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Book Town
Things seem to be going well at The Last Word Bookstore, but appearances, much like book covers, can be deceiving. Sal Terranova needs a new challenge, and Jake Donovan...well, Jake has no clue what he needs. The answer comes to both of them from a most unexpected source, one which will lead them and their friends on a journey of biblical proportions. Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the bookstore...
- GenresFiction
207 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 5, 2018
36 people are currently reading
29 people want to read
About the author
Paul Combs
7 books27 followersPaul Combs was born in Texas on the same day as Stonewall Jackson and Jack Nicklaus. Though not as famous (yet) as those two American giants, he can putt better than Stonewall and lead an infantry charge better than Nicklaus.
His ultimate goal (besides being a roadie for the E Street Band) is to make reading, writing, and books in general as popular in Texas as high school football. It may take a while.
His ultimate goal (besides being a roadie for the E Street Band) is to make reading, writing, and books in general as popular in Texas as high school football. It may take a while.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
April 15, 2024
A fantastic 3rd entry into this wonderful series! These characters are all terrific, and the main setting (The Last Word Bookshop) is a utopia for bibliophiles. I can't wait for book #4.
May 4, 2025
“Within every artist, there’s a child emptying a box of crayons onto the floor, searching for just the right color to draw the sky…As artists, we strive to preserve this playfulness throughout the gravity of the enterprise.”- Rick Rubin — The Creative Act.
Author of Book Town Paul Combs must have held both attributes mentioned above, playfulness and gravity, in hand and mind when composing this third book in his The Last Word series.
In Comb’s previous volumes, Writer in Residence and the inaugural The Last Word, the author draws together a diverse cast of characters, making them a most unlikely group of family and friends, colleagues, and competitors.
The main character from book one, The Last Word, and book two, Writer in Residence, is Salvatore (Sal) Terranova. A former mafia jewel thief and all-around enterprising Wise Guy, Sal decides his future lies in getting out and living straight — well, as straight as a lifelong criminal dodging the law can go.
Sal facilitates this by moving from New Jersey to Texas. Along the way, Terranova reconnects with a cousin, Camden Templeton, who, after running into sudden and unexpected irreconcilable differences with her husband, also finds herself free to travel a new path and resurrect life from the ashes of what was.
Together, like oil and vinegar, Terranova and Templeton make an excellent dressing when they take ownership of a bookstore in Texas left to them by their recently deceased uncle.
Aside from creating the perfect character names, Sal Terranova, a full-size Italian mafia legend, and Camden Templeton, a very proper British-sounding name for a very proper British lady, Combs also creates a setting where conflict occurs naturally in every scenario.
It starts with taking one salty, book-loving, fidgety, Catholic, tax-avoidant, scheme-producing, nun-fearing, professional criminal and pairing him with a no-nonsense, jilted, divorced, intelligent, and capable woman and still tragically optimistic soccer fan and watching them run a barely profitable bookstore in the most illiterate State in America.
For some colour, Combs sprinkles in a former Army sniper turned preacher, the sniper’s partner, now the head of nefarious enterprises, a gorgeous Latin stock-boy employee who could have Camden and any of the female staff members (affectionately referred to as The Sirens) if only he weren’t gay, an entirely inflexible nun, a down-on-his-luck published but homeless author, a rare book aficionado who thinks all the great authors are only Russian authors, and a girlfriend for Sal who believes the only great author is Hemingway.
It’s already a full table before your turn to Book Town’s first page.
Then, the guest of honor arrives, and what a guest he is!
It is only a short time into Book Town when you understand that Combs is the child on the floor, surrounded by crayons. Each hue is his imagination, and Book Town is his panorama.
When Book Town arrived at my doorstep via Amazon, I was excited to revisit the curious cast from The Last Word bookstore and the characters on its periphery–to say I was surprised at the direction and tone the story went would be an understatement.
In the previous volumes, I’d become spoiled by the likeability of Sal Terranova, charmed by Camden Templeton, and a fan of the somewhat dubious supporting characters. I wanted more of them. Especially Sal.
That isn’t what you get in Book Town–well, not really. Sal is in the book, as are the other characters, but the first two volumes were more like Star Wars — A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. Book Town is The Mandalorian–it’s a spinoff and comes with a message.
Revealing the new arrival to the series and his purpose would be a sin. It would threaten to steal away the surprise and could unjustly influence a reader’s point of view before giving it a chance.
What can I say about Book Town? It’s a lightning strike of inspiration, and Combs rides the charge all the way to its end. The premise is original, the story is good and well-written, and the message is illuminating and thought-provoking.
Besides being thoroughly entertaining, Book Town is also eye-opening to a Canadian who needs to know more about the vast enterprise of mega-churches in America. The sheer numbers of their followers are shocking, and the completeness of their religious programs, from university campuses, to “only in America” superstores and the generation of wealth by donation, baffles the mind.
The other surprise of this small book is the size of the story. Book Town offers a correction, an adjustment to history, and to set the record straight; Combs provides a guide.
It is said that for all of us who write, a piece of us transfers to every story. In the case of Paul Combs, Book Town wears his jacket.
In closing my review, I offer a clue to the mysterious central character in this third volume of the highly-entertaining The Last Word series of novels.
“Works without faith are simply that, good deeds. Faith without works isn’t really faith; it’s just lip service.”- Paul Combs — Book Town.
Author of Book Town Paul Combs must have held both attributes mentioned above, playfulness and gravity, in hand and mind when composing this third book in his The Last Word series.
In Comb’s previous volumes, Writer in Residence and the inaugural The Last Word, the author draws together a diverse cast of characters, making them a most unlikely group of family and friends, colleagues, and competitors.
The main character from book one, The Last Word, and book two, Writer in Residence, is Salvatore (Sal) Terranova. A former mafia jewel thief and all-around enterprising Wise Guy, Sal decides his future lies in getting out and living straight — well, as straight as a lifelong criminal dodging the law can go.
Sal facilitates this by moving from New Jersey to Texas. Along the way, Terranova reconnects with a cousin, Camden Templeton, who, after running into sudden and unexpected irreconcilable differences with her husband, also finds herself free to travel a new path and resurrect life from the ashes of what was.
Together, like oil and vinegar, Terranova and Templeton make an excellent dressing when they take ownership of a bookstore in Texas left to them by their recently deceased uncle.
Aside from creating the perfect character names, Sal Terranova, a full-size Italian mafia legend, and Camden Templeton, a very proper British-sounding name for a very proper British lady, Combs also creates a setting where conflict occurs naturally in every scenario.
It starts with taking one salty, book-loving, fidgety, Catholic, tax-avoidant, scheme-producing, nun-fearing, professional criminal and pairing him with a no-nonsense, jilted, divorced, intelligent, and capable woman and still tragically optimistic soccer fan and watching them run a barely profitable bookstore in the most illiterate State in America.
For some colour, Combs sprinkles in a former Army sniper turned preacher, the sniper’s partner, now the head of nefarious enterprises, a gorgeous Latin stock-boy employee who could have Camden and any of the female staff members (affectionately referred to as The Sirens) if only he weren’t gay, an entirely inflexible nun, a down-on-his-luck published but homeless author, a rare book aficionado who thinks all the great authors are only Russian authors, and a girlfriend for Sal who believes the only great author is Hemingway.
It’s already a full table before your turn to Book Town’s first page.
Then, the guest of honor arrives, and what a guest he is!
It is only a short time into Book Town when you understand that Combs is the child on the floor, surrounded by crayons. Each hue is his imagination, and Book Town is his panorama.
When Book Town arrived at my doorstep via Amazon, I was excited to revisit the curious cast from The Last Word bookstore and the characters on its periphery–to say I was surprised at the direction and tone the story went would be an understatement.
In the previous volumes, I’d become spoiled by the likeability of Sal Terranova, charmed by Camden Templeton, and a fan of the somewhat dubious supporting characters. I wanted more of them. Especially Sal.
That isn’t what you get in Book Town–well, not really. Sal is in the book, as are the other characters, but the first two volumes were more like Star Wars — A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. Book Town is The Mandalorian–it’s a spinoff and comes with a message.
Revealing the new arrival to the series and his purpose would be a sin. It would threaten to steal away the surprise and could unjustly influence a reader’s point of view before giving it a chance.
What can I say about Book Town? It’s a lightning strike of inspiration, and Combs rides the charge all the way to its end. The premise is original, the story is good and well-written, and the message is illuminating and thought-provoking.
Besides being thoroughly entertaining, Book Town is also eye-opening to a Canadian who needs to know more about the vast enterprise of mega-churches in America. The sheer numbers of their followers are shocking, and the completeness of their religious programs, from university campuses, to “only in America” superstores and the generation of wealth by donation, baffles the mind.
The other surprise of this small book is the size of the story. Book Town offers a correction, an adjustment to history, and to set the record straight; Combs provides a guide.
It is said that for all of us who write, a piece of us transfers to every story. In the case of Paul Combs, Book Town wears his jacket.
In closing my review, I offer a clue to the mysterious central character in this third volume of the highly-entertaining The Last Word series of novels.
“Works without faith are simply that, good deeds. Faith without works isn’t really faith; it’s just lip service.”- Paul Combs — Book Town.
