One of the most influential crime novels ever written, by a legend of the genre. Tough, hard-boiled, and brilliantly suspenseful, The Last Good Kiss is an unforgettable detective story starring C. W. Sughrue, a Montana investigator who kills time by working at a topless bar. Hired to track down a derelict author, he ends up on the trail of a girl missing in Haight-Ashbury for a decade. The tense … for a decade. The tense hunt becomes obsessive as Sughrue takes a haunting journey through the underbelly of America’s sleaziest nightmares.
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Gritty and hard-boiled, Crumley is a master of the Noir genre. His prose flows like syrup over the gritty background, poetic even and deeply engaging with the reader. Highly recommend it to those who like a good PI, Crime thriller.
On a recommendation, I went to Amazon and read the first paragraph, which is actually the first sentence, and then I slapped twelve bucks on the counter for the Kindle version like I was betting on the last gray pony ever.
Ignore the relatively few bad reviews—every book has them—and enjoy this brilliant noir-feeling novel chock full of interesting characters, beautiful scenery, wonderful dialogue, and just the right amount of twists and turns.
I had not previously heard of this author, but I’ll be following him closely now.
It get an Okay from me. A drunk is a drunk is a drunk. Too much repetition.
Too one note with the boozy characters.
Not sure about the writing style but it held my interest
TDid not like i
Literary page turner with off the wall memorable characters.
I don’t get all the hype for this book. Maybe when it first came out the ideas were fresh and daring. Now just tired and worn out.
From the wonderful opening line, this was a great PI novel and influential on all that followed
I enjoyed the crazy characters in this book as well….it was so reminiscent of the sixties and seventies. A journey across 4-5 states with a beer drinking dog!! I miss the days when you could hop in your car and set out for an adventure, and this book brings it all
back. There are twists, turns and surprises galore.
HIs last book, I think. Light touch, great writing, and digging into darkness.
This is one of the most original books i have read in a long time i read it in one setting.
Classic hard boiled detective fiction in the tradition of Hammet and Chandler
This is a fast read with good characters and well writen.
A little editing would have gone a long way towards making this a better read. Once I begin a book, I generally plod through, whether I am enjoying it or not. This was good enough to make we want to conclude the mystery, but quite frustrating along the way–too many sidetracks off the plot.
Great read. Want to read all of his books!
If you’re not bothered by the antediluvian treatment of women (which seemed perfectly normal back when the book was written around 1970) it’s very entertaining and well written for the genre.
First Crumley work I’ve read; I see why so many excellent reviews. One of the best I’ve read. Superb tale.
Crumley was as good as Hammett, Chandler, et al. Too bad he died so young. A Jewish PI in Montana who drinks peppermint schnapps…what more do you need to know?
The author really had a “way with words”, as you might expect from any author, but this guy was witty, original and very incisive in his characters, and descriptive, but not too wordy in the narrative. Impressive.