Last Days

The Book Report: Kline is a PI who doesn't need clients to hire him so he can live. This is because he stole money from a man who was trying to murder him. To make sure the man couldn't murder him, Kline bought time by lopping off his own hand before killing the murder-minded malefactor.All of this takes place before we meet Kline, and is the very least awful, least repulsive, and most understandable stuff that happens in the entire 201pp of this book. Still interested? Then on we go.The book is two connected novellas, “The Brotherhood of Mutilation” and “Last Days,” comprising the adventures of Kline in the weirdest subculture that christian imagination has yet to throw up: the mutilates. These are two sects of people who amputate parts of their bodies to align themselves with scripture: “And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire...” Mark 9:47 First and smallest of my anti-xian rants here commenceth: Srsly y'all can any sane person in possession of even modest decoding skills think this crap is meant literally? And if so, how can that morally defective person claim this horrifying religion is a force for love and peace after reading just this one passage?Back to the book. Borchert, leader of the mutilates and a twelve (number of body parts amputated), has Kline kidnapped and forces him to investigate the death of Aline, the leader and founder of the mutilates (a seventeen, as we horrifyingly and disgustingly learn later in the story), despite handicapping Kline by refusing to let him, a mere one (the hand that's gone), meet with any witnesses or ask any questions or see any evidence. Now old hands in the groves of noir know that this is a set-up so classic that one wonders if those blinking neon signs are visible from the parkway. Kline certainly knows the danger he's in, and has in fact been boringly repetitious in his demands to be let go, let out, left alone. And then evil, evil Borchert gives Kline just enough to compel him, as a PI, to address the itch of curiousness. (Bonus points for following that reference back to its origin.)All ends in tears, as Kline oversteps the rope he's been given to hang himself in a nefarious plot to rid the world of a bad “holy” man; the body count mounts; and Kline doesn't escape without losing yet more body parts to the Brotherhood of Mutilation. Escape, however, he does; and then we launch into “Last Days.”Oh my heck. Kline wakes up in the hospital, missing an entire arm now, to find a blond man with no right hand (go look that Biblical quotation up again) determined to kidnap him again, this time taking him to meet Paul, leader of a schismatic amputee group called “The Pauls” because they're all blond men with amputated right hands. Paul, the leader, wants Kline to go finish the job he thought was done, ie killing the unholy holy man.Which, not to belabor the point, Kline doesn't want to do but does, in the process meeting an old friend, killing an old enemy, and causing a degree of mayhem only describable as Biblical. Kline is seen as the Mutilate Messiah, the burning brand that will cleanse the filth and degradation of error from the mutilate community.I have to stop now, or I will vomit.My Review: This part will be short. It took me three weeks to read this book because I couldn't do much at a time. It is grim, grisly, and gruesome; it is horrifying and horrible; it is strong, strong stuff for even seasoned veterans of de Sade's revolting works.Brian Evenson was raised as a Mormon; he was told by the Mormon Church that he would have to stop writing if he wanted to continue being a Mormon. I don't know what happened after that, but I know there are more books by Evenson to be read. And, I cannot believe I'm typing this sentence, I will be reading them.One day.Evenson's vicious critique of christian religion is spot-on with my observations of the religion's effects on the world over the past two millennia. A more potent force for evil has never been unleashed. From the christian thugs burning the Library of Alexandria to the Westboro Baptist thugs condemning fags to burn in hell because their narrow-minded bigot of a gawd hates them, this religion should, in a properly run world, be closely monitored as a hate group and membership in it should deny a person all civil rights.Only recommended for the reader who seeks out the dark side.

I loved this. The narrator did a stellar job, and I was floored while reading this.

I'm not really sure how to put this review into words. This is my 1st book by this author, and I don't think it will be my last. But I definitely wanna step back and take a break from him. I enjoy books about cults and stuff like that but was very surprised that this colt was focused around amputees. I thought the wording and the storyline flowed really well. I did like the characters. I also like the story itself.

Great job from the narrator, making this one of my favorites. The author creates this unique and horrific premiss that makes your skin crawl and a couple of times caused me to swallow hard, but never once did I ever think of not turning a page. Suspense, horror, great characters and a unique plot. It hits all the marks for me. The narrator made it all come together even more. Home run. Horror fans only. Not for non horror buffs.

I am quickly finding out that weird horror is one of my favorite genres. This is my first book by Evenson and it was wonderfully strange and macabre. Amputee’s rejoice, this book is for you

Good, I enjoyed the bleak Kafkian sense of life as a trapped redundancy—but it’s not as special as Peter Straub, in his brief essay at the end, seems to think it is. Straub makes an argument for Evenson’s existential originality. Evidently he is not familiar with The Hunter, Donald Westlake’s 1962 novel about an utterly amoral thief. It almost made me despair of humanity, for a little while. Then there is Kafka himself, as well as any number of modernists (Alberto Moravia), existentialists (Camu), and their progeny (I recommend the great Brazilian Clarice Lispector—if you dare!). None of this is against Evenson, who delivers as promised

This was a really good book but really freaking messed up like the weirdest book I've ever heard well almost

What to say.... I picked this one up due to the quality of the limited edition by Underland Press, beautiful book from an aesthetic point of view. Story wise this book certainly sets itself apart. Composed of two sections, "The Brotherhood of Mutiliation" and "Last Days", the novel tells the story of Kline, a detective who loses his hand. This results in Kine becoming an object of interest for a crazy "the more body parts I remove the closer I am to God" cult. While the story stars a detective there is no mystery to solve, it's basically just the evolution of Kline himself that takes center stage. For me, reaching the end wasn't a monumental relief or feeling of accomplishment, just a sort of "Well THAT happened" feeling. The plot felt more geared for a short story/novella (alas that's what the first half of this novel originally was) and I didn't feel too captivated by it. It isn't poorly written though, so it earns a place on my "Quick summer reads" list.

Kline, suffering from depressions after forcible cutting of his own hand is dragged against his will to investigate a murder of the head of a religious cult, one that follows the precept that you should cut of your hand if it offends you.Whoa this books intense, I could just not read it in one sitting. That's partly due to my feeling on amputation but mostly its just Brian Evensons extreme story and hard hitting style. Its almost pared down to the minimum, there are no long descriptions here, no out of place word (no surnames!). There is a perfect balance kept between the extremity of the story and the brotherly matter of fact tone. Its violent but never gratuitous, its characters deeply unlikeable but always interesting and never unbelievable. You are too dragged into the labyrinth of fleeting and changing facts unable to leave until till end. This is book is expanded from the "The Brotherhood of Mutilation" novella but it doesn't seem to suffer, thematically its suits being cut into a few sections, keeping you unsettled.

So terrible I couldn't finish and returned it to Audible. Protagonist is an idiot among idiots. The "investigation" makes no sense at all, even if you are insane which, clearly, the amputation freaks are. They are incapable of bringing the set up to fruition. Why do they think he gives a shit about their depravity or the caste system that organizes it? The writing is meh and I just didn't want to listen to any more of the creepy narration (I think the guy was supposed to be conveying horror, but it just came through as breathless awe). Yuk.