October 29, 2019
Book Town suffers from a literary schizophrenia that I would have thought Combs more than competent to avoid, but instead, from the very outset the story is beset by authorial poor choices: Starting the book from the point of view of a relatively minor character from Books 1 & 2 - and jumping right into his complex back story and existential crisis - is a whiplash from which the plot never really recovers. That said crisis is resolved with a divine visitation, with too much more back story on evangelicals and exposition on Southern Baptist vs Catholic tradition in the way... Well, the fragile framework of the story thus far just won't support it, and everyone from stalwart Sal Terranova to the writer in residence from Book 2 comes off looking pale and sickly. The relationships are out of character for most, the action clunky and forced, and the "other" premise - that Sal will turn Ft Worth, TX into a "book town" - dies on the vine while we watch the divine rollick around like a recently demobbed old warrior with a Message. It left a bad taste, and I'm not looking forward to the next, if there should be one.
July 8, 2020
Becoming Book Town
I liked this and the first book in the series the best, though the second was okay, it just didn’t have the constant switch of focus the 1st and 3rd did and they were more interesting. I like the idea of developing a book town, though usually see good libraries as responsible for that when a community doesn’t have independent book stores. As always the characters are varied and interesting with the church playing a role. I look forward to learning more about Jakes new career.
I liked this and the first book in the series the best, though the second was okay, it just didn’t have the constant switch of focus the 1st and 3rd did and they were more interesting. I like the idea of developing a book town, though usually see good libraries as responsible for that when a community doesn’t have independent book stores. As always the characters are varied and interesting with the church playing a role. I look forward to learning more about Jakes new career.
January 8, 2019
Very disappointed
Two stars because I love the characters (except Paul or Saul, wherever your bible leads you). The premise was plotted in fantasyland, not what the two previous books delivered or what I expected. I thoroughly enjoyed The Last Word and The Written Word, but this one, Book Town totally sucked. The storyline was disjointed, relationships struggled and continuity unappealing. In whole a waste of my time and the writer's talent.
Two stars because I love the characters (except Paul or Saul, wherever your bible leads you). The premise was plotted in fantasyland, not what the two previous books delivered or what I expected. I thoroughly enjoyed The Last Word and The Written Word, but this one, Book Town totally sucked. The storyline was disjointed, relationships struggled and continuity unappealing. In whole a waste of my time and the writer's talent.
March 21, 2024
Totally believable well almost
This book is the third in a series that involves a bookstore, a former Criminal, and active Criminal, and a handful of people that make life much better in his series. This would involve biblical theme world that I would have never believed someone could write about. It was creative and I laughed many times. What a great read and crude you to take time to start the series so you have the background and then get to this book.
This book is the third in a series that involves a bookstore, a former Criminal, and active Criminal, and a handful of people that make life much better in his series. This would involve biblical theme world that I would have never believed someone could write about. It was creative and I laughed many times. What a great read and crude you to take time to start the series so you have the background and then get to this book.
April 7, 2019
Full disclosure: I haven't read the second book in this series (yet). Bad reader, bad!! This third book in the series picks back up at The Last Word Bookstore. I enjoy books about books, libraries, and bookstores so this was an enjoyable read!
December 18, 2022
interesting read
One of the more interesting novels I’ve picked up. Having gone immediately from book 1 to 3, I must say, 3 really took me by surprise. I kinda liked it! But also am going to have to chew on it for a bit. Thank you for the good reads!
One of the more interesting novels I’ve picked up. Having gone immediately from book 1 to 3, I must say, 3 really took me by surprise. I kinda liked it! But also am going to have to chew on it for a bit. Thank you for the good reads!
December 3, 2023
Really liked the first book in the series - it was witty and fun; the second one a little less so, and this one, really not so much (I totally didn't jive with the religious theme). The author says he's going to keep writing sequels...not sure I'm going to keep reading them.
September 11, 2022
This quirky and sometimes preposterous series has got me hooked.
February 1, 2024
WOW what a ride
What would you do if Apostle Paul showed up in your living room and knows everything about you? That’s just the start of the games. Sal wants to turn his town into a book town.
What would you do if Apostle Paul showed up in your living room and knows everything about you? That’s just the start of the games. Sal wants to turn his town into a book town.
September 11, 2024
Good but the weakest of the series so far
I enjoyed the book, but it has a supernatural element that detracts from the plot. Still I liked the way Paul Combs skewers some aspects of organized religion. Oh, the is a typo error in page 201. Jake should be Sal.
I enjoyed the book, but it has a supernatural element that detracts from the plot. Still I liked the way Paul Combs skewers some aspects of organized religion. Oh, the is a typo error in page 201. Jake should be Sal.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews