Home :: Books :: Literature & Fiction  

Arts & Photography
Audio CDs
Audiocassettes
Biographies & Memoirs
Business & Investing
Children's Books
Christianity
Comics & Graphic Novels
Computers & Internet
Cooking, Food & Wine
Entertainment
Gay & Lesbian
Health, Mind & Body
History
Home & Garden
Horror
Literature & Fiction

Mystery & Thrillers
Nonfiction
Outdoors & Nature
Parenting & Families
Professional & Technical
Reference
Religion & Spirituality
Romance
Science
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Sports
Teens
Travel
Women's Fiction
The Last Page

The Last Page

List Price: $19.95
Your Price: $19.95
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 >>

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Tough circumstances, tougher characters
Review: In "The Last Page," Palmer combats the toughest of circumstances, with even tougher characters. His characters must deal with love, death and the life that remains. Palmer's most significant strength in his debut novel, to me, is his strong grasp of place and attention to detail. He specifically does a good job of setting his scenes in Tacoma favorites.

Economy: Palmer's novel, however, is quite wordy and underpunctuated, which makes for fairly slow reading, including a need for quite a bit of re-reading.

Also I thought there was a number of points in the novel when action was summarized rather than actually developed, which cheats the characters and the story.

"The Last Page," however, is peppered with gems, as Palmer's characters not only grapple with the meaning of love, but with themselves.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Last Page
Review: Karen Sanders works at the Coffee Cove. For the most part she enjoys her job, the people are friendly, the pay is adequate, and she gets to people watch all day. Often as Karen watches people she tries to figure out their story. Actually she's pretty good at this game. That is until she met Travis Miller. Travis is a regular at the Coffee Cove. Everyday, around ten o'clock he comes into the café, sits at the second table from the counter, takes out his laptop computer, and starts to type. The introvert never says a word to anyone. In fact, Travis simply gives the café server a twenty dollar bill with a note stating his order for as many coffees as the money will buy, spread throughout the day. Karen wants to unlock the mystery of this strange behaviour but Travis rebuffs all her efforts.

The Last Page is a refreshing story of healing and love. This story is unique as the female character is more assertive and extroverted while the male character is more introverted and troubled. This realistic yet rarely written about twist of traditional gender specific character traits makes for interesting reading. Likewise, this book does an exemplary job of creating fully developed characters, likely because of these specific, well thought out personality traits. Furthermore, even as these characters evolve with the story, each character stays true to his or her foundation personality. This creates a seamless storyline with depth and a credible feel.



Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A promising debut for a new writer
Review: The Last Page is a solid debut; an emotional drama that takes a look at the need for love in the lives of its two protagonists, Karen Sanders and Travis Miller.

In this novel, we see how the two of them keep the world around them at a distance, and learn why it is they are so content to continue to live their lives in this fashion. Karen doesn't take men seriously because she believes they cannot be trusted, and so her relationships with them fail; she doesn't make any real efforts to make the relationships work, so when the man slips up, she sends him packing. Travis is about as quiet as one can get, contenting himself with spending countless hours typing on his computer everyday; all he does is write while slucking down copious amounts of coffee at The Coffee Cove--the place where Karen works.

Palmer's first two chapters are highly intriguing as we learn about the mysterious Travis and his absolute silence as he writes. We quickly see that the interest in this enigmatic man extends beyond merely the reader as Karen has taken to trying to study him while at work so that she can try and see who he really is. When they finally meet, the story really takes off.

Palmer writes very deliberately, taking the time to craft a story that is as much about the book's surroundings as it is about the characters themselves. If you enjoy details, you should enjoy this one because it is a rich read in that respect. At times, he does write a little more than perhaps is necessary, but not so much that the reader should become bored.

I enjoyed the characters in this story: they are compelling and the conflicts they face are quite real. The more I read, the more I grew to actually care about these main characters and found myself wanting to know how certain plot points would be resolved. Neither of the main characters are without their demons, so drama effectively builds with each subsequent scene, especially once they start to become friends.

The Last Page is a solid debut that leaves the reader with hope that there is more to come in the future. I would definitely recommend that others read this richly-layered, multi-dimensional story.


<< 1 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates