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Last Line #1
Last Line
John Griffin and Michael South – agents in the renegade counterterrorism agency Last Line, and closer than brothers. It’s a fast-lane life of danger and excitement. John loves every minute of it, but he’s facing one big problem now: his feelings for Mike have flared up from friendship into a passion he can no longer hide. And Mike, although the bravest and best of partners, doesn’t feel the same.
Their one sexual encounter leaves them baffled and alienated from one another. Mike is a haunted man, shaken by flashbacks to his past life as an MI5 agent and a mission in Russia that went terribly wrong. He’s been left with a need for violence between the sheets, and John isn’t prepared to hurt him.
Not everyone has Mike’s best interests at heart. Their ruthless boss hires a ghost from Mike’s past to help track down a Russian war criminal who’s planted a nuclear device in the heart of London. Anzhel Mattvei knows all of Mike’s dark secrets, and soon regains his former sexual thraldom over him, leaving Mike locked in battle for his will and his soul.
Anzhel has turned Mike into a human detonation device. Only John’s love can pull him back from the brink – and save the millions of lives in the fallout zone.
NOTE: According to Harper Lee's official website, this is the first of a trilogy.
Their one sexual encounter leaves them baffled and alienated from one another. Mike is a haunted man, shaken by flashbacks to his past life as an MI5 agent and a mission in Russia that went terribly wrong. He’s been left with a need for violence between the sheets, and John isn’t prepared to hurt him.
Not everyone has Mike’s best interests at heart. Their ruthless boss hires a ghost from Mike’s past to help track down a Russian war criminal who’s planted a nuclear device in the heart of London. Anzhel Mattvei knows all of Mike’s dark secrets, and soon regains his former sexual thraldom over him, leaving Mike locked in battle for his will and his soul.
Anzhel has turned Mike into a human detonation device. Only John’s love can pull him back from the brink – and save the millions of lives in the fallout zone.
NOTE: According to Harper Lee's official website, this is the first of a trilogy.
201 pages, ebook
First published May 31, 2011
16 people are currently reading
738 people want to read
About the author
Harper Fox
58 books1,174 followersHarper Fox is an M/M author with a mission. She’s produced six critically acclaimed novels in a year and is trying to dispel rumours that she has a clone/twin sister locked away in a study in her basement. In fact she simply continues working on what she loves best– creating worlds and stories for the huge cast of lovely gay men queuing up inside her head. She lives in rural Northumberland in northern England and does most of her writing at a pensioned-off kitchen table in her back garden, often with blanket and hot water bottle.
She lives with her SO Jane, who has somehow put up with her for a quarter of a century now, and three enigmatic cats, chief among whom is Lucy, who knows the secret of the universe but isn't letting on. When not writing, she either despairs or makes bread, specialities foccacia and her amazing seven-strand challah. If she has any other skills, she's yet to discover them.
She lives with her SO Jane, who has somehow put up with her for a quarter of a century now, and three enigmatic cats, chief among whom is Lucy, who knows the secret of the universe but isn't letting on. When not writing, she either despairs or makes bread, specialities foccacia and her amazing seven-strand challah. If she has any other skills, she's yet to discover them.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 144 reviews
January 27, 2019
Audio - 4.25 stars
Story - 4.5 angsty mindfuck stars
Story - 4.5 angsty mindfuck stars
August 31, 2012
A unusual paranormal/Manchurian candidate/The Professionals mashup. I'd call it a thriller with a gay relationship; it is definitely not a traditional m/m romance. This makes it the rare beast: an actual novel that would stand alone without the sex scenes. Happily there are quite a few anyway, but they are not tender, loving sex scenes.
The MCs are compelling, and have a relationship that walks the line between gritty and tender. I think I'm fairly in love with John. All the secondary characters seem to have real lives that would continue of the page.
It was the plot that slightly let this down for me: I'm not a huge fan of this particular mix of thiller/paranormal and I would have preferred if it was just one or the other. Michael's .
While I wasn't gripped by the book, I was interested right up to the end. The Glastonbury setting was wonderful and I was filled with longing for a farmhouse accessed by a hawthorn-covered holloway.
3.5 stars.
The MCs are compelling, and have a relationship that walks the line between gritty and tender. I think I'm fairly in love with John. All the secondary characters seem to have real lives that would continue of the page.
It was the plot that slightly let this down for me: I'm not a huge fan of this particular mix of thiller/paranormal and I would have preferred if it was just one or the other. Michael's .
While I wasn't gripped by the book, I was interested right up to the end. The Glastonbury setting was wonderful and I was filled with longing for a farmhouse accessed by a hawthorn-covered holloway.
3.5 stars.
September 21, 2025
Disturbing!
The book started really well, it shocked me right in the first scene, I wasn't expecting for that, I thought "this is gonna be good", really superb moments, congrats to Harper:
But then, some flaws appeared:
I think the book got lost with too much directions, it was chaotic, it got to a point that was dragged...
Amazing idea, not very good executed!
I also have this book on Audible, David Thorpe delivered a superb performance, completely commited, fully engaged, amazing voice, spectacular acting, I loved it, he made the book so much better, in this book I enjoyed listening much more than reading! Congratulations to him!!!
3⭐️
The book started really well, it shocked me right in the first scene, I wasn't expecting for that, I thought "this is gonna be good", really superb moments, congrats to Harper:
But then, some flaws appeared:
I think the book got lost with too much directions, it was chaotic, it got to a point that was dragged...
Amazing idea, not very good executed!
I also have this book on Audible, David Thorpe delivered a superb performance, completely commited, fully engaged, amazing voice, spectacular acting, I loved it, he made the book so much better, in this book I enjoyed listening much more than reading! Congratulations to him!!!
3⭐️
September 15, 2012
4.5 stars
I asked for gritty and that's exactly what I got, a taut, fast paced thriller with wrenching twists and turns. It was emotionally intense, so much anguish, god this story had a way of making me feel things I didn't want to feel. With every page read I dreaded what was ahead and as the story unfolded the nail biting and heart stopping moments started. At times I wanted to smash things (Anzhel especially) the pain and torment that Michael had to endure was devastating. The smiling monster was all the more chilling, the devious, evil bastard was diabolical. John and Michael were true heroes, courageous and committed, I adored them, wonderful characters, the one shining light that kept me reading this rather grim story. So forget sweet and light, think dark and disturbing. I can't say I am looking forward to the next book but I do want to know more about John, Michael and Quin's mysterious abilities.
One of the quotes from Michael where the tears started.
I asked for gritty and that's exactly what I got, a taut, fast paced thriller with wrenching twists and turns. It was emotionally intense, so much anguish, god this story had a way of making me feel things I didn't want to feel. With every page read I dreaded what was ahead and as the story unfolded the nail biting and heart stopping moments started. At times I wanted to smash things (Anzhel especially) the pain and torment that Michael had to endure was devastating. The smiling monster was all the more chilling, the devious, evil bastard was diabolical. John and Michael were true heroes, courageous and committed, I adored them, wonderful characters, the one shining light that kept me reading this rather grim story. So forget sweet and light, think dark and disturbing. I can't say I am looking forward to the next book but I do want to know more about John, Michael and Quin's mysterious abilities.
One of the quotes from Michael where the tears started.
January 31, 2016
I loved this book! I love spies and Secret Agencies and the whole stuff since I was a kid! So, Last Line gripped me from the start...
The book begins three years before the actual story takes place. One of the MC's, Mike - at that time MI5 Agent - is held captive in a Russian province by a war criminal and tortured (both physically and emotionally) by one of his henchmen.
Three years later, Mike works for a secret organization called Last Line and is partnered with John. They are the secret agents' secret agents, how John named it. Both are best friends and John is secretly in love with Mike. You get the feeling, that Mike returns his love, but is reluctant to follow up on it. During a sexual encounter, the reader comes to know, why. Mike needs pain to get off and John is unwilling to give it to him.
Things start to get more difficult between them. Especially, when their boss coerces them to work with a liaison from Russia, which turns out to be the henchman, who tortured Mike at the beginning. Apparently, he jumped ship and is now a faithful servant for the secret police of the Russian province, to bring down the war criminal, he worked for years ago. John finds out, that nothing is what it seems and gets the feeling, that he doesn't even know his partner anymore. But even he doesn't realize, that Mike is a significant pawn in a game that started three years ago.
Yes, Last Line is not an easy read. The torture may be something not for squeamish souls and the book gets darker with every page. It's about mind control. It's about respondent conditioning. What starts as a Friends to Lovers story, turns out to be a more complex and - most of all - more complicated matter. The love between Mike and John is meant to be, but the solving of this mystery comes later on. The paranormal aspect is at first rather subtle, but towards the end it becomes much clearer and will be more pronounced in the sequel (so I've heard). Initially, it only shows in John's disturbed relationship to any electronic devices and in the fact, that he survives a thirty-foot-fall with no more than a few scratches.
I loved Mike and John. I wanted to hug Mike and tell him, that everything's gonna be okay, because he seemed so lost at times.
Now, I'm looking forward to read Ring Around the Sun (Last Line #2)!
The book begins three years before the actual story takes place. One of the MC's, Mike - at that time MI5 Agent - is held captive in a Russian province by a war criminal and tortured (both physically and emotionally) by one of his henchmen.
Three years later, Mike works for a secret organization called Last Line and is partnered with John. They are the secret agents' secret agents, how John named it. Both are best friends and John is secretly in love with Mike. You get the feeling, that Mike returns his love, but is reluctant to follow up on it. During a sexual encounter, the reader comes to know, why. Mike needs pain to get off and John is unwilling to give it to him.
Things start to get more difficult between them. Especially, when their boss coerces them to work with a liaison from Russia, which turns out to be the henchman, who tortured Mike at the beginning. Apparently, he jumped ship and is now a faithful servant for the secret police of the Russian province, to bring down the war criminal, he worked for years ago. John finds out, that nothing is what it seems and gets the feeling, that he doesn't even know his partner anymore. But even he doesn't realize, that Mike is a significant pawn in a game that started three years ago.
Yes, Last Line is not an easy read. The torture may be something not for squeamish souls and the book gets darker with every page. It's about mind control. It's about respondent conditioning. What starts as a Friends to Lovers story, turns out to be a more complex and - most of all - more complicated matter. The love between Mike and John is meant to be, but the solving of this mystery comes later on. The paranormal aspect is at first rather subtle, but towards the end it becomes much clearer and will be more pronounced in the sequel (so I've heard). Initially, it only shows in John's disturbed relationship to any electronic devices and in the fact, that he survives a thirty-foot-fall with no more than a few scratches.
I loved Mike and John. I wanted to hug Mike and tell him, that everything's gonna be okay, because he seemed so lost at times.
Now, I'm looking forward to read Ring Around the Sun (Last Line #2)!
June 3, 2011
I can`t remember the last time I`ve felt so much compassion for a books main characters - especially Michael - and so much hate for a villain.
Last Line is a tightly written,intense and dark - even frightening - thriller and the story of a seemingly hopeless love.
Definitely Harper Fox` best book.
...Shakespeare was absent this time...
Last Line is a tightly written,intense and dark - even frightening - thriller and the story of a seemingly hopeless love.
Definitely Harper Fox` best book.
...Shakespeare was absent this time...
August 4, 2014
I was kind of utterly spellbound by this aggressively-intriguing erotic-suspense thriller.
Except. Super-paranormal or mind control? Which one were we going w/here. I guess if it was longer it would have been great to have both for conflict but not at this short length. But even though brief, the story had excellent pacing and was very engaging. Intensely drawn characters.
Very thrilling ride.
Except. Super-paranormal or mind control? Which one were we going w/here. I guess if it was longer it would have been great to have both for conflict but not at this short length. But even though brief, the story had excellent pacing and was very engaging. Intensely drawn characters.
Very thrilling ride.
August 29, 2013
This takes some mental acuity not to get lost between the supernatural and the brainwashing elements, but it is powerful. Watching Michael unravel and then twist and break and recoil is exhausting. As horrible as it is you can't look away. The degree of psychological conditioning and its success is terrifying. Mesmerizing, it really does play into traditional Russian folklore and the implications are devastating to watch.
And John, the partner we all dream of in devotion, honor, and action. He brings a smile even from afar.
The story is fast paced and the suspense and the characters are intrinsically woven together. There are some hard moments in the story that just ache, but you can't help but want more. It is another foray into the sensory delight of Fox's storytelling even if some of the lyricism is sacrificed to the hard edge driving the plot.
Favorite quote:
And John, the partner we all dream of in devotion, honor, and action. He brings a smile even from afar.
The story is fast paced and the suspense and the characters are intrinsically woven together. There are some hard moments in the story that just ache, but you can't help but want more. It is another foray into the sensory delight of Fox's storytelling even if some of the lyricism is sacrificed to the hard edge driving the plot.
Favorite quote:
It was weird how you could go through life and never need a thing until you fell across it.
November 2, 2015
This book was very annoying.
It started out with an eerily warped, dreamlike recollection of Michael's imprisonment and torture. Then it turned to the three-years-later special-agent-normalcy of best buddies and partners Michael and John.
Good enough, an interesting premise.
Then it went on and turned into a totally convoluted, illogical, inconsistent, immature whack-fest. And not in a good, playful way.
Characters doing stupid, out-of-character things, seemingly top-notch special agents behaving like pouty high school boys, special-agent-commander-masterminds taking on previously hostile agents and letting them act unsupervised, laughable mind-control and reprogramming scenes.
And worst of all . Because god forbid any of the "good" characters are morally ambigous. Either they are too innocent to be true for their line of work or they were forced and warped by evil-mind-control. I'd say, if you try to go down the dark road, don't chicken out and make everybody psychologically inconsistent and unbelievable just to make them "likeable".
It's a bit of a pity because the author sure can write.
June 2, 2021
Very exciting and creative mystery. Interesting couple with really cool backstories - nicely done. Audio beautifully performed by David Thorpe.
November 6, 2011
Last Line by Harper Fox was not an easy read—oh don’t get me wrong—it is a BRILLIANT book but easy to read?? No, not by a long shot.
The story unfolds smack in the midst of the most realistic and gut wrenching torture scene I have ever read—and that was the first time I though to myself. “turn away—don’t read this book…this is not going to be good.” I said that to myself several times: through a Non-consensual sex, torture, bloodshed, violence, more torture—this time of the mind and soul, and through one action scene after another that left me breathless. About halfway through this book I called out for help and encouragement to finish it—I had to put it down—I was too wrapped up in the fate of John and Mike (two members of the Last Line team and the MC’s of the book) to even consider going on. A friend of mine on goodreads remarked, “ I love a book that you pick up, read, then have to put down so you can walk in a big circle going 'ohmygod, ohmygod'. Rach, never were truer words spoken.
Okay, this was incredibly well written. I was there—in the alleyways of London, in the nave of a church, on a farm in the outskirts of the city. I could “feel” everything these men were going through. I cried with John as he watched the partner and man he loved (Mike) descend into the miasma of a mind control that turned him into a groveling robot one minute and a mindless killing monster the next. I wanted the bad guys not only dead but to suffer as they had made Mike suffer. I wanted to hear John finally admit out loud that he LOVED Mike—and I did not want to wait until we were 85% of the way through the book to hear it said! I NEEDED these men to survive, to prevail, to recover, and yes, to love! If there were a scale devoted to angst this book would rate a firm 10! At the end of this novel I felt like I had been tortured along with Mike, held captive and left a bloody mess on the reading room floor.
Oh yes—it was a good book—a bloody brilliant book! Perhaps the only thing that niggled—that did not ring quite true was how quickly Mike recovered—he seemed to snap back too quickly—after all he had been through—I felt there should have been more of a hollow feeling to his recovery. It seemed more time should have been needed for him to allow John to be intimate in a way that only men can be with one another. Don’t get me wrong—this was a small niggle—and really the end was simply beautiful, emotionally stirring and blissfully tension-releasing. We had run the marathon that was this novel and we had won—were victorious—just as Mike and John were—just as anyone who has ever loved with the fierceness that these two loved should be—sublimely victorious!
The story unfolds smack in the midst of the most realistic and gut wrenching torture scene I have ever read—and that was the first time I though to myself. “turn away—don’t read this book…this is not going to be good.” I said that to myself several times: through a Non-consensual sex, torture, bloodshed, violence, more torture—this time of the mind and soul, and through one action scene after another that left me breathless. About halfway through this book I called out for help and encouragement to finish it—I had to put it down—I was too wrapped up in the fate of John and Mike (two members of the Last Line team and the MC’s of the book) to even consider going on. A friend of mine on goodreads remarked, “ I love a book that you pick up, read, then have to put down so you can walk in a big circle going 'ohmygod, ohmygod'. Rach, never were truer words spoken.
Okay, this was incredibly well written. I was there—in the alleyways of London, in the nave of a church, on a farm in the outskirts of the city. I could “feel” everything these men were going through. I cried with John as he watched the partner and man he loved (Mike) descend into the miasma of a mind control that turned him into a groveling robot one minute and a mindless killing monster the next. I wanted the bad guys not only dead but to suffer as they had made Mike suffer. I wanted to hear John finally admit out loud that he LOVED Mike—and I did not want to wait until we were 85% of the way through the book to hear it said! I NEEDED these men to survive, to prevail, to recover, and yes, to love! If there were a scale devoted to angst this book would rate a firm 10! At the end of this novel I felt like I had been tortured along with Mike, held captive and left a bloody mess on the reading room floor.
Oh yes—it was a good book—a bloody brilliant book! Perhaps the only thing that niggled—that did not ring quite true was how quickly Mike recovered—he seemed to snap back too quickly—after all he had been through—I felt there should have been more of a hollow feeling to his recovery. It seemed more time should have been needed for him to allow John to be intimate in a way that only men can be with one another. Don’t get me wrong—this was a small niggle—and really the end was simply beautiful, emotionally stirring and blissfully tension-releasing. We had run the marathon that was this novel and we had won—were victorious—just as Mike and John were—just as anyone who has ever loved with the fierceness that these two loved should be—sublimely victorious!
November 6, 2011
Way out of my comfort zone but the storyline itself was intersting. I hated it but couldnt put it down at the same time. Not sure what that says and im glad i finished but also wish i'd never read it too. First off, is this truly considered a romance just because it ended well...for now? If I was John I would have been long, long gone. The conditioning was just too brutal...for Mike, John and me.
I am still not sure of my 4 star rating though. So many unanswered questions. What was up with Mikes mom? There wasn't enough explanation to understand the paranormal aspects of the fire, water, lights in the sky. Plus Anzhel....if monsters like him really exist i am never leaving my house again.
With all that being said, i know many people love these kinds of stories and i wanted to take my rating into consideration and have it based on the quality of the plot, characterization and the emotion it evoked in me...as well as how well it held my attention. Yes i hated parts that I never want to read about but the rest was very worthy of it 4 star rating.
I am still not sure of my 4 star rating though. So many unanswered questions. What was up with Mikes mom? There wasn't enough explanation to understand the paranormal aspects of the fire, water, lights in the sky. Plus Anzhel....if monsters like him really exist i am never leaving my house again.
With all that being said, i know many people love these kinds of stories and i wanted to take my rating into consideration and have it based on the quality of the plot, characterization and the emotion it evoked in me...as well as how well it held my attention. Yes i hated parts that I never want to read about but the rest was very worthy of it 4 star rating.
December 8, 2011
This story introduces two fascinating MC's. Their complex relationship is derailed by Michael's unacknowledged and mainly unremembered traumatic past. That past comes back to haunt them both. I was totally caught up in the story and could not put it down. The one star I took off is because the plot becomes complex and less than logical toward the end. I had to stop and reread and still don't think it made total sense. But I was so in love with the characters I could forgive a lot. It is a dark book, with torture and non-con sex. The emotions are intense and the writing lucid. I hope there will be a sequel, that may pull together some of the plot threads that currently are dangling.
October 25, 2019
It's been ages since I read this book and even though I really enjoyed the book I'm amazed at how much more detail I'm picking up from the audio book and just generally how much more I'm enjoying this story.
This is also my first time listening to this narrator...David Thorpe and he's totally working for me. Especially his voice for Webb one of the secondary characters...seriously this guy sounds exactly how I'd imagine him to. His other character voices are really good, it's just not everyday that a narrator gets a voice so spot on to what's rumbling around in my brain.
I'm back to the second book in this series and enjoying the hell out of it too.
This is also my first time listening to this narrator...David Thorpe and he's totally working for me. Especially his voice for Webb one of the secondary characters...seriously this guy sounds exactly how I'd imagine him to. His other character voices are really good, it's just not everyday that a narrator gets a voice so spot on to what's rumbling around in my brain.
I'm back to the second book in this series and enjoying the hell out of it too.
February 14, 2013
This was a... hard book to read. In some respects, I can see the appeal of it. It can be an entertaining and dark read depending on the reader. But if you have hang ups like I do? This story is just a struggle to get through.
For me, it dragged considerably. Even from the start it was hard for me to really get into the story. Right when I was starting to like it, though (probably about half way in), Michael's ex shows up. From there, the story went down hill again because Michael and John are just starting to move their relationship past friends and then all of a sudden, John barely exists to Michael. I was not amused or entertained.
More than that, I was confused half the time. I probably understood one out of every five words either of them spoke but the story was just a mess. It starts out as contemporary and then ends with a paranormal twist? With nothing to lead up to that? Almost as if the author decided to write the story one way then halfway through decided to up and change the whole genre without caring to go back and add some details to connect the dots. It was like everyone was normal then all a sudden, all these people had some type of ability that wasn't elaborated on. Just hints here and there that Michael *liked* fire or that John *liked* water (they could manipulate these elements). And then, Quin walks through a gun fight without getting hit?! Or how he survived getting hit by a grenade?! Seriously?! With no explanation how that was possible? On top of that, nothing is resolved in the end. The bad guys who were supposed to be dead? Just vanished and are apparently still alive. Even though Michael saw both of them die. So many loose ends that just made me even more annoyed than I already was. Added to the fact that I felt like John was an extremely weak person and didn't even make Michael grovel! Come on! I did like Quin but I seriously disliked John and Michael.
With that said, Harper Fox seems to love to bring in a guy's ex and shake things up. Personally hating that type of conflict, I think this will be my last story by her. I might have enjoyed the book a bit more if the ex hadn't been so thoroughly thrust (literally!) intoMichael the story. No point to keep trying an author when they constantly (at least in all the ones I've read) write something I really hate. I do freely admit though that there was a time or two that my heart jumped in anticipation of what was to come in one of those gun fights but then I got disappointed in the almost anticlimactic resolution to those intense moments.
For me, it dragged considerably. Even from the start it was hard for me to really get into the story. Right when I was starting to like it, though (probably about half way in), Michael's ex shows up. From there, the story went down hill again because Michael and John are just starting to move their relationship past friends and then all of a sudden, John barely exists to Michael. I was not amused or entertained.
More than that, I was confused half the time. I probably understood one out of every five words either of them spoke but the story was just a mess. It starts out as contemporary and then ends with a paranormal twist? With nothing to lead up to that? Almost as if the author decided to write the story one way then halfway through decided to up and change the whole genre without caring to go back and add some details to connect the dots. It was like everyone was normal then all a sudden, all these people had some type of ability that wasn't elaborated on. Just hints here and there that Michael *liked* fire or that John *liked* water (they could manipulate these elements). And then, Quin walks through a gun fight without getting hit?! Or how he survived getting hit by a grenade?! Seriously?! With no explanation how that was possible? On top of that, nothing is resolved in the end. The bad guys who were supposed to be dead? Just vanished and are apparently still alive. Even though Michael saw both of them die. So many loose ends that just made me even more annoyed than I already was. Added to the fact that I felt like John was an extremely weak person and didn't even make Michael grovel! Come on! I did like Quin but I seriously disliked John and Michael.
With that said, Harper Fox seems to love to bring in a guy's ex and shake things up. Personally hating that type of conflict, I think this will be my last story by her. I might have enjoyed the book a bit more if the ex hadn't been so thoroughly thrust (literally!) into
November 25, 2017
Harper Fox writes, in my opinion, beautiful prose. I suspect she could make the driest subject compelling by her deft use of language. So from a purely technical point of view Last Line is a pleasure: beautifully descriptive and evocative. As in her other books, her characters are engaging an compelling; the plot full of action and swift-flowing. There are few moments to catch one's breath; both style and plot move at a breathtaking pace. Only at the last chapter does the reader get a chance to catch a breath.
But Last Line is different. It's mood is dark and dangerous, the stakes high, and at times it's acutely disturbing. We see the activity of the novel through a perspective that shifts between the main characters, Michael and John. Neither man is ordinary (indeed, Michael is the victim of torture and profound psychological abuse) so their perceptions (and therefore ours) are often surreal. Other characters aren't what they seem; events might not mean what one would think. Even reality becomes almost fantastic. What's more, we're not - completely - able to dismiss the surreal by attributing it to hallucination.
So while it's not entirely fantasy, Last Line isn't entirely happening in the mundane world. Straddling this line is hard to do without straining my credulity, but here, I buy it. Perhaps it's because I became sufficiently invested in the characters and in the themes Fox works with. Perhaps it's because the magical bending of reality isn't gratuitous. It's equally possible that the characters through whom we see this are as skeptical as we would be; as they have no choice but to accept an alternative reality, so are we.
At the end of the book, what it all means is a little hard to say. This is the first part of a trilogy, so it's appropriate that the books puzzles aren't wholly solved. Even so, the thoughtful reader will find much to ponder at the finish. I very much doubt I will be the only reader eagerly awaiting the next instalment of Michael and John's adventure.
But Last Line is different. It's mood is dark and dangerous, the stakes high, and at times it's acutely disturbing. We see the activity of the novel through a perspective that shifts between the main characters, Michael and John. Neither man is ordinary (indeed, Michael is the victim of torture and profound psychological abuse) so their perceptions (and therefore ours) are often surreal. Other characters aren't what they seem; events might not mean what one would think. Even reality becomes almost fantastic. What's more, we're not - completely - able to dismiss the surreal by attributing it to hallucination.
So while it's not entirely fantasy, Last Line isn't entirely happening in the mundane world. Straddling this line is hard to do without straining my credulity, but here, I buy it. Perhaps it's because I became sufficiently invested in the characters and in the themes Fox works with. Perhaps it's because the magical bending of reality isn't gratuitous. It's equally possible that the characters through whom we see this are as skeptical as we would be; as they have no choice but to accept an alternative reality, so are we.
At the end of the book, what it all means is a little hard to say. This is the first part of a trilogy, so it's appropriate that the books puzzles aren't wholly solved. Even so, the thoughtful reader will find much to ponder at the finish. I very much doubt I will be the only reader eagerly awaiting the next instalment of Michael and John's adventure.
September 5, 2011
4.5
This was one of those sitting on the edge of your seats, biting your nails waiting for the next thing to happen type of book. I also think I read most of it holding my breath because of the pain and trauma coming from Mike (who I love). This is a hard book, it is difficult to see someone else's will taken from them and feel helpless. Fox does an amazing job once again by keeping a strong plot and building such a beautiful love story that has you hoping with all your might for a HEA. I love Mike, John, and Quin. And yes, evil has a name Anzhel (shudder). I can't wait to get some answers in the next in the series. Definately recommend!
This was one of those sitting on the edge of your seats, biting your nails waiting for the next thing to happen type of book. I also think I read most of it holding my breath because of the pain and trauma coming from Mike (who I love). This is a hard book, it is difficult to see someone else's will taken from them and feel helpless. Fox does an amazing job once again by keeping a strong plot and building such a beautiful love story that has you hoping with all your might for a HEA. I love Mike, John, and Quin. And yes, evil has a name Anzhel (shudder). I can't wait to get some answers in the next in the series. Definately recommend!
November 10, 2012
Wow. This book is fierce! Not by any means an easy read, but oh, so gratifying. The story is extremely emotive and thought provoking — very capturing with troubled, strong, mysterious, compelling characters.
I always enjoy hugely reading a Harper Fox book and this one wasn't an exception. Yet it had some elements in it that I wasn't expecting at all and that made me enjoy the reading experience even more. :)
To say it shortly: I'm hungry for more Michael, John, Quin and Anzhel!
I always enjoy hugely reading a Harper Fox book and this one wasn't an exception. Yet it had some elements in it that I wasn't expecting at all and that made me enjoy the reading experience even more. :)
To say it shortly: I'm hungry for more Michael, John, Quin and Anzhel!
March 5, 2017
So the first question I have is where do I start my review? Hhhmm……… eerrm……….aahhh…….. WOW! I must admit to being completely surprised by this book but in a good way. This book has been on my list waiting to be read for like ever! But time is always the enemy so when I got the chance to listen to the recently released audiobook version then I jumped at it. Harper Fox, you little minx (lol!) you definitely threw me a complete curve ball with this book. I usually don’t do dark, twisted and violent, the wimp that I am. I normally don’t go down those avenues but this book was seriously one hell of a ride for sure.
First up I would say this book in places, well quite a few places really, is not for the squeamish or faint of heart among us. If fluffy kittens, puppies and unicorns are more your thing then this book could be a little upsetting. But any book that can have an effect on me while reading is a winner. This one definitely had me wincing and cringing at times for sure.
Michael is working for Last Line, a secret counterterrorism agency in London, after leaving MI5 due to a mission that quite didn't go according to plan. Obviously anyone who works in this kind of environment has to be a couple of sandwiches short of a picnic anyway. Michael is dark and brooding with more secrets than any one person could ever carry, his mind still has blanks and can’t remember exactly everything that happened to him while working with MI5. His partner John is a little younger, completely fearless, if not a little fool hardy, and as a team they complement each other wonderfully. See, that’s what I like about Harper’s stories. Her characters are deliciously complex, sometimes totally opposite but also complimentary at the same time. John has fancied Michael since the beginning but because they are used to covering up their emotions, almost emotionally stunted, then it takes a particular event to bring these two together. John is used to just having one night stands and trysts but never a relationship. He has always held a flame for Michael even though he didn’t always recognise it himself. But after one particular encounter and set of circumstances whilst on call then all bets are off and the pair of them end up in the sack in a frenzy.
Well, when I mean the sack I think it was the kitchen table, but OMG!!!!!! Harper gives her boys in this book a right good trouncing, emotionally and physically. The sex scenes were….. aahhh …. in places like …… OMG this is really hot – phew! ……then …… OMG this is so seriously sick and twisted ……. then …….. eeewww …….. this can’t be normal, surely? Can it? …………. Harper took me to the deepest depths and darkest corners of sexual depravity, pushing my boundaries all the way. Yes, listening to this in my car was a whole new experience. One particular scene had me cringing and wincing with revulsion, where all I wanted to do was close my eyes, think of unicorns and pretty flowers myself. The problem being, no chance of that while sat behind the wheel of my car, I would have shot straight off the Autobahn. So, any book that can cause a reaction in me is good! Whether it’s crying happy tears, sobbing with sadness, feeling angry with frustration or wanting to hide behind the sofa cushions with fear or disgust, it’s ALL good for me. That’s why I read.
So coming back to my, “That can’t be normal?” question. Thank goodness Harper does provide a reason for Michael’s sexual preferences by the end of the book. If she had left me thinking that this was totally normal I would never have ventured into the shower alone ever again! This is also John’s dilemma, he has a strong attraction and love for Michael. You can see how great they could be together and although he tries to be as understanding and patient as possible with Michael, what Michael needs and craves in bed is a little too sick and twisted for John to feel totally happy with. This provides for a whole new kind of sexual tension that until now I have never experienced from Harper.
Michael and John get put on a case that is connected to Michael’s previous job with MI5. Michael has to break through the psychological demons that are holding him prisoner and not letting him move forward. He has to break these fetters and this can only be done by him alone, either solving the case or bumping off the bad guys. Once again the bad guys here are also not your usual cookie-cutter bad guys. They are also complex, dark, raw and gritty in the best James Bond style story. The thriller side of the story is well done, it’s not one of constant and fast car chases, explosions, shoot outs and action. That’s all there and is heart pounding when it happens, but there is the paranormal / psycho side of what Michael went through and whether or not he’ll fall victim to this or can break it. Also how the relationship between Michael and John develops and will they ever reach a point in their lives and careers, present job excluded, as to whether they might be able to lead a life together as a couple.
After all is said and done, I enjoyed this book from beginning to end. It made me wince, it made my heart pound with action, it creeped me out at times, all signs of a great book. I can highly recommend this book to anyone who likes action / thrillers whilst taking a walk on the dark side of the human psyche.
Narration
David Thorpe is a new to me British narrator and all I can say is WOW! WOW, WOW, WOW! British narrators can be a little hit and miss for me but David’s narration hit the bull’s-eye for me. All characters were suitably voiced, the Russian terrorists with their accent, dark and brooding. John’s slight Liverpool accent giving him a lighter more human quality and Michael the tough alpha male. All consistent and all well done. The voice characterisations are one thing but the narrative was also brilliant brining the book to life, and believe me with some of the sex scenes this book is now easy ride. So David with one book goes on my list of favourite narrators without a second thought and will be looking forward to what he does with book two.
First up I would say this book in places, well quite a few places really, is not for the squeamish or faint of heart among us. If fluffy kittens, puppies and unicorns are more your thing then this book could be a little upsetting. But any book that can have an effect on me while reading is a winner. This one definitely had me wincing and cringing at times for sure.
Michael is working for Last Line, a secret counterterrorism agency in London, after leaving MI5 due to a mission that quite didn't go according to plan. Obviously anyone who works in this kind of environment has to be a couple of sandwiches short of a picnic anyway. Michael is dark and brooding with more secrets than any one person could ever carry, his mind still has blanks and can’t remember exactly everything that happened to him while working with MI5. His partner John is a little younger, completely fearless, if not a little fool hardy, and as a team they complement each other wonderfully. See, that’s what I like about Harper’s stories. Her characters are deliciously complex, sometimes totally opposite but also complimentary at the same time. John has fancied Michael since the beginning but because they are used to covering up their emotions, almost emotionally stunted, then it takes a particular event to bring these two together. John is used to just having one night stands and trysts but never a relationship. He has always held a flame for Michael even though he didn’t always recognise it himself. But after one particular encounter and set of circumstances whilst on call then all bets are off and the pair of them end up in the sack in a frenzy.
Well, when I mean the sack I think it was the kitchen table, but OMG!!!!!! Harper gives her boys in this book a right good trouncing, emotionally and physically. The sex scenes were….. aahhh …. in places like …… OMG this is really hot – phew! ……then …… OMG this is so seriously sick and twisted ……. then …….. eeewww …….. this can’t be normal, surely? Can it? …………. Harper took me to the deepest depths and darkest corners of sexual depravity, pushing my boundaries all the way. Yes, listening to this in my car was a whole new experience. One particular scene had me cringing and wincing with revulsion, where all I wanted to do was close my eyes, think of unicorns and pretty flowers myself. The problem being, no chance of that while sat behind the wheel of my car, I would have shot straight off the Autobahn. So, any book that can cause a reaction in me is good! Whether it’s crying happy tears, sobbing with sadness, feeling angry with frustration or wanting to hide behind the sofa cushions with fear or disgust, it’s ALL good for me. That’s why I read.
So coming back to my, “That can’t be normal?” question. Thank goodness Harper does provide a reason for Michael’s sexual preferences by the end of the book. If she had left me thinking that this was totally normal I would never have ventured into the shower alone ever again! This is also John’s dilemma, he has a strong attraction and love for Michael. You can see how great they could be together and although he tries to be as understanding and patient as possible with Michael, what Michael needs and craves in bed is a little too sick and twisted for John to feel totally happy with. This provides for a whole new kind of sexual tension that until now I have never experienced from Harper.
Michael and John get put on a case that is connected to Michael’s previous job with MI5. Michael has to break through the psychological demons that are holding him prisoner and not letting him move forward. He has to break these fetters and this can only be done by him alone, either solving the case or bumping off the bad guys. Once again the bad guys here are also not your usual cookie-cutter bad guys. They are also complex, dark, raw and gritty in the best James Bond style story. The thriller side of the story is well done, it’s not one of constant and fast car chases, explosions, shoot outs and action. That’s all there and is heart pounding when it happens, but there is the paranormal / psycho side of what Michael went through and whether or not he’ll fall victim to this or can break it. Also how the relationship between Michael and John develops and will they ever reach a point in their lives and careers, present job excluded, as to whether they might be able to lead a life together as a couple.
After all is said and done, I enjoyed this book from beginning to end. It made me wince, it made my heart pound with action, it creeped me out at times, all signs of a great book. I can highly recommend this book to anyone who likes action / thrillers whilst taking a walk on the dark side of the human psyche.
Narration
David Thorpe is a new to me British narrator and all I can say is WOW! WOW, WOW, WOW! British narrators can be a little hit and miss for me but David’s narration hit the bull’s-eye for me. All characters were suitably voiced, the Russian terrorists with their accent, dark and brooding. John’s slight Liverpool accent giving him a lighter more human quality and Michael the tough alpha male. All consistent and all well done. The voice characterisations are one thing but the narrative was also brilliant brining the book to life, and believe me with some of the sex scenes this book is now easy ride. So David with one book goes on my list of favourite narrators without a second thought and will be looking forward to what he does with book two.
August 2, 2011
Well what just happened here??? The most important thing to probably know about this book is that it's reportedly part of a trilogy/series. Loose ends are not neatly tied up at the end & there is an underlying paranormal thread that is not fully explained in this first book.
Secondly is don't come here if you're looking for kisses & cuddles. This is a fast paced, unrelentingly tense (take that breath during the swimming scene--you'll need it for the rest of the story) suspenseful & harsh thriller about a very damaged man, Michael & his work partner John who both work for a hush hush counterterrorist organization. The novel zips along drifting from Michael to John's point of view, neither of which we're entirely sure is seeing things accurately. It is at the point where Michael & John attempt a more personal connection that Anzhel returns & things start going a little crazy in the story. You'll have to read it to find out as I'm avoiding spoilers here.
I wasn't sure how to really rate this as, on a technical level, this is better writing than most in this genre. I connected with the characters of Michael & John & really, really wanted things to work out for them. On the other hand, Harper Fox is hard on her characters here & I'm not sure I'd say I actually enjoyed that aspect of it. But I'm sure I'll be getting the sequel when it comes out.
Secondly is don't come here if you're looking for kisses & cuddles. This is a fast paced, unrelentingly tense (take that breath during the swimming scene--you'll need it for the rest of the story) suspenseful & harsh thriller about a very damaged man, Michael & his work partner John who both work for a hush hush counterterrorist organization. The novel zips along drifting from Michael to John's point of view, neither of which we're entirely sure is seeing things accurately. It is at the point where Michael & John attempt a more personal connection that Anzhel returns & things start going a little crazy in the story. You'll have to read it to find out as I'm avoiding spoilers here.
I wasn't sure how to really rate this as, on a technical level, this is better writing than most in this genre. I connected with the characters of Michael & John & really, really wanted things to work out for them. On the other hand, Harper Fox is hard on her characters here & I'm not sure I'd say I actually enjoyed that aspect of it. But I'm sure I'll be getting the sequel when it comes out.
May 7, 2020
I think maybe the problem is the way the author clearly laid out the torture and brainwashing in the first chapter of the book, as well as in the blurb. I think maybe without that, then Michael's strange behavior could have been interesting and could have built suspense rather than just building frustration at how stupid they were all being. Then again, maybe not. All I know is I found the whole thing to be incredibly frustrating and all the characters to be pretty frickin' stupid.
Plus, a whole lot of the book made me pretty uncomfortable. I like dark reads, but there was just something off here, that just made me squicked out rather than engrossed or titillated.
And then, as the cherry on the top, there were way too many threads left dangling at the end.
I started this on audio, and was quite enjoying the narration, but around 50% there was too much confusion about who was speaking. Thinking maybe that was why I wasn't enjoying the story, I gave up on the audiobook and switched to the ebook. It didn't help, but it certainly allowed me to get this one out of the way faster.
Which just isn't the kind of feeling you hope to have when reading a book.
Plus, a whole lot of the book made me pretty uncomfortable. I like dark reads, but there was just something off here, that just made me squicked out rather than engrossed or titillated.
And then, as the cherry on the top, there were way too many threads left dangling at the end.
I started this on audio, and was quite enjoying the narration, but around 50% there was too much confusion about who was speaking. Thinking maybe that was why I wasn't enjoying the story, I gave up on the audiobook and switched to the ebook. It didn't help, but it certainly allowed me to get this one out of the way faster.
Which just isn't the kind of feeling you hope to have when reading a book.
May 20, 2014
This was a fast-paced, nail-biting thriller...or at least the second half was. I found the first part a little slow but once Anzhel came back that all changed. I also never really felt the chemistry between John and Michael. Their relationship developed before the book started and since Michael spent almost the whole book being controlled by someone else, I never got a sense of who he really was and why John was in love with him. If there's a sequel, then this is a really good start. If there's not, then all the unanswered questions will haunt me for the rest of my life.
August 19, 2015
Hardly any sex scenes and a paranormal undertone ... but boy, did I love this book. The plot was great, there's lots of angst and the best part were the two MCs. I just fell in love with both of them right away. Can't wait to read book 2.
December 31, 2012
I really wanted to like this book. By all accounts, Harper Fox is a lovely person. I'm always desperate for a new, good m/m writer to read and a number of my friends have rated her books highly, either verbally or here on Goodreads. Hell, that was the main reason I picked up this particular book; a four-star rating by a friend who has similar taste to mine. But after slogging through the entire book, the only reason this doesn't get a one-star rating is because Fox's prose is good enough that I tacked on another star.
I feel like I have a lot to say about this book and not a lot of it is good. So, this may not be as coherent or organized as I'd like, but I'm going to try and go through all the different issues I had.
First of all, I don't think I can be convinced that this is not a piece of The Professionals fanfiction that Fox pulled out and converted to original fiction. I'm not a Pros fan, nor have I read any Pros fanfic that I can recollect, but it has that 70's BBC crime show feel to it, despite being ostensibly set in the modern day, and the depiction of spies/espionage/terrorism throughout feels more like the fanciful poetic license of television than something real and/or well-researched.
As well, it has a lot of what I think of as the "old-school" feel and tropes of slash fanfiction from that era, up to and including a greater level of violence as foreplay to (or during) sex, a disturbing amount of dubious consent, non-consensual or outright rape that is not, or is only inadequately addressed in the text (but is quickly swept aside by true love), emotional damage (to put it mildly) being completely healed by the lovin' of a good man (with or without optional magic cock), and an excessively salacious amount of sexual/emotional torture also known in hurt/comfort circles as "whumpage".
To be fair, some of this I don't really mind—or I mind less—in fanfic. Fanfic is free, it's a creative outburst, often straight from the id, and thus, I don't have the same expectations from a fanfic writer that I do from a writer that I've actually paid money for their story…and who has, in return, been paid money for producing that story. At that point, yes, I am expecting something more professional and put-together, though that expectation is not always met.
The deceptive thing about Last Line, I think, is that it starts out in a rather eye-rolly, but perfectly readable fashion, but then steadily devolves, the further it goes along into a convoluted but plot-less mess and a romance that I could not make myself buy into or even want to buy into.
Here begin spoilers. The book opens ordinarily enough; Michael and John are partners in a fictional, super-secret spy organization (nicknamed Last Line). Michael and John are platonically in love, at this point, but only because Michael is too damaged to believe that he can be with anyone. This is sort of implicated to be tied to Michael's capture and (sexual) torture in Russia three years ago, but there are other moments and hints in the later plot that would seem to indicate to me that tragically shitty self-esteem is an endemic character trait (and one I, personally, don't find all that interesting or attractive).
The details, characters and incompletely hidden damage from Michael's time in Russia start to come out (rather slowly) into the light and Michael decompensates. It becomes clearer that he's been brainwashed (really, this is pretty damn obvious from the prologue, and would have been more interesting and tension causing if Fox had left out the prologue because you really (I, really) spent most of the book already knowing what's going on and waiting for everyone else to tumble to the fact that Michael was brainwashed and it takes them an excruciatingly long time to do so, despite oodles of evidence that something is really, very wrong, even if 'brainwashing' wasn't your first mental stop).
The pacing on all of this is weird and not great. We're introduced to the first 'ghost' from Michael's past...and then Michael and John go on vacation for several days and are dealing with relationshippy type stuff and fallout from their first, mixed bag sexual encounter. They're called back to London because new details have developed in the case (intel that the villain is in London) but then that gets bogged down in the weird, rapey, predatory relationship between Michael and one of his previous torturers who has (theoretically) changed sides (and John's inevitable jealousy). Again, this would've had a lot more interest and tension if we didn't already know that Anzhel, the Russian in question, was a villain and Michael's main rapist and torturer from the prologue. Then we finally get to the main "mastermind" villain, Oriel, but he's dispensed with pretty easily (and his entire plotline turns out to be a rather nonsensical red herring) and then we go through a close to a hundred ebook pages of Michael (and John's brother) tragically bleeding and trying to resist his programming while John rushes in to save Michael (and his poor brother, who is a complete afterthought throughout the entire book).
The characterization is similarly…odd. Though I don't necessarily expect the hard-boiled, stoic action heroes that so characterize American thrillers of this type, and though they have some memorable moments of acting in an adult fashion, both Michael and John are highly emotional (like High Drama, weeping at the beauty of the world emotional), and frequently act without logic or intelligence. They seem less capable and less resourceful than I would expect from men of their backgrounds, less certain of their own capabilities, more squeamish. Just as a personal thing, John doesn't endear himself to me with his complete unwillingness to take responsibility for (or to even think about) his own brother, and only living relative. Again, valid choice, realistic characterization…but something that personally, pings me wrong, and made it hard to like him. But it was often hard to like John, period for the way he would handwave every warning sign (oh, like when Michael tries to rape him) and potentially dangerous, certainly alarming bit of behavior on Michael's part in return for mooning about how much he loves Michael and just wants to love him to wholeness.
The point in time that Michael is trying to rape John was the moment I knew I could not and did not want these characters to get together, because Michael is just too damaged and fucked up to be in a relationship with anyone. I was really hopeful when Fox acknowledged this point at the end of the chapter (through John saying almost those exact words) but she undercuts it in the very next chapter when John hand-waves it away as no big deal and goes back to obsessing about how very much he loves Michael. Though the middle of the book has Michael being repeatedly raped (again) by the villain Anzhel, the characters and the book treat this as no different than Michael having a kind of sketchy boyfriend, and when, at the end, Michael breaks free (seemingly permanently) from his programming and the damage that's been done to him simply from John (finally, verbally) confessing his love for Michael, there seem to be no lasting after-effects and John and Michael's sexual shenanigans (almost immediately therafter) are completely passionate, unreserved and without anything but a normal shyness about getting it "right" for each other. This, too, goes in to the whole fanfic feel of Magic Healing Cock.
I haven't even talked about "the magic" yet. In the beginning of the book, we have the inexplicable incident of John falling from a distance that should have been lethal, but coming out of it with no more than some bruising. It's definitely weird, but it's glossed past quickly and no explanation of this moment is ever made. We are, iirc, past the halfway mark of the book, when Fox then introduces a previously unmentioned psychic bond between John and Michael (at least part of the source of their uncanny synchronicity as partners) and a similar bond with Michael and Anzhel. Toward the end, Fox then adds in that Michael has powers of pyromania, also completely un-foreshadowed until that moment. There's also the suggestion (which seems retconned from even the beginning of the story) that Anzhel's hold over Michael was, in part, supernatural. And then, in the final pages, we're introduced to the idea that John may have some hidden abilities of his own, and that Quin, John's brother, is The Most Special Boy of all.
I probably could have accepted any one or all of these things if they'd been introduced in a more organic manner, but each incident seems to come out of nowhere, pasted on, more as a god of the machine to cover already incredibly thin plotting rather than a sweeping and thought out plan. The late introduction of these mystical (and completely unexplained) elements also feels like a bit of a bait-and-switch, changing genres on you midstream and giving you a story that is distinctly not the story you thought you were reading.
I was well into the story when I decided to go onto Goodreads and see what some other people had said about the book, so I was spoiled for the fact that there were going to be supernatural elements, but even forewarned, they seem randomly pasted in and incompletely explained, even if Fox does (as the readers on Goodreads suggest) plan to make this a first novel of a duo or trilogy.
For me, the tragedy of this book is that it should have been right up my alley of interests, but through a combination of some bad writing, and hitting a fair number of my "do not want" or "do not like" squicks, it turned into from something I was enjoying with reservations to an agonizing, grudging slog to get to the end…only to get no real answers and no real solutions to the character's problems. Obviously, not all of that is Fox's fault, and I have to admit that, even with my deep, bitter disappointment with how this book turned out and everything I didn't like, there's enough of a spark of something that I'm tempted to pick up the sequel, just to see where she takes it all, what all the answers are (and maybe how train-wrecky this can get).
I feel like I have a lot to say about this book and not a lot of it is good. So, this may not be as coherent or organized as I'd like, but I'm going to try and go through all the different issues I had.
First of all, I don't think I can be convinced that this is not a piece of The Professionals fanfiction that Fox pulled out and converted to original fiction. I'm not a Pros fan, nor have I read any Pros fanfic that I can recollect, but it has that 70's BBC crime show feel to it, despite being ostensibly set in the modern day, and the depiction of spies/espionage/terrorism throughout feels more like the fanciful poetic license of television than something real and/or well-researched.
As well, it has a lot of what I think of as the "old-school" feel and tropes of slash fanfiction from that era, up to and including a greater level of violence as foreplay to (or during) sex, a disturbing amount of dubious consent, non-consensual or outright rape that is not, or is only inadequately addressed in the text (but is quickly swept aside by true love), emotional damage (to put it mildly) being completely healed by the lovin' of a good man (with or without optional magic cock), and an excessively salacious amount of sexual/emotional torture also known in hurt/comfort circles as "whumpage".
To be fair, some of this I don't really mind—or I mind less—in fanfic. Fanfic is free, it's a creative outburst, often straight from the id, and thus, I don't have the same expectations from a fanfic writer that I do from a writer that I've actually paid money for their story…and who has, in return, been paid money for producing that story. At that point, yes, I am expecting something more professional and put-together, though that expectation is not always met.
The deceptive thing about Last Line, I think, is that it starts out in a rather eye-rolly, but perfectly readable fashion, but then steadily devolves, the further it goes along into a convoluted but plot-less mess and a romance that I could not make myself buy into or even want to buy into.
Here begin spoilers. The book opens ordinarily enough; Michael and John are partners in a fictional, super-secret spy organization (nicknamed Last Line). Michael and John are platonically in love, at this point, but only because Michael is too damaged to believe that he can be with anyone. This is sort of implicated to be tied to Michael's capture and (sexual) torture in Russia three years ago, but there are other moments and hints in the later plot that would seem to indicate to me that tragically shitty self-esteem is an endemic character trait (and one I, personally, don't find all that interesting or attractive).
The details, characters and incompletely hidden damage from Michael's time in Russia start to come out (rather slowly) into the light and Michael decompensates. It becomes clearer that he's been brainwashed (really, this is pretty damn obvious from the prologue, and would have been more interesting and tension causing if Fox had left out the prologue because you really (I, really) spent most of the book already knowing what's going on and waiting for everyone else to tumble to the fact that Michael was brainwashed and it takes them an excruciatingly long time to do so, despite oodles of evidence that something is really, very wrong, even if 'brainwashing' wasn't your first mental stop).
The pacing on all of this is weird and not great. We're introduced to the first 'ghost' from Michael's past...and then Michael and John go on vacation for several days and are dealing with relationshippy type stuff and fallout from their first, mixed bag sexual encounter. They're called back to London because new details have developed in the case (intel that the villain is in London) but then that gets bogged down in the weird, rapey, predatory relationship between Michael and one of his previous torturers who has (theoretically) changed sides (and John's inevitable jealousy). Again, this would've had a lot more interest and tension if we didn't already know that Anzhel, the Russian in question, was a villain and Michael's main rapist and torturer from the prologue. Then we finally get to the main "mastermind" villain, Oriel, but he's dispensed with pretty easily (and his entire plotline turns out to be a rather nonsensical red herring) and then we go through a close to a hundred ebook pages of Michael (and John's brother) tragically bleeding and trying to resist his programming while John rushes in to save Michael (and his poor brother, who is a complete afterthought throughout the entire book).
The characterization is similarly…odd. Though I don't necessarily expect the hard-boiled, stoic action heroes that so characterize American thrillers of this type, and though they have some memorable moments of acting in an adult fashion, both Michael and John are highly emotional (like High Drama, weeping at the beauty of the world emotional), and frequently act without logic or intelligence. They seem less capable and less resourceful than I would expect from men of their backgrounds, less certain of their own capabilities, more squeamish. Just as a personal thing, John doesn't endear himself to me with his complete unwillingness to take responsibility for (or to even think about) his own brother, and only living relative. Again, valid choice, realistic characterization…but something that personally, pings me wrong, and made it hard to like him. But it was often hard to like John, period for the way he would handwave every warning sign (oh, like when Michael tries to rape him) and potentially dangerous, certainly alarming bit of behavior on Michael's part in return for mooning about how much he loves Michael and just wants to love him to wholeness.
The point in time that Michael is trying to rape John was the moment I knew I could not and did not want these characters to get together, because Michael is just too damaged and fucked up to be in a relationship with anyone. I was really hopeful when Fox acknowledged this point at the end of the chapter (through John saying almost those exact words) but she undercuts it in the very next chapter when John hand-waves it away as no big deal and goes back to obsessing about how very much he loves Michael. Though the middle of the book has Michael being repeatedly raped (again) by the villain Anzhel, the characters and the book treat this as no different than Michael having a kind of sketchy boyfriend, and when, at the end, Michael breaks free (seemingly permanently) from his programming and the damage that's been done to him simply from John (finally, verbally) confessing his love for Michael, there seem to be no lasting after-effects and John and Michael's sexual shenanigans (almost immediately therafter) are completely passionate, unreserved and without anything but a normal shyness about getting it "right" for each other. This, too, goes in to the whole fanfic feel of Magic Healing Cock.
I haven't even talked about "the magic" yet. In the beginning of the book, we have the inexplicable incident of John falling from a distance that should have been lethal, but coming out of it with no more than some bruising. It's definitely weird, but it's glossed past quickly and no explanation of this moment is ever made. We are, iirc, past the halfway mark of the book, when Fox then introduces a previously unmentioned psychic bond between John and Michael (at least part of the source of their uncanny synchronicity as partners) and a similar bond with Michael and Anzhel. Toward the end, Fox then adds in that Michael has powers of pyromania, also completely un-foreshadowed until that moment. There's also the suggestion (which seems retconned from even the beginning of the story) that Anzhel's hold over Michael was, in part, supernatural. And then, in the final pages, we're introduced to the idea that John may have some hidden abilities of his own, and that Quin, John's brother, is The Most Special Boy of all.
I probably could have accepted any one or all of these things if they'd been introduced in a more organic manner, but each incident seems to come out of nowhere, pasted on, more as a god of the machine to cover already incredibly thin plotting rather than a sweeping and thought out plan. The late introduction of these mystical (and completely unexplained) elements also feels like a bit of a bait-and-switch, changing genres on you midstream and giving you a story that is distinctly not the story you thought you were reading.
I was well into the story when I decided to go onto Goodreads and see what some other people had said about the book, so I was spoiled for the fact that there were going to be supernatural elements, but even forewarned, they seem randomly pasted in and incompletely explained, even if Fox does (as the readers on Goodreads suggest) plan to make this a first novel of a duo or trilogy.
For me, the tragedy of this book is that it should have been right up my alley of interests, but through a combination of some bad writing, and hitting a fair number of my "do not want" or "do not like" squicks, it turned into from something I was enjoying with reservations to an agonizing, grudging slog to get to the end…only to get no real answers and no real solutions to the character's problems. Obviously, not all of that is Fox's fault, and I have to admit that, even with my deep, bitter disappointment with how this book turned out and everything I didn't like, there's enough of a spark of something that I'm tempted to pick up the sequel, just to see where she takes it all, what all the answers are (and maybe how train-wrecky this can get).
October 16, 2017
Wow!! Raw, gritty, complex and quite violent [please take note of my bookshelves]. Not exactly what I've come to expect from Harper Fox but she obviously firmly believes in pushing her own boundaries, which to my mind is the sign of an author confident in her ability to spin a superb yarn...and I'm slowly working my way through her back catalogue. 4.25 stars from me.
Some parts of this story reminded me of one of my most favourite BBC series ever - Spooks, which to me always seemed to have realistic plots..not fantastical ones like *coughs* say...James Bond, and let's not forget Rupert Penry-Jones 😍.
John never lost faith in Michael even when things were at their bleakest, and I cannot wait [in fact I'm not, book 2 is already primed on the kindle 😉] to discover.......hopefully, all of these questions and more will be answered in Ring Around the Sun.
Some parts of this story reminded me of one of my most favourite BBC series ever - Spooks, which to me always seemed to have realistic plots..not fantastical ones like *coughs* say...James Bond, and let's not forget Rupert Penry-Jones 😍.
John never lost faith in Michael even when things were at their bleakest, and I cannot wait [in fact I'm not, book 2 is already primed on the kindle 😉] to discover.......hopefully, all of these questions and more will be answered in Ring Around the Sun.
March 5, 2021
Writing a book about a country/location/language/name you are not familiar with? ASK. A. NATIVE.
Here is "Ask An Expert" link: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group... . There is a "Regional Experts" thread. Please, use it.
OK, so where are all the bad Russians Harper Fox keeps telling us about? Because Lucas Oriel is NOT a Russian name. Neither is Mikhaili nor Anzhel nor Mattvei (in that particular spelling) nor Zemelya, for that matter. Three quarters of Russian is misspelled almost beyond recognition. So, I am asking the author again - where are the Russians?
And what nationality are these people pretending to be Russian?
Full star off for that.
The story set my teeth on edge from the beginning, unfolding painfully slow. Constant cautious dancing around poor Micheal made my head ache even worse than Michael's own at the end of the book.
I couldn't figure out why the author insisted on coming up with paranormal elements. Simple brainwashing could have worked much better, in my opinion. However they might explain a Swiss army knife and a small gun that suddenly and very conveniently appeared in Michael's possession after pretend-to-be-Russian-mafiosi thoroughly patted John and Michael for weapons.
the final rating is 2 stars.
Here is "Ask An Expert" link: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group... . There is a "Regional Experts" thread. Please, use it.
OK, so where are all the bad Russians Harper Fox keeps telling us about? Because Lucas Oriel is NOT a Russian name. Neither is Mikhaili nor Anzhel nor Mattvei (in that particular spelling) nor Zemelya, for that matter. Three quarters of Russian is misspelled almost beyond recognition. So, I am asking the author again - where are the Russians?
And what nationality are these people pretending to be Russian?
Full star off for that.
The story set my teeth on edge from the beginning, unfolding painfully slow. Constant cautious dancing around poor Micheal made my head ache even worse than Michael's own at the end of the book.
I couldn't figure out why the author insisted on coming up with paranormal elements. Simple brainwashing could have worked much better, in my opinion. However they might explain a Swiss army knife and a small gun that suddenly and very conveniently appeared in Michael's possession after pretend-to-be-Russian-mafiosi thoroughly patted John and Michael for weapons.
the final rating is 2 stars.
July 24, 2015
Busy time of year for me so little opportunity to sit down with a good book, hence it's taken me a week to read Harper Fox's "Last Line" recently re-released via self publishing Fox Tales.
I'm actually rather pleased it took me a week to read, I really didn't want the story to end and can only hope Ms Fox considers writing a follow up to this tale of intrigue, adventure and romance.
The plot is dark, the sex is aggressive and at times brutal, the protagonists, especially Michael are complex and intense, yet there is so much genuine love woven through this plot of Spooks, killers and blackness. Not everything is explained by the last chapter, Michael's Mother, his love of fire, why Quin is important to the bad guys....perhaps there will be a sequel. I sincerely hope so.
A most definite 5 star story.
I'm actually rather pleased it took me a week to read, I really didn't want the story to end and can only hope Ms Fox considers writing a follow up to this tale of intrigue, adventure and romance.
The plot is dark, the sex is aggressive and at times brutal, the protagonists, especially Michael are complex and intense, yet there is so much genuine love woven through this plot of Spooks, killers and blackness. Not everything is explained by the last chapter, Michael's Mother, his love of fire, why Quin is important to the bad guys....perhaps there will be a sequel. I sincerely hope so.
A most definite 5 star story.
November 3, 2011
4.5 stars
This one had me biting my nails and the ending was a bit unexpected since the it has some paranormal elements. If you want a mystery this is your book. Sometimes I thought Mike to damaged and the controling and programming made me shudder. Also I don't know how they could have forgiven Anzhel. I hated him and for me he had no redeeming qualities.
This one had me biting my nails and the ending was a bit unexpected since the it has some paranormal elements. If you want a mystery this is your book. Sometimes I thought Mike to damaged and the controling and programming made me shudder. Also I don't know how they could have forgiven Anzhel. I hated him and for me he had no redeeming qualities.
August 7, 2011
This was an emotional rollercoaster, gripping and not letting go till the end. It's nothing for the faint-hearted and still so touching. I'm still reeling from the emotional impact, all the action and puzzling over all those hints and mythological references (which I still do).
And I guess now it's waiting for the next part. No way this ending was the end of it.
And I guess now it's waiting for the next part. No way this ending was the end of it.
January 21, 2013
Dark themed story that took me a while to get in to. Not because of the dark but because it was all a little bit more than a little confusing at first. I liked the characters - and the plot though, like others, not sure why there is a paranormal feel to it. It would have been fine without it. Overall a good read - my first from this author.
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