders and never buys a goddamn thing, then complains that books sales are down because the world has gone illiterate."
Writing aside the story is pretty good, and there are some decent twists, I sort of think I saw most of them coming but they were still pretty good. I think the teenage approach to talking about sex and women is unfortunate and doesn't seem like the kind of things a middle-aged hit man would think and say, but then again I'm not a middle-aged hit man so I might not know what I'm talking about.
Oh, and I almost forgot, I really liked this line too, but I have to put it in spoiler because it gives away a pretty big twist,
Ha!!
My two star rating for this book is also a little unfair. I enjoyed this book quite a bit, actually. It's just that the day before reading it I found myself thinking about how I rate books, and I thought, maybe I'm getting a little soft, maybe I'm giving too many high ratings, maybe I need to spread out my stars a little bit. Then later in the same day I was having a conversation about what Batman graphic novels I'd read with a girl at work and my swiss cheese memory was failing so I logged into goodreads so she could see which ones I read. I noticed that some of my memories of the books were not in line with what I had rated them originally, and that too many of the books were just rated three stars and I could remember that some of them I didn't think too highly of. I think sometimes I give three-stars the same way some teachers hand out high grades just because students put a little effort in to the piece of drivel they handed in.
Back to my earlier musings on how I rate books, I spent quite a while at work thinking about what makes a crime book good versus great. The story is definitely important, but most of the stories are just rehashings of older stories, there is a degree of originality that comes in to play, and was the author able to cover up the giant plot holes so that whole thing just doesn't come across as farcical, but generally this kind of stuff is done well enough in most of the books I've been reading lately. What it came down for me was the writing, the writing is what separates these books (crime novels I'm thinking about here) from being good to great. Raymond Chandler or James Ellroy are great because their writing is fucking amazing. Hammett and Spillane I generally can't get into because I find their writing to be plodding and strained. It's subjective, sure, but some writing can be amazing, some distracting and unnecessarily difficult (like my reviews, with strained syntax and poor grammar) and some can be seamless where the writing isn't great but it falls enough into the background to let the story unravel without any distractions. I think the bulk of good crime novels fall into the last category.
This book falls into the middle category.
The book is competently written, unlike a couple of portions of the Mickey Spillane book I finished this morning where an unclear sentence here and there would throw the breaks on the story for me. But there were just too many little annoyances in the narration in this book, things said that made me want to roll my eyes or cringe. Things that if I heard someone in real life saying I'd think what a juvenile asshole. Lines like, "I got bored--being seen by the target was one thing, eating her pussy was another." Or in interactions with a Paris Hilton-ish spoiled brat every interaction with her was something like this, "I glanced over at Julie. She was standing next to the kitchen table, now, slipping out of the t-shirt. She tossed it on the table and stood there grinning at me, fists Superman-style on her hips, the nice little pierced-nippled breasts bare and perky and proud. My dick twitched." Oh, I forgot the mention the narrator is a middle-aged guy and there is really no reason ever given for this girl to out of nowhere just keep throwing herself at him like this. At the time of this scene they were eating breakfast or something, and the narrator was talking on the phone to someone.
And then there is all the musings on women's pubic hair. It comes up quite a bit in this book and in case your wondering the narrator isn't a fan of any kind of landscape work down there. I don't think my quotes are necessarily damning to the book, but they are just a couple of examples where I would put a bookmark after thinking enough is enough of this kind of thing.
In Collins defense he did have this line that I also tagged. "...I was stalking my prey-in jeans, running shoes, brown sweater, lighter brown shirt-with-collar, I might have been a teacher or writer, the kind of rumpled jerk who browses endlessly at Borders and never buys a goddamn thing, then complains that books sales are down because the world has gone illiterate."
Writing aside the story is pretty good, and there are some decent twists, I sort of think I saw most of them coming but they were still pretty good. I think the teenage approach to talking about sex and women is unfortunate and doesn't seem like the kind of things a middle-aged hit man would think and say, but then again I'm not a middle-aged hit man so I might not know what I'm talking about.
Oh, and I almost forgot, I really liked this line too, but I have to put it in spoiler because it gives away a pretty big twist,
Ha!!
August 29, 2009
When Quarry notices a gay hitman he once had a run in with buying tampons at an out of the way convenience store, he gets suspicious. The trail leads him to a media millionaire's daughter being held for ransom. Quarry re-unites the girl with daddy for a price and a few months later, the dad offers him a job. But why would anyone want a librarian like Janet Wright dead?
Max Allan Collins knows how to write 'em. There are quite a few twists packed into this slim 200-pager. I didn't really see the revelation of Janet's true identity coming. Collins makes you wait for the big shoot out but it's almost orgasmic when if finally happens.
The Last Quarry is rocketed near the top of my favorite Hard Case book. You wouldn't want to run into Quarry, the semi-retired hitman, in a dark alley but it's sure fun to read about him.
Max Allan Collins knows how to write 'em. There are quite a few twists packed into this slim 200-pager. I didn't really see the revelation of Janet's true identity coming. Collins makes you wait for the big shoot out but it's almost orgasmic when if finally happens.
The Last Quarry is rocketed near the top of my favorite Hard Case book. You wouldn't want to run into Quarry, the semi-retired hitman, in a dark alley but it's sure fun to read about him.
April 18, 2025
I received a free copy of the newly reissued trade paperback from the author, in return for an honest review.
Quarry is one of my favorite series and Max Allan Collins is one of my favorite authors [maybe the author I have read the most!]. I first read this in 2012. I don’t remember why I only rated it a 4 at the time, but on this reread I have to give it a 5. Recently I have been reading a lot of PI noir/SF, and its not unusual for an author to lay the atmosphere on too thick: dames, trench coats, cliched dialogue, etc.
Well, MAC is a master of PI literature [see his collaborations on the Mike Hammer series] and does noir as well as anyone. His writing is spare, while his descriptions are to the point. His dialogue is never cartoonish, because he is serious in his approach to this genre. I came to the Quarry series after running out of Parker novels to read [by Richard Stark] and MAC truly does honor to Westlake.
The Last Quarry grew out of a couple short stories, expanded into novel length. The order of publication in this series does not match the timeline for Quarry. In this one, Quarry life of retirement had blown up as his life was destroyed, along with his wife. The novel explains how he got set up in the next chapter of his life and details a serendipitous event which led to a windfall, and an involvement with a wealthy “client”. The majority of the novel is the complications that come from a reinvolvement with the client. There is plenty of trademark violence and sex, although not explicit. In addition to The Last Quarry, the trade paperback includes two short stories [Guest Services which is one of the stories that was expanded into the novel and Lucky Shot which takes place when Quarry still worked for the Broker].
It should be obvious but I HIGH:Y recommend The Last Quarry, AND the entire Quarry series.
Quarry is one of my favorite series and Max Allan Collins is one of my favorite authors [maybe the author I have read the most!]. I first read this in 2012. I don’t remember why I only rated it a 4 at the time, but on this reread I have to give it a 5. Recently I have been reading a lot of PI noir/SF, and its not unusual for an author to lay the atmosphere on too thick: dames, trench coats, cliched dialogue, etc.
Well, MAC is a master of PI literature [see his collaborations on the Mike Hammer series] and does noir as well as anyone. His writing is spare, while his descriptions are to the point. His dialogue is never cartoonish, because he is serious in his approach to this genre. I came to the Quarry series after running out of Parker novels to read [by Richard Stark] and MAC truly does honor to Westlake.
The Last Quarry grew out of a couple short stories, expanded into novel length. The order of publication in this series does not match the timeline for Quarry. In this one, Quarry life of retirement had blown up as his life was destroyed, along with his wife. The novel explains how he got set up in the next chapter of his life and details a serendipitous event which led to a windfall, and an involvement with a wealthy “client”. The majority of the novel is the complications that come from a reinvolvement with the client. There is plenty of trademark violence and sex, although not explicit. In addition to The Last Quarry, the trade paperback includes two short stories [Guest Services which is one of the stories that was expanded into the novel and Lucky Shot which takes place when Quarry still worked for the Broker].
It should be obvious but I HIGH:Y recommend The Last Quarry, AND the entire Quarry series.
July 13, 2021
July 2021 review: I'm still working my way through What to Think About Machines That Think: Today's Leading Thinkers on the Age of Machine Intelligence, a long book full of short, thoughtful essays. They're too thoughtful. I can only listen to a couple & I need time to reflect. After a dozen or so, I need something lighter & I found a bunch of Quarry books at my local library. I forgot I'd listened to this before, although I remember reading the paperback. It's a perfect break.
The reading order of these isn't too important. In this one, Quarry's past is explained & each book stands alone well enough. Told from Quarry's POV, there's a fair amount of snark & a lot of 60s & 70s references. It should really appeal to those who lived through the time & remember some of the trivia.
Sep 2015 review: Another new audio book from Skyboat Media, read by Stephen Rudnicki. Well read as usual & twisty. A fitting final episode for Quarry.
------ Current order ------
"The First Quarry" - early 70's
"Quarry's Choice" - a year to 18 months after "The First Quarry"
"Quarry in the Middle" - spring of 1986? (Reagan on 2d term for a while.)
"The Last Quarry" - after 2004 (Kerry's failed 2004 presidential race bumper sticker is old.)
The reading order of these isn't too important. In this one, Quarry's past is explained & each book stands alone well enough. Told from Quarry's POV, there's a fair amount of snark & a lot of 60s & 70s references. It should really appeal to those who lived through the time & remember some of the trivia.
Sep 2015 review: Another new audio book from Skyboat Media, read by Stephen Rudnicki. Well read as usual & twisty. A fitting final episode for Quarry.
------ Current order ------
"The First Quarry" - early 70's
"Quarry's Choice" - a year to 18 months after "The First Quarry"
"Quarry in the Middle" - spring of 1986? (Reagan on 2d term for a while.)
"The Last Quarry" - after 2004 (Kerry's failed 2004 presidential race bumper sticker is old.)
February 5, 2024
There are cell phones in this book 😳😳
After reading the first 5 books in the series set in the 70s it is jarring to have modern technology in this one!!
Quarry is settling into retired life AGAIN but stubbles onto some of his old enemies while picking up snacks at a local convenience store. Who would have thought?!? This leads him down a path to murder and mayhem as only Quarry could get into.
I was super nervous about how this would end. It being the LAST QUARRY and well it ended how it needed to.
After reading the first 5 books in the series set in the 70s it is jarring to have modern technology in this one!!
Quarry is settling into retired life AGAIN but stubbles onto some of his old enemies while picking up snacks at a local convenience store. Who would have thought?!? This leads him down a path to murder and mayhem as only Quarry could get into.
I was super nervous about how this would end. It being the LAST QUARRY and well it ended how it needed to.
December 19, 2020
I'm sorry I have to give this five stars. It's an embarrassment really.
Quarry is a bad man. He does bad things. He's dangerous, remorseless, sexist, crude, politically incorrect.
I love him. I'm so ashamed.
Quarry is a bad man. He does bad things. He's dangerous, remorseless, sexist, crude, politically incorrect.
I love him. I'm so ashamed.
January 9, 2020
The first Quarry book in a while that I really, really enjoyed all the way through. It has everything that makes Quarry great: dark humor, good action, and a nasty anti-hero with a touch of conscience.
December 20, 2016
Best of the series so far!
February 21, 2025
i just love this author the style of this genre. it just resonates with me. I like how it reads, the pace the characters, the gritty element to it. I wish this series was easier to track down. i will read as much of it as i can find for sure.
October 23, 2014
This, according to the author, will likely always be the last in Quarry's chronology. Very good. Excellent read. The epitomizes why I buy HCC books. The cover is great & the material in between is perfect HCC material. The ending is wonderfully done.
As I would expect, lots of hard boiled action, not all of it predictable. In fact, I was plain surprised more than once. Quarry never really steps out of character, but he has matured. Be warned that this book does contain some spoilers for earlier novels. They were not published chronologically.
As I would expect, lots of hard boiled action, not all of it predictable. In fact, I was plain surprised more than once. Quarry never really steps out of character, but he has matured. Be warned that this book does contain some spoilers for earlier novels. They were not published chronologically.
November 27, 2025
“The Last Quarry” is set roughly 30 years after book 5: “Quarry’s Vote”.
Quarry is an older man now, closer to 60 than 50, and he’s been living a pretty depressing life since we last saw him. Well, it’s not depressing for him, more boring and mundane, but to me at least, it’s pretty sad.
After his happy-ending in book 5 was destroyed, he’s been more or less in a limbo. Nothing to do, no one to go after, he’s got a job as the winter caretaker of his old friend’s hotel (reference to the shining? probably not but I know when I hear winter caretaker that’s where my mind goes) and spends his days eating junk and lounging around in the hotels hot-tub. There’s some really great self-introspection here, Quarry sits in the hot-tub and thinks about his would-be wife and how much he misses her.
The big thing that makes this book stand out is that it was MAC’s return to Quarry after 30+ years since book 5. He wrote it for the Hard Case Crime imprint as an ending to the series but after it turned out to be a big hit, he fully came back to the series and has written 10 more books.
“The Last Quarry” is a pretty significant decline from the previous entry.
It’s still pretty great in terms of storyline and Quarry’s character development but MAC’s writing style has definitely drastically changed and it’s been hard to get used to. I LOVED his style in the first 5 books and it’s just not what it used to be.
3/5; more thoughts coming soon.
Quarry is an older man now, closer to 60 than 50, and he’s been living a pretty depressing life since we last saw him. Well, it’s not depressing for him, more boring and mundane, but to me at least, it’s pretty sad.
After his happy-ending in book 5 was destroyed, he’s been more or less in a limbo. Nothing to do, no one to go after, he’s got a job as the winter caretaker of his old friend’s hotel (reference to the shining? probably not but I know when I hear winter caretaker that’s where my mind goes) and spends his days eating junk and lounging around in the hotels hot-tub. There’s some really great self-introspection here, Quarry sits in the hot-tub and thinks about his would-be wife and how much he misses her.
The big thing that makes this book stand out is that it was MAC’s return to Quarry after 30+ years since book 5. He wrote it for the Hard Case Crime imprint as an ending to the series but after it turned out to be a big hit, he fully came back to the series and has written 10 more books.
“The Last Quarry” is a pretty significant decline from the previous entry.
It’s still pretty great in terms of storyline and Quarry’s character development but MAC’s writing style has definitely drastically changed and it’s been hard to get used to. I LOVED his style in the first 5 books and it’s just not what it used to be.
3/5; more thoughts coming soon.
June 24, 2011
After reading Donald Westlake's The Cutie, I went out and got myself about a half dozen titles in the Hard Case Crime series. I wasn't thrilled with the second title I read (Somebody Owes Me Money, also by Westlake), and now, having been underwhelmed with this Quarry story, I'm starting to worry about my investment in the Hard Case imprint.
Whereas The Cutie's protagonist had an authentic Henry Hill-type feel to his narration, Quarry sounds more like a crime fiction writer who secretly wishes he's a hitman badass. Still, the book was readable, and any character who throws around phrases like "cupcake t*tties" represents the essence of what hard boiled noir is all about.
Whereas The Cutie's protagonist had an authentic Henry Hill-type feel to his narration, Quarry sounds more like a crime fiction writer who secretly wishes he's a hitman badass. Still, the book was readable, and any character who throws around phrases like "cupcake t*tties" represents the essence of what hard boiled noir is all about.
February 23, 2014
PROTAGONIST: Quarry, hitman
SERIES: #7 of 10
RATING: 4.5
WHY: Quarry is a hitman who has retired. He is convinced by a media magnate to take on one last assignment. The payoff is large. The target is a female librarian. Quarry accidentally becomes involved with her and can't figure out why she has been chosen. Collins is a deft hand at plotting and creates some very satisfying twists. A quick read with the only negative being an over-the-top killing scene near the end of the book. THE LAST QUARRY was written 30 years after the previous entry in the series and seems like it should be the last book. However, there are 3 more that follow, presumably set before this one.
SERIES: #7 of 10
RATING: 4.5
WHY: Quarry is a hitman who has retired. He is convinced by a media magnate to take on one last assignment. The payoff is large. The target is a female librarian. Quarry accidentally becomes involved with her and can't figure out why she has been chosen. Collins is a deft hand at plotting and creates some very satisfying twists. A quick read with the only negative being an over-the-top killing scene near the end of the book. THE LAST QUARRY was written 30 years after the previous entry in the series and seems like it should be the last book. However, there are 3 more that follow, presumably set before this one.
December 13, 2007
Perhaps I'm spoiled by Richard Stark's Parker, but this seemed flabby in its suspense, in its aggressive (and unfunny) sarcasm, in its run-through of the antiheroic tropes. Maybe I was in a bad mood, but the book really annoyed me--I instead suggest going to find _Comeback_ or _The Outfit_ or any of a number of sleek, wonderfully nasty Stark exercises in antiheroic crime.
April 20, 2025
The Last Quarry-Max Allan Collins
This was my third reading of The Last Quarry. It is still as good as the first time. Quarry comes out of retirement to slay a few more undesirable citizens.
The reprint also has two Quarry short stories: Quarry’s Luck and Guest Services.
This was my third reading of The Last Quarry. It is still as good as the first time. Quarry comes out of retirement to slay a few more undesirable citizens.
The reprint also has two Quarry short stories: Quarry’s Luck and Guest Services.
April 23, 2019
That was another fun filled adventure with Quarry. He keeps saying he's retired, but something draws him back in. I think he can't be without that. A good read, just like the others in the series.
March 16, 2022
One of my favorites
The author is a master story teller and deserves as much success as Quarry. Thank you for all your hard work it is appreciated.
The author is a master story teller and deserves as much success as Quarry. Thank you for all your hard work it is appreciated.
November 21, 2023
I truly enjoyed this quick read. Finished it in one day. It was very well detailed and I enjoyed the ending. I am hooked on Quarry's personality.
July 12, 2022
Fine narration by Stefan Rudnicki.
Wasn't sure whether it's meant to be as comical as I found it. While I enjoyed the humor, it somewhat diminished the menace of bad guys and dangerous situations. Not quite reaching the madcap tone of Donald Westlake's Dortmunder series, but in that direction.
Raunchier than necessary.
Wasn't sure whether it's meant to be as comical as I found it. While I enjoyed the humor, it somewhat diminished the menace of bad guys and dangerous situations. Not quite reaching the madcap tone of Donald Westlake's Dortmunder series, but in that direction.
Raunchier than necessary.
July 7, 2017
If you are a longtime Quarry fan, you will probably recognize the beginning of this story. You know- the part where the retired hitman who lives by the lake stumbles on two gay mafia hitmen in a convenience store buying tampax.
In Last Quarry, Collins has taken that opening and run with it. He has turned it into one terrific feature length tale where Quarry comes out of retirement to do one last job, one with the most incredible payday. He merely has to go to a small town and take out a librarian, but, of course, once this librarian strips down and dives into a swimming pool, even a aging Quarry knows she is going to be a difficult target.
