The Last Colossus

by Michael Hodges

Rugged adventure guide and "player" Ron Combs leads a group of thrill-seekers to an island off Washington's coast. But when devastating lava flows destroy their boat and overtake the island, Ron and his clients are forced one-by-one into the sea, where a gigantic prehistoric predator awaits.

Trapped between the lava-covered island and the huge jaws of an ancient shark, Ron teams up with his client Rachel to devise a way to keep everyone safe…even if it means sacrificing himself in the process, and finally changing his ways.

Genres: Horror, Fiction

186 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 28, 2017

About the author

Michael Hodges is an American speculative fiction writer. His debut novel, The Puller, was released on April 24, 2015. Film rights for The Puller were purchased by Sonny Mallhi, producer of the film classic "The Strangers". The Puller was acquired by award winning publisher PYR in 2021. Tentative release date is November 2021. Michael's latest release is a short story collection called "The Gloaming". Michael's short stories have been published in over twenty magazines and anthologies, and he's a member of the Horror Writers Association and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

He's also taught writing with Game of Thrones editor Anne Groell. His novel, "Black Friday" was called a "Glorious work of literature" by Horror Novel Reviews.

Along with writing fiction, Hodges is a professional nature photographer, with work appearing in Outside Magazine (Best Adventure Photography of the Year) and newspapers, amongst other places. Animals often play a big role in his fiction, and the two art forms feed each other. He loves hearing from readers at:

facebook.com/MichaelHodgesAuthor/

or his website:

https://michaelhodgesfiction.com/

Reviews

[karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

+



this book is the exact opposite of Shark Island. when i reviewed that one, i remarked:

this book is much better-written than many others of its kind, i.e. the kind where killer animals threaten humans and there is much screaming and blood… it’s neither pulp nor porn, as so many of these are - it’s just a straight-up adventure story that allows characters the opportunity to showcase their personalities, backstories, hopes and dreams, which, unfortunately, seem to be the preferred food of impulse-redirected sharks.

this one… well, this one has quite a bit of pulp n’ porn. the hero character’s philosophy is: You’re born, you fuck a lot, and then you die. and that’s fine - i’m no booksnob, and as a lover of every and all syfy movies, i don’t need believable characters or poetic dialogue or any semblance of reality whatsoever in my books about a megalodon attacking young hotties at the same time as lava is overtaking the island upon which they had ventured for the pursuit of drinking and drugging and banging. i pretty much expect this kind of stimulating exchange between romantic leads in books about rampant animal-attacks:

”The stars,” she said. “Pretty cool.”

“It’s more than pretty cool,” Ron said. “It’s all that is, and all that will ever be.”

“Real deep,” Rachel said, poking the stick into the fire.

“Sassy,” Ron said.

Rachel popped her lips. “Yep, dontcha know it.”

so why did i only give this one two stars, when i’m generally pretty lenient in my ratings, giving away a lot of charitable threes to very okay books? on principle, really, because, while i am willing to overlook a lot of errors in the monsterporn i used to giggle over, or anything else self-published that cost me less than three bucks, if you’re charging more than ten dollars and you’re on an actual publisher, no matter how small, i really do expect the courtesy of very basic editing. not the kind of editing where every apostrophe is perfect and all the words are spelled correctly, but the kind of editing where a courtney doesn’t become a jess in the middle of the paragraph and then go back to being a courtney again, sometimes even in the span of a single sentence:

”She hit on you, not the other way around,” Courtney said.

“Thanks, Jess,” Ron said. “But I’m not sure the moral high ground helps heal bruises and contusions.”

Courtney laughed. “Always with the lines,” she said. “You should be a writer.”

“Nah,” Ron said, “they don’t make any money.”

it’s true - editors are the ones who make the big bucks. next time, shell out for one. an editor would have prevented this situation: every time a clif bar is mentioned, you can frame a pretty effective drinking game around the certainty that it will be referred to as “crackers” a few sentences later.

as in:

Amy tossed a Clif Bar at Ron. “You’re the alpha,” she said. “Eat.”

Ron tore into the crackers, swallowing them whole.

