Rating: 
Summary: worth a second read
Review: although, I will agree the work leaves the reader without a definitive expression of the author's intent, I must disagree that it is unworthy of reading. Not a typical horror story, with obvious villians and heroes, this book is filled with haunting passages that will stick with me for some time.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed Expectations
Review: Always looking for "new" horror, I read several professional reviews of this and "Ordinary Horror" that all seemed to indicate a possibility that Mr. Searcy might have what I was looking for. I cannot speak for his first book, but "Last Things" was unexpectedly pedantic, and, frankly, boring. I found myself consistently falling asleep every time I sat down to read it.
This is truly unfortunate, because there is some good language in here, and intimations of signs of what could be good psycho-surreal horror, but it never arrived.
The book begins well, though I got the feeling that Mr. Searcy's editor ultimately dropped the ball and let the author meander incessantly. Many of the sentences in this book could not be read without losing one's breath, and the voice of the narrator often clashes violently with the character being followed.
I believe that if you were in just the right mood and just the right kind of person this book might work for you, but it simply didn't for me. Perhaps his first book is better.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: Always looking for "new" horror, I read several professional reviews of this and "Ordinary Horror" that all seemed to indicate a possibility that Mr. Searcy might have what I was looking for. I cannot speak for his first book, but "Last Things" was unexpectedly pedantic, and, frankly, boring. I found myself consistently falling asleep every time I sat down to read it.
This is truly unfortunate, because there is some good language in here, and intimations of signs of what could be good psycho-surreal horror, but it never arrived.
The book begins well, though I got the feeling that Mr. Searcy's editor ultimately dropped the ball and let the author meander incessantly. Many of the sentences in this book could not be read without losing one's breath, and the voice of the narrator often clashes violently with the character being followed.
I believe that if you were in just the right mood and just the right kind of person this book might work for you, but it simply didn't for me. Perhaps his first book is better.
Rating: 
Summary: Just read the reviews or back flap . . .
Review: and skip the book! I didn't even make it halfway through this book. From the back cover and reviews, I knew it was supposed to be something of a horror story, but I could not tell from the writing at what point I was supposed to feel uneasy! The rambling text just made me skip half the page and skim the highlights. When I hit a 250+ word sentence, the book had to go! The plot is interesting but the book just doesn't get around to carrying it through.
Rating:
Summary: Unreadable
Review: Bad,Bad,Bad! Whatever you do do not buy this godawful book. There is such a thing as being overly descriptive. The author spends so much time going into minute detail over every little thing that the plot (if there is any, I couldn't find it) gets totally lost. This author needs to get another career and quick! Wow! thats pretty brutal but yuck!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Horror fans are going to like this one
Review: Gilmore, Texas residents are becoming concerned with the weird events including the abnormal weather that seems to have engulfed the town. Scarecrows containing the rotted animals have begun to appear. When a child vanishes, the townsfolk become divided. Many believe the end of times has begun as her disappearance marks the start of the Rapture. Other feel someone more mundane and mortal is behind the events.Loner Luther Hazlitt believes that what ever is going on has nothing to do with the Holy Spirit. A bit shook from an incident that leaves him mumbling "oh sh*t" as his nirvana, Luther, accompanied by his dog Yurang, obtains the help of Agnes Peeler. They plan to catch the culprit behind the weirdness. Deputy Sheriff Willis Beagle joins the team, but none of them know what they plan to trap. The concept underlying the story line is brilliant and most horror fans will find refreshing. The heroic quartet are as far removed as one can get from being heroes yet are believable, making them fun charcaters. The townsfolk add depth and feel that the audience has entered a remote section of Texas. With all that going for it LAST THINGS should have been great. However, the problem is that sentences and paragraphs go on forever in a mimic of The Old Man and the Sea. Other than this quibble this is a great book. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Horror fans are going to like this one
Review: Gilmore, Texas residents are becoming concerned with the weird events including the abnormal weather that seems to have engulfed the town. Scarecrows containing the rotted animals have begun to appear. When a child vanishes, the townsfolk become divided. Many believe the end of times has begun as her disappearance marks the start of the Rapture. Other feel someone more mundane and mortal is behind the events. Loner Luther Hazlitt believes that what ever is going on has nothing to do with the Holy Spirit. A bit shook from an incident that leaves him mumbling "oh sh*t" as his nirvana, Luther, accompanied by his dog Yurang, obtains the help of Agnes Peeler. They plan to catch the culprit behind the weirdness. Deputy Sheriff Willis Beagle joins the team, but none of them know what they plan to trap. The concept underlying the story line is brilliant and most horror fans will find refreshing. The heroic quartet are as far removed as one can get from being heroes yet are believable, making them fun charcaters. The townsfolk add depth and feel that the audience has entered a remote section of Texas. With all that going for it LAST THINGS should have been great. However, the problem is that sentences and paragraphs go on forever in a mimic of The Old Man and the Sea. Other than this quibble this is a great book. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: AND THIS AUTHOR WON AN AWARD FOR HIS 1ST BOOK?
Review: I agree with every negative review of this book. (And I have no intention of reading "Ordinary Horror", to see why Mr. Searcy won the International Horror Guild Award for best first novel! That would be throwing good money after bad.) I struggled for more than a month to finish "Last Things". In fact, I was afraid it might very well be the last thing I ever did. (Terrible pun, I know.) Searcy's prose, perhaps, belongs in poems.....SHORT poems. One reviewer refers to the "heroic quartet"? I'm sorry (no, I'm not). The only character I found of even remote interest (the woman who regularly raked her dirt) came and went, within the story, in lurches. Sort of like someone trying to learn how to drive a standard. This reviewer wishes she had read some reviews before purchasing this book. For anyone out there thinking of doing the same, DON'T! Get yourself a copy of "Retribution" by Jilliane Hoffman instead!
Rating:
Summary: AND THIS AUTHOR WON AN AWARD FOR HIS 1ST BOOK?
Review: I agree with every negative review of this book. (And I have no intention of reading "Ordinary Horror", to see why Mr. Searcy won the International Horror Guild Award for best first novel! That would be throwing good money after bad.) I struggled for more than a month to finish "Last Things". In fact, I was afraid it might very well be the last thing I ever did. (Terrible pun, I know.) Searcy's prose, perhaps, belongs in poems.....SHORT poems. One reviewer refers to the "heroic quartet"? I'm sorry (no, I'm not). The only character I found of even remote interest (the woman who regularly raked her dirt) came and went, within the story, in lurches. Sort of like someone trying to learn how to drive a standard. This reviewer wishes she had read some reviews before purchasing this book. For anyone out there thinking of doing the same, DON'T! Get yourself a copy of "Retribution" by Jilliane Hoffman instead!
Rating:
Summary: AND THIS AUTHOR WON AN AWARD FOR HIS 1ST BOOK?
Review: I agree with every negative review of this book. (And I have no intention of reading "Ordinary Horror", to see why Mr. Searcy won the International Horror Guild Award for best first novel! That would be throwing good money after bad.) I struggled for more than a month to finish "Last Things". In fact, I was afraid it might very well be the last thing I ever did. (Terrible pun, I know.) Searcy's prose, perhaps, belongs in poems.....SHORT poems. One reviewer refers to the "heroic quartet"? I'm sorry (no, I'm not). The only character I found of even remote interest (the woman who regularly raked her dirt) came and went, within the story, in lurches. Sort of like someone trying to learn how to drive a standard. This reviewer wishes she had read some reviews before purchasing this book. For anyone out there thinking of doing the same, DON'T! Get yourself a copy of "Retribution" by Jilliane Hoffman instead!
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