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The Last Freakshow: Flame and Fortune
THE LAST FREAKSHOW
"Prepare to board the runaway train of THE LAST FREAKSHOW as it speeds through an American century with a wonderful and lunatic troupe of misfits and oddities — and the human spirit in all its absurd beauty. A huge, sprawling yet cohesive page-turner, S.E. Johnson’s epic is at turns brilliant, hilarious, heartbreaking, disturbing — and constantly surprising. This is no sideshow, THE LAST FREAKSHOW is the real deal, the big top, the main event."
~DOUGLAS CLEGG, Author of NEVERLAND and THE HOUR BEFORE DARK.
***
BOOK FLAME AND FORTUNE
"Everyone used to wave when the carnival came through town. Young and old; men and women and everyone in between. We’d sit in our train cars, watching those we breezed past, their hair blowing, faces alight with the possibilities of our unique performances. There was something special about a travelling show, something about being there and gone, a mercurial existence creating everlasting impact, memories to fill a lifetime and more. Our carnival was more than that, though, greater than all the rest, because we had the best freakshow in the world. We were known for our oddities, our inborn talents, and how we used them to entertain. We were a family not of blood but close association. Each of us chose the we misfits and outcasts, so much closer than true kin for that reason. We never loved anyone more than we loved each other.
"We’re a century removed from the birth of the Cortez Family Carnival, and many of us are dead and gone, but those of us still among the living recall them all with perfect the love and the passion, the trials and tribulations. Although we’ve grown apart, for reasons we shall explain in the following manuscript, each one of us lives on in one another’s Father Thyme and Mother Nurture, Cy, Trixie, and Bobble, the Go-Go Gals, Jinx and Carol and Willy. Even Panties the Chimp. All of them an indelible, detailed work of art painted on the mosaic canvas of our souls.
"We’ve a long way to travel but, like every lengthy journey, ours begins with a single step. All tales, fact or fiction, begin in media res. A faux start, so to speak, because before the Cortez Family Carnival, there was a birth, yet even that birth is not the beginning. Much came before, but those people, places, and things add nothing to the narrative, so we will set out on our journey of a million miles with…"
***
"If John Irving and Stephen King collaborated on a century-spanning American epic while channeling Ray Bradbury's ghost, this is the book you would get. S.E. Johnson is an absolutely dazzling, virtuoso storyteller who has planted his flag with this hugely imaginative, tender and bruising saga of the Cortez Family Carnival. Sure to be discovered and championed as an absolute classic."
~JOSH BOONE, director of "The Fault in Our Stars"
THE LAST FLAME AND FORTUNE is book one in a five book series.
"Prepare to board the runaway train of THE LAST FREAKSHOW as it speeds through an American century with a wonderful and lunatic troupe of misfits and oddities — and the human spirit in all its absurd beauty. A huge, sprawling yet cohesive page-turner, S.E. Johnson’s epic is at turns brilliant, hilarious, heartbreaking, disturbing — and constantly surprising. This is no sideshow, THE LAST FREAKSHOW is the real deal, the big top, the main event."
~DOUGLAS CLEGG, Author of NEVERLAND and THE HOUR BEFORE DARK.
***
BOOK FLAME AND FORTUNE
"Everyone used to wave when the carnival came through town. Young and old; men and women and everyone in between. We’d sit in our train cars, watching those we breezed past, their hair blowing, faces alight with the possibilities of our unique performances. There was something special about a travelling show, something about being there and gone, a mercurial existence creating everlasting impact, memories to fill a lifetime and more. Our carnival was more than that, though, greater than all the rest, because we had the best freakshow in the world. We were known for our oddities, our inborn talents, and how we used them to entertain. We were a family not of blood but close association. Each of us chose the we misfits and outcasts, so much closer than true kin for that reason. We never loved anyone more than we loved each other.
"We’re a century removed from the birth of the Cortez Family Carnival, and many of us are dead and gone, but those of us still among the living recall them all with perfect the love and the passion, the trials and tribulations. Although we’ve grown apart, for reasons we shall explain in the following manuscript, each one of us lives on in one another’s Father Thyme and Mother Nurture, Cy, Trixie, and Bobble, the Go-Go Gals, Jinx and Carol and Willy. Even Panties the Chimp. All of them an indelible, detailed work of art painted on the mosaic canvas of our souls.
"We’ve a long way to travel but, like every lengthy journey, ours begins with a single step. All tales, fact or fiction, begin in media res. A faux start, so to speak, because before the Cortez Family Carnival, there was a birth, yet even that birth is not the beginning. Much came before, but those people, places, and things add nothing to the narrative, so we will set out on our journey of a million miles with…"
***
"If John Irving and Stephen King collaborated on a century-spanning American epic while channeling Ray Bradbury's ghost, this is the book you would get. S.E. Johnson is an absolutely dazzling, virtuoso storyteller who has planted his flag with this hugely imaginative, tender and bruising saga of the Cortez Family Carnival. Sure to be discovered and championed as an absolute classic."
~JOSH BOONE, director of "The Fault in Our Stars"
THE LAST FLAME AND FORTUNE is book one in a five book series.
554 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 1, 2024
6 people are currently reading
43 people want to read
About the author
S. E. Johnson
1 book9 followersS. E. Johnson is an outcast among outcasts trying to find people who feel the same.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 18, 2025
This page turning story of a found family and the carnival they call home will most certainly be in my top 3 for the year. An important book in these hate filled times we find ourselves trapped in. These endearing characters made me laugh, made me cry, and warmed my soul, and I can’t wait to spend more time with them in the promised sequel.
March 5, 2025
I don't really take ARCs anymore and I barely write reviews anymore but I had to give this one a shot.
The Last Freakshow: Flame and Fortune promises to be the beginning of an epic. I don't know how long the physical book would be but it's a brick of a book. I would have been happy to read more but there are two more waiting in the wings.
This book is more character than plot and the denizens of the Cortez Family Carnival are a richly detailed bunch, from the intersex proprietor and his wife, Father Thyme and Mother Nurture, to the man aging in reverse, the lizard man, dwarf sword swallower, fire eater, cyclopes, bearded lady, and the rest.
The book is about the bond of found families more than anything else. Something big is coming in the second volume and part of me is apprehensive about this found family going through the wringer in the next two books. The writing has a literary feel but with a horror bend, like a mature Stephen King that someone dared edit.
The Last Freakshow feels like sitting down with some new friends, all the while knowing that nothing good lasts forever. Five out of five stars.
The Last Freakshow: Flame and Fortune promises to be the beginning of an epic. I don't know how long the physical book would be but it's a brick of a book. I would have been happy to read more but there are two more waiting in the wings.
This book is more character than plot and the denizens of the Cortez Family Carnival are a richly detailed bunch, from the intersex proprietor and his wife, Father Thyme and Mother Nurture, to the man aging in reverse, the lizard man, dwarf sword swallower, fire eater, cyclopes, bearded lady, and the rest.
The book is about the bond of found families more than anything else. Something big is coming in the second volume and part of me is apprehensive about this found family going through the wringer in the next two books. The writing has a literary feel but with a horror bend, like a mature Stephen King that someone dared edit.
The Last Freakshow feels like sitting down with some new friends, all the while knowing that nothing good lasts forever. Five out of five stars.
February 6, 2025
I absolutely loved this character-driven story! A traveling carnival of outcasts. Found family. You get to deeply know every single one of them and their stories. There is so much heart to this novel. I was never bored. I honestly feel like I got to be a part of their family. All the characters feel so real.
Man I wish I knew what else to say, other than read it! *Hugs book*
Man I wish I knew what else to say, other than read it! *Hugs book*
December 7, 2024
The characters throughout this book are wonderfully different, an eclectic cast with many a quirk that draw the reader in from the start. Get on this train and roll along with them, this is one hell of a journey.
February 18, 2026
Required reading!
I have been unable to put this book down since I first picked it up. The Last Freakshow is hands down one of the best books I have ever read. I wish I could give it 10 stars!
While this story has elements of magical realism, horror, and literary fiction it is so beautifully executed that I feel that these characters are really out there, riding the rails and continuing to perform for rubes everywhere. They literally come to life on the page.
So many of the challenges we are currently facing today are beautifully woven into the lives of the characters and presented in an unflinching manner with empathy and care, but the author doesn’t hit you over the head or come off as preachy.
I can’t tell you which character is my favorite because I’ve fallen in love with each and every one of them. I am anxiously awaiting the sequel and can’t wait for the carnival to come back to my town!
I have been unable to put this book down since I first picked it up. The Last Freakshow is hands down one of the best books I have ever read. I wish I could give it 10 stars!
While this story has elements of magical realism, horror, and literary fiction it is so beautifully executed that I feel that these characters are really out there, riding the rails and continuing to perform for rubes everywhere. They literally come to life on the page.
So many of the challenges we are currently facing today are beautifully woven into the lives of the characters and presented in an unflinching manner with empathy and care, but the author doesn’t hit you over the head or come off as preachy.
I can’t tell you which character is my favorite because I’ve fallen in love with each and every one of them. I am anxiously awaiting the sequel and can’t wait for the carnival to come back to my town!
Want to read
February 7, 2025I have already read this, but as an editor. I look forward to reading it again for fun rather than work.
February 15, 2026
Wow... just, wow! The Last Freakshow is a staggeringly well realised found-family saga with wonderful characters and storytelling; at times heart-warming, heart-breaking and life affirming. S.E. Johnson possesses a masterful grasp of the English language which truly kept my eyes glued and my heart engaged throughout. When I wasn't reading I was thinking about reading; the characters never leaving my mind. I don't think they ever will.
Beginning in the early 20th Century USA and taking us up to the 1960s, this mosaic novel takes us on a journey from prohibition, the great depression, the first and second world wars, and the civil rights movement. Johnson does all this without ever shying away from difficult themes and challenges us to consider the reality of America and the foundations on which it's built. He does all this and yet never forgets to entertain, the novel weaving through multiple genres as it snakes through time.
As a lover of horror fiction I was particularly delighted to find a number of scenes that genuinely raised the hairs on the back of my neck, something I can honestly say that few pure horror novels have achieved.
There is also a wonderful easter egg towards the end of the story that had me grinning from ear to ear.
The Last Freakshow is a true gem of a novel and I cannot recommend it highly enough. Do yourself a huge favour and read this book! I myself have been left with a ravenous hunger and cannot wait for the next one.
Beginning in the early 20th Century USA and taking us up to the 1960s, this mosaic novel takes us on a journey from prohibition, the great depression, the first and second world wars, and the civil rights movement. Johnson does all this without ever shying away from difficult themes and challenges us to consider the reality of America and the foundations on which it's built. He does all this and yet never forgets to entertain, the novel weaving through multiple genres as it snakes through time.
As a lover of horror fiction I was particularly delighted to find a number of scenes that genuinely raised the hairs on the back of my neck, something I can honestly say that few pure horror novels have achieved.
There is also a wonderful easter egg towards the end of the story that had me grinning from ear to ear.
The Last Freakshow is a true gem of a novel and I cannot recommend it highly enough. Do yourself a huge favour and read this book! I myself have been left with a ravenous hunger and cannot wait for the next one.
February 10, 2025
A book about magic, romance, fantasy and so much more. This reads like a collab between John Irving (The Cider House Rules) and Katherine Dunn (Geek Love).
I can’t begin to encapsulate this epic work down into a short review, but for those of you looking for family outside of those you were born into, this one’s for you.
4.5/5 stars.
I can’t begin to encapsulate this epic work down into a short review, but for those of you looking for family outside of those you were born into, this one’s for you.
4.5/5 stars.
February 25, 2026
Simply amazing
From begin to end The last freakshow had me completely captivated and unable to put it down. S. E. Johnson has created an amazing tale that will make you laugh, make you cry and ultimately leave you begging for more. The last freakshow is beautifully written and has the perfect balance of feeling like a cozy story told round a campfire about people and events long since gone, while also feeling like a grand adventure you're invited on with all the unique friends you'll meet along the way. I'm usually ready to move on to the next book and next adventure once I've finished reading, but with the last freakshow I'm not ready to leave the carnival. I can't wait to find out where this series goes from here, I can't wait to reunite with these amazing characters and meet many more along the way. I look forward to the carnival coming back to town.
From begin to end The last freakshow had me completely captivated and unable to put it down. S. E. Johnson has created an amazing tale that will make you laugh, make you cry and ultimately leave you begging for more. The last freakshow is beautifully written and has the perfect balance of feeling like a cozy story told round a campfire about people and events long since gone, while also feeling like a grand adventure you're invited on with all the unique friends you'll meet along the way. I'm usually ready to move on to the next book and next adventure once I've finished reading, but with the last freakshow I'm not ready to leave the carnival. I can't wait to find out where this series goes from here, I can't wait to reunite with these amazing characters and meet many more along the way. I look forward to the carnival coming back to town.
July 6, 2025
I finally just finished this novel. I took my sweet time with it, because I loved it.These characters and all their stories and travels? I could not get enough. Now , I'm gonna have the absolute worst book hangover until the author writes the next one. It has made me so happy to find out this is going to be a series.
I have 2 favorite books no one has ever been able to match. The Forest of Hours by Kerstin Ekman and The Man Who Spoke Snakish by Andrus Kivirähk. This book is now my 3rd. There's a lot of similarities and the writing reminded me of the same talent, but talent that is very much distinct in each author.
I am so glad you're back! E
I have 2 favorite books no one has ever been able to match. The Forest of Hours by Kerstin Ekman and The Man Who Spoke Snakish by Andrus Kivirähk. This book is now my 3rd. There's a lot of similarities and the writing reminded me of the same talent, but talent that is very much distinct in each author.
I am so glad you're back! E
wishlist-want-it
March 8, 2025Not sure what shelf-tags to add to this besides to-ponder, but... sounds interesting!! Maybe a bit of that Carnival TV series that I loved back in the day feel, with a lil splash of the found family of freaks vibe from AHS Freakshow, but minus the horror and all that? Dunno, I'm just going off what I can glean from the blurb and the handful of reviews here, but sounds interesting as heck!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews