Rating: 
Summary: Another great romp through Blaylock's wild imagination.
Review: A fellow in California becomes mixed up in the battle for
the ancient coins paid to Judas to betray Christ, and the earth-rending magics that surround them as they accumulate.
A bizarre, animistic world unfolds, with spoon-bearing pigs
and pesky possums. A seemingly every-day environment becomes
transformed by the mysterious powers peeking out from just
beneath the surface.
Rating:
Summary: Simply a wonderful book
Review: Andrew Vanbergen is one of the best characters I have ever had the pleasure of "meeting". In Vanbergen, Blaylock has created a well-defined and consistent eccentric...certainly one of the funniest characters ever.I think I could best describe this book as "wonderful". Maybe "delightful" works, too. From the cat-burglar opening to the threatening-note sequence in the middle to the treasure-hunt finale (and all along the way listening to Vanbergen's bizarre rationale for his actions) this book is both charming and humorous. Oh, and Pennyman isn't too shabby a villain, either.
Rating: 
Summary: Well written, whimsical, magic realism
Review: I found this book delightful. The characters were engagingly odd and the plot definitely original. Humorous and a bit creepy by turns. The best Blaylock novel I've read so far. Similar in tone to The Paper Grail.
Rating:
Summary: Ordinary Becomes Extraordinary!
Review: I had the pleasure to meet Mr. Blaylock and was delighted to hear him speak. He tells stories with the cantor, grace, and humor of Sterling Grey. His books always have a historical and mystical feel set in the real world. The unusual becomes common place and the ordinary becomes magical. After reading Blaylock you'll look at the people around you and wonder... just what are they up to? I've read a few Blaylock books before and was delighted to find that The Last Coin takes place in my home town, visiting places that I've frequented. But even reading his other books I have gotten the feeling that I've been there and that things that I've often over-looked are filled with magical and believable secrets.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant, idiosyncratic fantasy
Review: I have to confess, I am not here to "critique" this book--I am here to rave about it. First, though, I must warn that this is not for everyone. Some people simply do not get Blaylock; they don't see his point. This book, like most of his early work, does not have "plot", precisely. Not in any traditional sense. It is not linear. The characters do not act in a rational manner. Impossible things are constantly happening, and this, of course, is what the book is about. The Last Coin is heir to books like The Digging Leviathan, and was really the last such book that Blaylock wrote before he "came of age", or grew up, as I tend to see it. His later works are much more serious, a little more cold, and not quite so charming. His writing keeps getting better with every book, though--check out Winter Tides and tell me you don't envy the gift of such beautiful prose. My face got sore from grinning while I was reading this. There simply has never been anything like this written by any other author. The people who look to Blaylock thinking he is another Tim Powers should forget about this book. (Blaylock's better). Titanic forces are at work, but they settle their differences in some petty ways. Joke nickels pounded into the floor, rubber squids, gag letters in the newspaper... I could go on. But it would be better if you read the book for yourself. I passed this one around when I was done with it. Blaylock is a brilliant artist who deserves to be read, and a handful of his other novels are just as good. Don't deprive yourself!
Rating:
Summary: A Classic of Magical Realism
Review: I rank this book and Blaylock's THE DIGGING LEVIATHAN as his best creations. Both are filled with extraordinarily quirky characters and superb writing. These books show just how much of a craftsman Blaylock is, also revealing the extent of his literary imagination. If American fantasy ever grows out of its Romantic sword-and-sorcery obsessiveness, then James Blaylock's novels might be the forerunners of a new American fabular fiction. No one else--not Orson Scott Card, not Dean Koontz, sorry folks--is doing what James Blaylock is doing.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent read
Review: I read this novel along with Winter Tides and All the Bells on Earth, and this novel far surpasses the others. Blaylock's sense of humor is at its best here, making this one of the most unique novels I've read.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful, zany adventure
Review: I wouldn't call it great literature, but this is a truly hilarious book which takes the kind of obsessive cranks and eccentrics Blaylock depicted so well in "The Digging Leviathan" and thrusts them into an off-the-wall occult thriller. Apparently this book isn't to everyone's taste, but if you have enjoyed Mark Helprin, Douglas Adams or "Northern Exposure" you are bound to like this wacky romp through Seal Beach CA.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant modern fantasy
Review: If you think fantasy is multi-volume novels about groups of midgets searching for lost jewelry then you probably won't like _The Last Coin_. James Blaylock creates a fantasy world in modern day Southern California that is far more interesting and far more terrifying than anything you'll find in any of the works by Tolkien wannabees. such as Robert Jordan. _The Last Coin_ is about the evil Jules Pennyman's struggle for the 30th piece of silver that was paid Judas Iscariot for the betrayal of Christ. Once Pennyman has all thirty pieces of silver he will gain vast dark powers and be able to rule the world. Pennyman's foe is innkeeper Andrew Bergen, who begins to suspect that something is up with Pennyman when he moves into his boarding house. As the book progresses more and more is revealed about the coins and how they are all coming together under Pennyman's conttrol and how the ultimate fate of the world lies in the bumbling Andrew's hands.
Rating: 
Summary: Blaylock Farce
Review: J.P. Blaylock's THE LAST COIN defies genre identity--best to call it Blaylock farce. It's not the sort of book I wanted to quit reading, hoping it might have a creative ending. Unfortunately there wasn't any actual ending beyond the disappearance of the villain and death of his murderous female partner. The search for the thirty pieces of silver Judas received for betraying Christ, the plot in its entirety, may still be in progress and someday some creature may collect them all and achieve immortality. The fable is struck in such a realistic setting with such a lineup of unbelievably stupid characters that it's life blood must surely have been drawn from an actual human vein. I'm surprised Hollywood hasn't snapped this one up, complete with the Hollywood ending.
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