Last of the Dixie Heroes

Rating:
Summary: "The Fan" meets the Civil War Re-enactment Scene
Review: However, LAST OF THE DIXIE HEROES is subtitled "A Novel of Suspense," but it's hard to figure out why. There really isn't much in the way of suspense in this book.

Regardless of this, Abrahams had me there for a while. For two thirds of LAST OF THE DIXIE HEROES, Abrahams weaves an interesting tale of a guy stuck in a dead-end white collar job. Roy Singleton Hill is buffetted by the forces of corporate mergers, cuckolded by his floozy of a wife, and desperately trying to salvage his relationship with his son. Abrahams is at his best as he paints this uncomfortably realistic portrait of a man's world falling apart.

As Hill begins to get involved in reenacting the Civil War, we see him gradually move away from his grim present and live increasingly in his rose-colored view of the past of his great-great-grandfather and namesake, a Confederate hero who rode with Nathan Bedford Forrest. In spite of Abrahams' acknowledgement that he consulted men from the 22nd Massachusetts reenactment group in his research, he gets the reenactment scene a little wrong. But these are forgiveable errors, which can be put down to poetic license.

Less forgiveable is how the story implodes in the last seventy or so pages. Hill's relationship with Lee, a fellow reenactor who is not what he seems develops and peters out meaninglessly. Hill runs into what could be a long-lost relative, but this fascinating storyline is left undeveloped and without a real payoff. An incredible encounter with his one-time boss at an amazing point of the story come totally out of nowhere, and passes by without incident. But the worst part is where, for some strange reason, a group of rival reenactors escalate to a scale of real-life violence for no apparent reason. The climax of the book is so silly as to completely strain the credulity of even the most forgiving reader.

And in spite of all the momentus and over-the-top events that happen in the last two chapters, there is an incredibly brief two-page wrap up of all the plot lines that wraps up everything up in a way that is not only too convenient, but too implausible.

As I say, Abrahams had me there, and had orchestrated a nice set-up. But then he just tossed it all away by turning the whole thing into a silly action movie. Which kind of reminded me of "The Fan," a movie based on an earlier Abrahams book of the same title. Actually, THE FAN and LAST OF THE DIXIE HEROES both feature fathers who have been separated from their sons by divorce. This doesn't come across as a theme in Abrahams' work; it's more like he took his manuscript for THE FAN and tweaked the setting from baseball to Civil War re-enactment. Unfortunately, the changes didn't improve the absurdity of the story.

Rating:
Summary: Save your money
Review: One of the worst books I ever read, if not theeee worst. It started out with a lot of promise. The author does touch on some good issues and why the war started. But he bogs down with poor character development and an even worst ending. (...) Absolutley the worst job ever. I felt robbed cheated and let down. The only thing I can possibly think is that the author wanted me to feel as bad as the Rebels when they surrendered. The writing style is so annoying. The main character is a moron. I thought of Homer Simpson the whole time. I mean the guy was clueless throughout the entire book. It started to piss me off. I had to force myself to continue. I strugggled to finish it believing you should finish what you start. Too bad the author didn't. I threw my copy in the trash so I couldn't ruin anyone elses day with it, ever.

Rating:
Summary: One Awful Book
Review: Warning: Spoilers Galore

As a Civil War re-enactor, I can honestly tell you that Abrahams does an abhorrent job of showing who re-enactors are and what goes on at re-enactments. It leads me to wonder whether or not he has actually attended or participated in a Civil War re-enactment.

The main character is a complete moron, despite the seeming attempts by the author to make him appear as very "deep". Characters are poorly developed and the whole plot line is, well, retarded.

Abrahams paints the picture that all re-enactors are crazy die-hards that often take things too far. The development of the hardcore re-enactors as being violent at events and gatherings is waaaay off. The whole ending scene where the Northern re-enactors kidnap Roy's son and then ends with a mini gun battle and thriller on Lookout Mountain was awful. The thought of the ending scene happening in real life is an insane thought.

I'm tempted to burn my copy of it.

Whatever you do, DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK!! This really makes me think if this book was sent to an editor at all, it was that bad. So again, I tell you, whatever you do, DO NOT BUT THIS BOOK! If you must read it, check it out at your local library, DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS!