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The story of why we are blessed with a new Quarry novel from Max Allan Collins after all these years is related in the author's afterword of the Hard Case Crime publication of THE LAST QUARRY. I will note that the work was inspired by a shorter film version, which in turn is one of the stories featured in the film anthology SHADES OF NOIR, which itself is based upon... Well, you get the picture.
By turns dark and humorous, the Quarry of THE LAST QUARRY is a hit man, and a principled one at that. He has retired from the life, but the life has not retired from him. Living quietly and contentedly as the manager of a vacation lodge, Quarry abruptly finds his past intruding on his present when a simple late night trip to the local convenience store brings him into a hostage-for-ransom situation involving some former acquaintances. Quarry makes a split decision and interjects himself into the matter in a somewhat unpredictable way, which is worth the price of admission by itself.
Doing so unexpectedly results in Quarry being offered "one last job," a hit with a payday so good that he'll never have to worry about anyone again. But the target is a woman who, according to Quarry's employer, doesn't deserve to die but will become a "problem." Quarry shadows the woman and plans the hit. What he doesn't plan on is becoming involved with her, but that is precisely what he does. Quarry thus is faced with a conundrum: someone has to die. He knows what he should do, but what he must do is quite another thing. The result is a suspenseful, wild night's ride, leading up to a shattering climax with a surprising but oddly satisfying denouement.
While Collins no doubt will be remembered most for his classic THE ROAD TO PERDITION, the greater body of his work is closer to THE LAST QUARRY, and it is with books such as the latter that he has built and maintained a reputation as one of the finest writers of crime fiction that the U.S. has produced. And at this late date, Collins, as exemplified by THE LAST QUARRY, continues to publish some of his finest work.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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