As detailed in the First Quarry, Quarry is a former Vietnam veteran whose real name is never disclosed to the reader. He comes back, finds his fiancé, Joanie, in bed with another guy, finds that guy working under his car and kicks the jack out, survives a murder trial, and is then recruited by a mysterious figure named the Broker to carry out hits and we don't mean hits in baseball.
Collins published his first three Quarry novels in 1976, his fourth in 1977, and then his fifth in 1987. Nineteen years later (except for a collection of shorts released as "Greatest Hits"), he published The Last Quarry at the urging of Charles Ardai, publisher of Hard Case Crime. This began a new series of Quarry novels, including First Quarry, Quarry in the Middle, Quarry's Ex, and Wrong Quarry.
The Last Quarry is a worthy addition to this great series. It is just as good as the original series of Quarry novels.
This is another great Quarry novel, tightly written, and I found that the pages flew at a furious pace. It was well-plotted and an enjoyable read from cover to cover. Highly recommended.
Collins has done a great job of placing Quarry in the timeline, setting out his motives, his intentions, his fascination with the dazzling librarian.
The book is funny - gay hoods buying tampax- gee, what could they be up to? The characterizations are great from Quarry himself to the young lady tied to the bed in the cabin, to the rich mogul who thinks he has outsmarted Quarry.
As in all Quarry novels, the writing is smooth and it won't keep you busy for very long cause it is a damn quick read.
Bottom line: Great crime fiction!
In Last Quarry, Collins has taken that opening and run with it. He has turned it into one terrific feature length tale where Quarry comes out of retirement to do one last job, one with the most incredible payday. He merely has to go to a small town and take out a librarian, but, of course, once this librarian strips down and dives into a swimming pool, even a aging Quarry knows she is going to be a difficult target.
As detailed in the First Quarry, Quarry is a former Vietnam veteran whose real name is never disclosed to the reader. He comes back, finds his fiancé, Joanie, in bed with another guy, finds that guy working under his car and kicks the jack out, survives a murder trial, and is then recruited by a mysterious figure named the Broker to carry out hits and we don't mean hits in baseball.
Collins published his first three Quarry novels in 1976, his fourth in 1977, and then his fifth in 1987. Nineteen years later (except for a collection of shorts released as "Greatest Hits"), he published The Last Quarry at the urging of Charles Ardai, publisher of Hard Case Crime. This began a new series of Quarry novels, including First Quarry, Quarry in the Middle, Quarry's Ex, and Wrong Quarry.
The Last Quarry is a worthy addition to this great series. It is just as good as the original series of Quarry novels.
This is another great Quarry novel, tightly written, and I found that the pages flew at a furious pace. It was well-plotted and an enjoyable read from cover to cover. Highly recommended.
Collins has done a great job of placing Quarry in the timeline, setting out his motives, his intentions, his fascination with the dazzling librarian.
The book is funny - gay hoods buying tampax- gee, what could they be up to? The characterizations are great from Quarry himself to the young lady tied to the bed in the cabin, to the rich mogul who thinks he has outsmarted Quarry.
As in all Quarry novels, the writing is smooth and it won't keep you busy for very long cause it is a damn quick read.
Bottom line: Great crime fiction!
November 21, 2022
The most entertaining Quarry book I've read, so far.
The Quarry series seems to change mood with every iteration. While some books are all abbout the criminal aspects, others are more dramatic and melancholly, and some mechanical and cold.
This one, however, is pure fun.
From beginning till end, it's just one long line of cool characters saying catchy lines and living out their respective stereotype to the fullest. Coolest of them all is Quarry, of course, who always seems to know where to go and what to do. And I found myself taking more and more notes of especially great paragraphs which I wanted to remember. Like for example:
He shot her a goodbye with a gun of thumb-and-forefinger, and sauntered off, cocky as hell. She didn’t bother to reply. Pity—seems like nobody ever hires you to kill a prick like that.
I whacked him with the nine millimeter and he went to sleep even before he collapsed in a pile in the brush. The nine’s snout had a little blood on it, which I wiped off on the kid’s newer-than-new jeans, giving them a little character.
She got up and out of the booth less graceful than a ballet dancer, but more fun to watch.
The brunette bartendress welcomed me back like old home week, even asked my name now that I was hanging out so often, and I told her Jack. She asked me a few questions as the evening wore on, and I told her jack.
She was a tad over-dressed, in that silk blouse, for watering the plants, but the plants didn’t seem to mind, and I certainly didn’t.
There are reasons why you quit the killing business, and going soft is one of them, because then it’s you getting killed, which is no way to run a business.
They were my Achilles’ heel, women. I had no goddamn sense where they were concerned. And it wasn’t the fucking, the fucking was great, but a woman—not just any woman, but a woman like, say, Janet—could touch something inside of me that I liked to think had died a long time ago. Something human that could only put a dipshit like me in a jam.
I could always walk away. And someone else would kill her, and likely send people to kill me, loose end that I would become, and then I’d be dead, too...or at least up to my asshole in dead assholes. That didn’t sound like any fun.
The Quarry series seems to change mood with every iteration. While some books are all abbout the criminal aspects, others are more dramatic and melancholly, and some mechanical and cold.
This one, however, is pure fun.
From beginning till end, it's just one long line of cool characters saying catchy lines and living out their respective stereotype to the fullest. Coolest of them all is Quarry, of course, who always seems to know where to go and what to do. And I found myself taking more and more notes of especially great paragraphs which I wanted to remember. Like for example:
He shot her a goodbye with a gun of thumb-and-forefinger, and sauntered off, cocky as hell. She didn’t bother to reply. Pity—seems like nobody ever hires you to kill a prick like that.
I whacked him with the nine millimeter and he went to sleep even before he collapsed in a pile in the brush. The nine’s snout had a little blood on it, which I wiped off on the kid’s newer-than-new jeans, giving them a little character.
She got up and out of the booth less graceful than a ballet dancer, but more fun to watch.
The brunette bartendress welcomed me back like old home week, even asked my name now that I was hanging out so often, and I told her Jack. She asked me a few questions as the evening wore on, and I told her jack.
She was a tad over-dressed, in that silk blouse, for watering the plants, but the plants didn’t seem to mind, and I certainly didn’t.
There are reasons why you quit the killing business, and going soft is one of them, because then it’s you getting killed, which is no way to run a business.
They were my Achilles’ heel, women. I had no goddamn sense where they were concerned. And it wasn’t the fucking, the fucking was great, but a woman—not just any woman, but a woman like, say, Janet—could touch something inside of me that I liked to think had died a long time ago. Something human that could only put a dipshit like me in a jam.
I could always walk away. And someone else would kill her, and likely send people to kill me, loose end that I would become, and then I’d be dead, too...or at least up to my asshole in dead assholes. That didn’t sound like any fun.
March 10, 2014
The hitman Quarry comes out of retirement for one last job and proves he isn't "getting too old for this stuff" (to borrow a cleaned up phrase from Lethal Weapon).
I do include a very tiny spoiler but only enough to write a review and absolutely no details or anything that will detract from your enjoyment of the plot.
This is my second Quarry book (the first being "The Wrong Quarry") and already I'm amazed at the depth of the character. You can truly see a difference between how he acts at the different stages of his life and career. He's still a stone cold killer, as evidenced by the opening chapters and how he takes care of some kidnappers and the closing chapters where he cleans up all the loose ends. But how he handles himself in between those sequences during the actual job shows a man reluctantly opening himself up to another human being. Even his interaction with an old buddy from Nam, which sets up the whole chain of events, shows a guy that wants a calmer, more mundane life. He'll never have the white picket fence or 2.5 kids but one can believably see him living a happy ending. Amusingly the author states in the afterward that the most twisted outcome he could up with for Quarry is a happy ending.
All of this in a tight 200 pages. The writing is crisp. The narration is to brisk and to the point, which keeps things tense, easy to read, and reveals even more about Quarry given the first person point of view. This type of neo-pulp writing is the antithesis of some many other modern books, especially my old favorite genre of fantasy. The essence of good crime fiction like this is to get "just the facts, ma'am". But a true master of the genre, as Max Allan Collins proves himself with the Quarry books, can get the facts and good details at the same time. The use of personal asides by Quarry is a great first person narrator trick that the vast majority of authors fail to utilize. The asides add great pulp/noir flavor, highlight characteristic's of Quarry himself, and point out specific details in the scene without bogging down in tons of verbiage.
I look forward to more Quarry books (I've already started "The First Quarry").
I do include a very tiny spoiler but only enough to write a review and absolutely no details or anything that will detract from your enjoyment of the plot.
This is my second Quarry book (the first being "The Wrong Quarry") and already I'm amazed at the depth of the character. You can truly see a difference between how he acts at the different stages of his life and career. He's still a stone cold killer, as evidenced by the opening chapters and how he takes care of some kidnappers and the closing chapters where he cleans up all the loose ends. But how he handles himself in between those sequences during the actual job shows a man reluctantly opening himself up to another human being. Even his interaction with an old buddy from Nam, which sets up the whole chain of events, shows a guy that wants a calmer, more mundane life. He'll never have the white picket fence or 2.5 kids but one can believably see him living a happy ending. Amusingly the author states in the afterward that the most twisted outcome he could up with for Quarry is a happy ending.
All of this in a tight 200 pages. The writing is crisp. The narration is to brisk and to the point, which keeps things tense, easy to read, and reveals even more about Quarry given the first person point of view. This type of neo-pulp writing is the antithesis of some many other modern books, especially my old favorite genre of fantasy. The essence of good crime fiction like this is to get "just the facts, ma'am". But a true master of the genre, as Max Allan Collins proves himself with the Quarry books, can get the facts and good details at the same time. The use of personal asides by Quarry is a great first person narrator trick that the vast majority of authors fail to utilize. The asides add great pulp/noir flavor, highlight characteristic's of Quarry himself, and point out specific details in the scene without bogging down in tons of verbiage.
I look forward to more Quarry books (I've already started "The First Quarry").
May 7, 2011
good quick read - worth your time - another Quarry novel
July 18, 2025
Quarry is a professional killer, a hitman if you will. He was good at the job, too. He tried retiring once, only to have political enemies track him down and kill his wife. They’re very dead now. At loose ends, he accepted an old friend’s (from his Vietnam days) invitation to help run a vacation lodge in Northern Minnesota. Which was pretty great during the tourist season, but it’s the middle of winter now and Quarry’s getting bored.
Deciding that some junk food might help, Quarry goes to a convenience store. While there, he spots someone he knows from his active criminal days, buying an item he knows that man would ordinarily have no use for. Intrigued, Quarry tails the man back to the cabin he’s sharing with his partner…and the woman they’ve kidnapped.
As he has an old grudge against the kidnappers, Quarry inserts himself into the case, scoring some revenge and spare cash. Unfortunately, the latter proves a poor choice as it allows the woman’s rich father, a Chicago media mogul. to track Quarry down.
Seems the mogul needs someone killed, and is willing to pay enough to pull the hitman out of retirement for “one last job.” So Quarry is off to a certain small mountain town. The target is a youngish, pretty librarian who is very different from Quarry’s usual prey. (They’re usually mobbed up guys or other criminals.) While surveilling his target, Quarry discovers she’s being stalked by an abusive ex.
Before he realizes it, Quarry has made the professional killer’s number one mistake: getting emotionally involved with the target.
This is part of the Quarry series by prolific crime author Max Allan Collins, whose books Strip For Murder and The Secret Files of Dick Tracy I’ve covered in previous reviews. Despite the title, it’s only the sixth book in the series as it resparked the author’s interest in the character. (Subsequent books do not take place in chronological order.)
The story is told in first person by Quarry, in a hard-boiled style, apparently as a memoir. He reminds the reader that he’s changing all the names involved, and may not even actually live in Minnesota (though the context clues do match that area.) Quarry’s an interesting protagonist, callous about his job of killing people, even a bit proud of how good he is at it, but with loose ethical standards that sometimes force him to act in ways that are not conducive to efficient killing.
The tale is exciting, with good tension. There is one section that is transparently withholding information to ratchet up the emotional stakes, which will be obvious to experienced genre fans.
My printing of the book includes an afterword from the author about how the novel came to be written, and two short stories he’d mined for parts of the longer tale. “Guest Services” also has Quarry working at his friend’s resort, and deciding to do something about a guest’s abusive husband. “Quarry’s Luck” uses his resort work to frame a story about a previous job where Quarry was saddled with a rookie partner who screws up the hit by taking new instructions from the client mid-assignment.
Content note: Murder and other physical violence, some a bit gory. Domestic abuse. Extramarital sex. Voyeurism (Quarry likes describing women in skimpy outfits or nude.) The only gay characters are villains and shortly dead. Rough language.
This was a quick, exciting read. You don’t need to have read any other books from the series as the first chapter tells you all the background necessary. Recommended to hard-boiled crime fans.
Deciding that some junk food might help, Quarry goes to a convenience store. While there, he spots someone he knows from his active criminal days, buying an item he knows that man would ordinarily have no use for. Intrigued, Quarry tails the man back to the cabin he’s sharing with his partner…and the woman they’ve kidnapped.
As he has an old grudge against the kidnappers, Quarry inserts himself into the case, scoring some revenge and spare cash. Unfortunately, the latter proves a poor choice as it allows the woman’s rich father, a Chicago media mogul. to track Quarry down.
Seems the mogul needs someone killed, and is willing to pay enough to pull the hitman out of retirement for “one last job.” So Quarry is off to a certain small mountain town. The target is a youngish, pretty librarian who is very different from Quarry’s usual prey. (They’re usually mobbed up guys or other criminals.) While surveilling his target, Quarry discovers she’s being stalked by an abusive ex.
Before he realizes it, Quarry has made the professional killer’s number one mistake: getting emotionally involved with the target.
This is part of the Quarry series by prolific crime author Max Allan Collins, whose books Strip For Murder and The Secret Files of Dick Tracy I’ve covered in previous reviews. Despite the title, it’s only the sixth book in the series as it resparked the author’s interest in the character. (Subsequent books do not take place in chronological order.)
The story is told in first person by Quarry, in a hard-boiled style, apparently as a memoir. He reminds the reader that he’s changing all the names involved, and may not even actually live in Minnesota (though the context clues do match that area.) Quarry’s an interesting protagonist, callous about his job of killing people, even a bit proud of how good he is at it, but with loose ethical standards that sometimes force him to act in ways that are not conducive to efficient killing.
The tale is exciting, with good tension. There is one section that is transparently withholding information to ratchet up the emotional stakes, which will be obvious to experienced genre fans.
My printing of the book includes an afterword from the author about how the novel came to be written, and two short stories he’d mined for parts of the longer tale. “Guest Services” also has Quarry working at his friend’s resort, and deciding to do something about a guest’s abusive husband. “Quarry’s Luck” uses his resort work to frame a story about a previous job where Quarry was saddled with a rookie partner who screws up the hit by taking new instructions from the client mid-assignment.
Content note: Murder and other physical violence, some a bit gory. Domestic abuse. Extramarital sex. Voyeurism (Quarry likes describing women in skimpy outfits or nude.) The only gay characters are villains and shortly dead. Rough language.
This was a quick, exciting read. You don’t need to have read any other books from the series as the first chapter tells you all the background necessary. Recommended to hard-boiled crime fans.
March 13, 2025
I'm a big fan of Max Allan Collins and his hardboiled writing style. This is another chapter featuring Quarry, the hitman who targets other hitmen (and assorted bad guys). The title turns out not to be too accurate since there's now 10 books that follow this one, although some of them take place earlier in the timeline.
The first couple of chapters were released as a standalone short story, where Quarry stumbles upon a kidnapping of a rich heiress and decides to ride to her rescue, for a fee of course. A few months later her dad manages to track Quarry down and offer him one last job. Even though Quarry's retired, the offer is just too much money to turn down. The victim is a smalltown librarian, a pretty girl who doesn't seem to have done anything to deserve being targeted. Quarry gets curious, and soon ends up getting more involved with her than he should have. Is he going to fulfill the contract and kill the librarian? If not, how can he make sure that another killer won't replace him. For once Quarry seems to have a conscience.
But this is still Quarry. Hard, fast violence. Raunchy sex. Double-crosses and hidden motives. Just another fun outing with Quarry. As many pulp books will tell you, you should never come back for one last job.
The first couple of chapters were released as a standalone short story, where Quarry stumbles upon a kidnapping of a rich heiress and decides to ride to her rescue, for a fee of course. A few months later her dad manages to track Quarry down and offer him one last job. Even though Quarry's retired, the offer is just too much money to turn down. The victim is a smalltown librarian, a pretty girl who doesn't seem to have done anything to deserve being targeted. Quarry gets curious, and soon ends up getting more involved with her than he should have. Is he going to fulfill the contract and kill the librarian? If not, how can he make sure that another killer won't replace him. For once Quarry seems to have a conscience.
But this is still Quarry. Hard, fast violence. Raunchy sex. Double-crosses and hidden motives. Just another fun outing with Quarry. As many pulp books will tell you, you should never come back for one last job.
March 7, 2017
Tasty Big MAC
Craving more junkfood, I reached for The Last Quarry, another satisfying and fast read to fill me up. This 'last' novel places the charming hitman in 2005, now 50ish, supposedly retired. He has lost a lot of money, has to take a job for one of his Vietnam vet buddies, and somehow, shit happens. It's nice the way Quarry has aged - he get more interesting the more mistakes he makes, and it these mistakes which contribute to some decent progressive complication - plot twists.
A rich man wants Quarry to kill a librarian in a small midwestern town. Not his usual target, but for a load of money, Quarry will kill just about anyone. Structured with his usual 3 act panache - sharp beginning with inciting incident, longish middle, then explosive ending, this is a well honed noir, still exciting, funny and sharply conceived. It throws up surprises, but these are Happy Meal treats.
So Big MAC delivers again - up to but not beyond, expectations.
Craving more junkfood, I reached for The Last Quarry, another satisfying and fast read to fill me up. This 'last' novel places the charming hitman in 2005, now 50ish, supposedly retired. He has lost a lot of money, has to take a job for one of his Vietnam vet buddies, and somehow, shit happens. It's nice the way Quarry has aged - he get more interesting the more mistakes he makes, and it these mistakes which contribute to some decent progressive complication - plot twists.
A rich man wants Quarry to kill a librarian in a small midwestern town. Not his usual target, but for a load of money, Quarry will kill just about anyone. Structured with his usual 3 act panache - sharp beginning with inciting incident, longish middle, then explosive ending, this is a well honed noir, still exciting, funny and sharply conceived. It throws up surprises, but these are Happy Meal treats.
So Big MAC delivers again - up to but not beyond, expectations.
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