A Word on 'The Last Word' by Taylor Adams: A Review

 by John Russo, guest contributor

Seeing as this story is about a psychopathic author who stalks, haunts, and terrorizes a reader over a negative review, one would probably think it wise of me to give it five stars just out of caution. After all, considering the wild ride this book just took me on, I’m entitled to some paranoia. Right?

However, there are two differences between Taylor Adams (who wrote The Last Word) and H.G. Kane (the aforementioned psychopath found in the pages of The Last Word). The first difference is that Mr. Adams is, from what I can tell, a good human being without any evil intentions whatsoever. The other difference is, unlike the psychopathic author in the story, Mr. Adams deserves and has fully earned a five-star review.

To begin, The Last Word surpassed my expectations by miles. That’s quite the compliment, given that my expectations were pretty high after reading No Exit, Adams’s nail-biting tale about a college student who finds herself pitted against the very face of evil at a rest stop on a Colorado mountain pass. Many of the elements that came together in No Exit also join forces here -- a troubled heroine running from a shattered past, a secluded location, a storm, and a dreadful villain lurking just beyond the reach of the motion-activated security lights.

Emma Carpenter, this story’s troubled heroine, turns out to be just as determined and strong-willed as Darby Thorne from No Exit, but I think I cheered her on a bit harder than I did Darby. The more I learned about her, and about the awful tragedies that drove her to that secluded beach house, the more I desperately wanted her to come out the victor in the nightmare that followed.

This amazingly original thriller accomplished so many daring feats, it would take me far too long to cover them all. For example, there aren’t many books out there that have filled me with such doubt, such uncertainty as to what’s real and what’s not, that I nearly went mad every time I tried to get ahead of the story and guess what might happen next. With this one, I simply couldn’t outsmart the plot. Granted, if one pays close attention, the clues are there, but even with the clues, it’s impossible to accurately predict.

I don’t wish to spoil anything, because to do so would be to rob future readers of the pleasure of each and every shock, each little twist that takes the story in jaw-dropping directions. And it’s not just the twists themselves, it’s the clever methods by which Adams reveals them to the reader. It’s pure, gritty, adrenaline-pumped delight, through-and-through.

Perhaps the best part about The Last Word is that, while it is a dark and disturbing book with plenty of human cruelty on display, it’s also filled with hope. I will admit, near the end, I almost couldn’t bear to go on. I almost laid it aside because I couldn’t bear the thought that evil would triumph, not after the heroine had gone through so much hell. Thankfully, I wasn’t disappointed.

But when I say it’s filled with hope, I’m getting at something deeper than just a happy ending. It’s a story about redemption, forgiveness, courage, reconciliation, and love – things our society needs right now more than ever.

So don’t waste any time. Pick this one up. You won’t regret it.

 

John Russo is a writer whose latest short story, "The Race," can be found at Amazon.

 

Choose Yourself: A Review for Writers

Once in a while you run across an informative non-fiction book that is enjoyable to read not just because of its content but because of the way it’s written. The book Choose Yourself by James Altucher is one such book. Mr. Altucher has truly written a page turner using his conversational writing style, uncommon wit and brute honesty. 

The book is written in the second-person viewpoint which further helps Mr. Altucher connect with his audience, which he addresses as “you.”  I chose the following excerpt from his book because it is a good example of showing verses telling in nonfiction writing. Here he is describing or showing rather than telling us about the kind of person who is naïve enough to believe he or she can change anyone’s mind about anything.

Do you really think you are going to change anyone’s mind? I always wonder, who are these people who spend all day on Internet message boards and comments sections getting really angry and trying to prove that their opinion is THE opinion that everyone should have.

And yet, we get sucked in. Some anonymous teenager from Dubai might throw out an opinion that rubs us the wrong way and the next thing we know it’s forty-eight hours later and we are in a drugged-out daze having spent the entire time peeing in a bottle and arguing in vain with this Internet troll. I wish I could say now, “So I went out and interviewed eighty-seven trolls and here is what they are really like.” But I didn’t. Because the trolls disappear. There are 7 billion people on the planet. The guy who disagreed with you is one of them. Good luck finding him.

What is the purpose of an opinion? To prove you’re right? You’re wrong.

Altucher takes the mundane subject of opinionated people and turns it into an entertaining romp. 

To put it simply, the book is about more than opinionated people. It is about saying goodbye to the old employee mentality or old way of thinking and embracing the new entrepreneurial way of thinking. Everything we ever thought of as being safe and secure like college, employment, retirement and government is all crumbling down. We can no longer wait to be chosen for success, we must choose ourselves so that true success may follow. You as a writer are in many ways an entrepreneur. You are creating something that you must bring to market, and your best bet for making money or experiencing success from your work may just be to choose yourself.