(DRINK!)

and

Ron reached into his bag and tossed Jeremy a Clif Bar. “Eat up, kid.”

some blah blah blah and you think you’re safe but then BOOM

…Jeremy…crunched the cracker wrapper into a ball and tossed it into the ocean.

(DRINK!)

find and replace, people! find and replace!

it’s fine, in a dumb b-movie way. lots of people getting eaten by a giant shark, escalating dangers, and that monster-movie phenomenon of teflon-reactions to unspeakable horrors, with mere moments devoted to reflection and acknowledgment of the departed:

In the quiet sea and haze, tremendous guilt plagued Ron. He couldn’t shake it. The guilt had to be purged, one way or another. He handed his clients Clif Bars, and watched them eat.* He did not take any for himself. But taking care of his people was not eliminating all of the guilt. He felt compelled to say something.

So he did.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “For everything.”

A long silence wedged between himself and the group. Somewhere, a lone seagull cried, not** doubt wondering what the hell had happened to its feeding grounds.

“You did nothing wrong,” Rachel said.

“Yeah,” Amy said.

Rachel high-fived Amy. “You can’t control nature, “ she said to Ron. “I know you think you’re hot shit and all, but come on.”

Ron chuckled.

for context, this occurs on page 138 of a 174-page book. and no spoilers or anything, but at this point the body count is pretty high. this is an odd time to be high-fiving and chuckling. oh, and banging. corpses make people horny. i mean, among the still-breathing. no one bangs a corpse here, but that’s probably because megalodons don’t leave behind much to work with, sexually.

it’s all-over a weird book - the premise is that ron (dominant alpha hero) is a dude who has built up a small business; an island o’ hedonism with cabins and campfires and a permissive attitude towards shenanigans, and he ferries young partygoers to this island and makes them sign contracts which allow him to intervene if things get too crazy. which basically means that he’s a forty-something dude lurking at the outskirts of partying twenty-somethings, watching them go WOO HOO and hook up and do bong hits or whatever with his bagful of painkillers (and clif bars/crackers) for emergencies and his grown-up peen ready to impale any lonely ladies and HOW IS THIS A BUSINESS PLAN? HOW IS THIS NOT CREEPY???



it’s a weird dynamic overall, but nothing that is too far removed from the logic of your average syfy movie, so it’s only worth like half an eyeroll. but then there’s this, which caused a bigger WTF-reaction in me - 91 pages in (i.e. slightly more than halfway), we get this revelation, in a rachel-POV flashback to pre-lava times, when she’s hanging out with jennifer talking about their upcoming trip and all of a sudden:

an image of a shark popped into her mind for a nanosecond, and then vanished.

to what do you attribute this, rachel?

”…My family has this odd premonition thing, where we can pick up on future events. Not complete pictures of course, but snippets. I think I just had one about Party Island.”

wait, WHAT?? care to explain this sudden introduction of MAGICAL POWERS? nah, instead, the conversation drifts to the possibility of a threesome. so there’s that. it contributes nothing to the plot, just a weird paranormal hiccup in a softcore adult film.

as for rachel-as-heroine, i think the author had good intentions, but whoo boy, the execution… on the plus side, rachel is tough and smart and capable, sex-positive and equally skilled at defusing a situation with her words as with a weapon. but she’s basically whatever the porn version of a manic pixie dreamgirl is, in the sense that every single person of every single gender wants to bang her, and in her sole on-page lesbian encounter she’s very much a taker, not so much a giver.

impolite, rachel!

it's a good thing she's hot, because she is definitely lacking in the "sense of humor" department:

She couldn't remember anyone making her cum this hard in her entire life. But the proof was in Ron's tongue. God, I'm terrible at jokes, she thought.

she's right about that - i don't know that anyone would have registered that as a joke if she hadn't pointed out her intention. i'm still trying to figure out where the joke would even go.

and that banter:

Ron slapped her on the ass and Rachel let out a squeal. “Hey,” she said, “I’m a feminist, you know.”

“I respect that,” Ron said. “But that shit doesn’t fly in the bedroom.”

Rachel bit her lip. “I’m only letting you get away with that because you are actually dominant,” she said.

“You ooze compliments,” Ron said.

“I take it back.”

“Too late.”

is this the “quick wit” of rachel’s that ron is so drawn to?? as in:

He was rapidly smitten with Rachel’s quick wit. It didn’t hurt that she was a feminist, but also feminine, with long, clean hair, a thin figure, big eyes, and high cheekbones. The sensation that she might be a lot of trouble for him was palpable.

it’s things like this that make me wince. she’s a feminist, but , you know, the skinny kind with clean hair, so she’s still sexy and shit…ron is very evolved in matters of women’s lib:

He wanted to tell her she was beautiful, tell her how pleased he was, but he’d learned at a younger age that such compliments were best held for later, when a woman had earned his trust. They were equals after all, one no better than the other. She ultimately had to prove herself to him, as he did to her. And kissing Rachel’s ass like all the other weak guys she’d blown off was no way to start.

But making her cum half a dozen times certainly was.



that’s just so much emotional packaging around a page-17 casual fuck between utter strangers.

and that is so much review for a book that probably didn't warrant so much scrutiny. i need to cut myself off here, because if i don't, i will be at this all day, and no one wants that. in conclusion,




* which does NOT turn into crackers this time. NO DRINK FOR YOU!!!!!

** [sic]

come to my blog!!

[OutlawPoet]

I picked this up from Kindle Unlimited.

As far as chompy things go, it's a pretty good one. Our shark is very, very chompy. Expect severed body parts aplenty! It did need a bit more shark, though.

Now, add in lava. Lots and lots of lava doing some un-lava like things.

Now, add in sex. Sex while being warmed by nearby lava (seriously). The best sex in the entire world, because these two people are the best at sex. Ever. A little oral sex after your friends get eaten. Throw in an uncomfortable flashback to some child molestation. Now a little girl/girl action.

Oh wait...wasn't there a shark somewhere?

So, I do wish the author had concentrated a little more on the shark, a little less on the flashbacks, and a little less on how really, really good these people were at sex (like they should give lessons).

But it was an entertaining read and I did largely enjoy it.

[Nollaig Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

man V nature

some party people get caught on an island when a volcano erupts and the deadly lava heads towards them but at the same time a mighty megalodon is circling the island and has destroyed the boat they came in on...

you will have most of these characters as they are so self absorbed in their lifes they don't care about anyone else and how they will survive

but then 'help' comes to help them or does ir.....

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

As he's done with The Puller and The Invasive, Michael Hodges once again delivers a fast-paced, thrilling story about nature gone awry. This time it's a gigantic prehistoric shark preying on a bunch of rich kids! The book is as cool as it sounds. Take the plunge!

[chucklesthescot · Rating 2 out of 5]

You know how you get that feeling of utter excitement when you see the plot for a book and you can't wait to read it? Then you get that deflating feeling as you plough through it, lamenting how it was all going pear shaped? Yes that was my experience of this book.

I very much liked the idea of the book. Geological activity around the Falcon islands has increased, causing earthquakes on a small island chosen as the venue for a party. Boat owner Ron has taken the group of party animals to this remote island by boat, unaware that they are going to be stuck there when a volcanic eruption causes lava to spew out over the island. A small tsunami has already destroyed Ron's boat...and the waters around the island are being patroled by a massive megalodon. Now what is not to like about that for a b movie book plot? The idea of the group being stuck between lava and a killer shark is great. So why didn't I like it? The actual writing in this book was decent. I liked the scenes with the lava moving towards them and slowly destroying the island. I liked the numerous scenes with the shark stalking and killing the party animals, though most of the time I was rooting for the shark.

Simply, I couldn't stand most of the characters. The exception was Ron. I quite liked him and he was the one who was coming up with ideas on what to do, determined to find some way to save his clients, even when the odds are firmly against them. Sadly I hated the rest of them. Jeremy and Raul are nasty and unpleasant tossers, the girls are somewhat pathetic and I really wanted most of them to get eaten or burned to death. All these idiots wanted to do was drink, take drugs and have sex, and to be honest I find that very dull for the plot of a creature feature book. And then there was the MC Rachel. I found this self obsessed bitch to be highly annoying, rude, manipulative, and caring little for other peiople as long as she was doing ok. I hate that kind of selfish attitude in my MC and there was nothing nice about her at all. She keeps claiming to be this tough independent woman who can do everything the men do but every time she has a dangerous plan, she manipulates one of the men into risking their life to do it instead of her. I find her pathetic.

The author spent way too long padding the book out with things that mattered little to the plot like Rachel's mother with cancer and her being sexually abused as a child. To be honest they did nothing to make me have any sympathy as Rachel was a cold and calculating woman, so if it didn't make me like her, I saw no reason to include it all. We get a whole big description of every single time Rachel and Ron have sex. We get flashbacks to Rachel having sex with other people and every failed relationship she has had. This was so dull and boring when I wanted more lava and more shark. We also had too much of Ron's previous boating badventures which added nothing to the plot. I wasn't interested in Rachel's lesbian sex which felt like it was thrown in there to tick a diversity box rather than adding to the plot.

This was a really frustrating book to read. There were plenty of good ideas and nicely written tension and action scenes but there was just too much irrelevant stuff including continued sex at the expense of the plot. Seriously if I was stuck on this island with death coming for me, the last thing I'd care about was sneaking off for more sex! With an MC that I really despised, a supporting cast that I mostly didn't care about and sections of plot that bored me, I'm surprised that I actually finished. I guess I wanted to see who died but that was the only reason.

This book could have been something really good but for me personally, it just did not deliver.

[Pam Mooney · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thriller! Our family loves shark books and movies - this one is well written and sure to soon be a fun to be scared movie. I believe the characters personalities really came through and the dialogue really made the story come to life. Lots of obstacles to be overcome with a group of clueless tourists and a few adversary relationships that keep the pace going - not to mention the Colossus shark. A book passed around to family members and put on the shelf to be shared again. An enjoyable book and a good read.

[Emily Kakolewski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommended read

This is a well told thriller, a bit green in writing, but a good weekend thriller...well worth the read. Cool details.

[Herman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Can’t recommend it,
The Last Colossus by Michael Hodges, aimed for a thriller with sex and danger but just was too much of a dumpster fire of very highly improbable situations tangled together with a megalodon, which wasn’t explain at all but so what, none of this made too much sense was it scary? No the tension wasn’t built up it had a slap/dash feel to the structure the characters were not very believable and in the end nothing about them made you feel sad that they died I didn’t care, didn’t really care about this book disappointing just 2 stars for effort.

[Jamie Girard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read

I liked the story but the problem I had wasn’t with the plot, just bits and pieces where certain words or sentences didn’t make a whole lot of sense. I’m never sure if it’s the author or the translation of the book into digital format. So I definitely recommend this megalodon story with caution regarding structure.

[Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always give 3 stars if I can at least finish the book. That being said, I feel like the author may not know many women because the female characters were seriously cheesy and overwrought. And, why in the world is there a graphic flashback to the main female protagonist's lesbian hook-up with one of the other female characters? I mean, I'm not complaining, just bewildered. I mean who doesn't enjoy a "Letters to Penthouse" moment dropped in the middle of a megalodon survival story?? By the way, I'm not calling that a spoiler because it had absolutely nothing to do with anything going on in the plot. Anyway, it was better than other meg books I've read, but definitely not as enjoyable as Steve Alten, Jake Bible, or Hunter Shea.

[Ski Croghan]

A great shark tail.....

This is a story about a shark that shouldn't exist but eats multiple people anyways. They just wanted a fun weekend to help their friend Rachel adjust to her mother's death but what they got was even worse. First a volcano no one knew was under the island erupted and then a prehistoric shark stated eating them one by one. Very well written and almost totally believable. Highly recommended.

[Claudia A. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrible

I have read a lot these kind of books and wanted to finish this. I got at 50% and just had to stop. The back and forth was okay but the constant sex so unnecessary. It added nothing to the story and made the characters cheap and to the point you wanted them to be eaten. You had a scientist in the mix and added nothing that was useful. Too bad, I had high hopes was just disappointed.

[Rachel Bokma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super intense read, crisp and snappy dialogue. I especially enjoyed the strong and modern female characters. Women save the day! Also, the shark attack scenes were expertly detailed. Freaky.

[BookLoversLife · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review to come.

[Cristina Roskoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Different

It was a good read. In the end, it wasn't the happy ending I was expecting, but it sure kept you entertain.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining read. The author did his research on socially savvy characters.