The Last Days of Madame Rey

by A.W. Hill

Book Overview

Private investigator Stephan Raszer is back. Action-packed, combining spiritual detection, paranormal events reminiscent of The X-Files, this is a metaphysical mystery with a keen postmodern edge.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786718811
• ISBN13: 9780786718818
• Release Date: April 2007
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf Publishers
• Length: 328 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Great Read

Stephen Raszer is back performing his specialized role of a PI of missing people who have been lost to the occult. This time, it's Fortis Cohn, the son of a prominent lawyer, who is lost to the Military Order of Thule. While tracking Cohn, Raszer discovers the connection of the Order to the legend of Lemuria and its relationship to the supernatural qualities of Mt. Shasta. His old lover and now friend, April Blessing, goes deep undercover to help him find out the truth, eventually finding herself at extreme risk when Bronk Vreeland, the Order's psychotic leader, kidnaps her. And if that's not harrowing enough for you, Raszer soon discovers the Order has dangerous plans for the volcano. In a nice twist of the romantic elements, a deep friendship could be sensed between Stephen and April underneath their undeniable physical attraction. Hill obviously did his homework in researching the occult and the kinds of secret societies spawned from it, making the supernatural aspects integral to the story--which gives the story much more weight. I'll be thinking of the world a little differently as a result. Great read.

A Gumshoe for the 21st Century

Fans of Raymond Chandler and his ilk will be pleasantly surprised by A. W. Hill's imaginative and atmospheric reconsidering of the Genre. A moody and evocative blend of Crime Drama , Science Fiction and the Occult , Hill's book is a hard-to-put-down , chilling read . I was easily swept into Stephan Raszer's Noirish and Fantastic world , in this , A.W. Hill's second Raszer Novel.

A stylish page-turner that respects its audience

Mr. Hill's writing is stripped down but evocative, making this a page-turner with surprisingly weighty content. Whereas most writers of supernatural thrillers use esoteric details as bits of colorful window dressing for stock scenario's (e.g. the dressed-up extended chase sequence that is the core of the Da Vinci Code) Mr. Hill works for his effects --- he shows some actual knowledge of and thought about the ideas he deploys, and he makes his mystical themes an integral part of his plot line. The minor characters who come to Stephan Raszer's aid - a female ex-Israeli commando, a love-sick Hell's Angel --are sharply drawn and enjoyable and help keep the plot spinning at crucial moments. The locales -- from the tawdry magic of old Hollywood to the Atlas mountains -- crucial to a story like this -- are vividly evoked. Fans of the Da Vinci code will find as many thrills but more meat here.