As Kiline navigates-quite violently, one might add-the murky world he finds himself in, the novel becomes less about him and more about the supporting cast, a complex group of characters each with their own agendas, from police to rival cults. This being a detective novel, the action of the story focuses less on Kline than the cult’s interactions with its rivals and the outside world. But the only way Kline is going to get at the truth is with a bullet and cleaver…one body and limb at a time. There is just one problem-Aline isn’t dead. When Aline is found murdered, Kline is recruited to find the killer. Almost all of them are missing a limb or maybe more, depending on their rank in the cult hierarchy. Led by a mysterious figure named Aline, the group of religious extremists, take Matthew 5:29-30 literally. Being one-handed has been hell ever since, and his taste for liquor doesn’t help matters any. Thanks to an encounter with a ne’er do well in an abandoned flat, Kline’s right arm is history, literally. Meet Kline, former homicide detective, alcoholic-and amputee. But what happens when a group of practitioners clash violently with an outside world that sees them as little more than freaks? That’s the crux of Brian Evanson’s Last Days, a mystery-horror novel about the near future. From tattoos to piercings, the practice of altering one’s body to stand out-or blend in-is timeless. Even if we disapprove of it, we likely know someone who does.
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