Warning: The Last Four Things is the second book in a series. Spoilers for The Left Hand of God ahead.
Last June I reviewed The Left Hand of God, the first installment in Paul Hoffman’s trilogy. It had its flaws, but I really enjoyed the dark view of the world and the atypical protagonist, Thomas Cale.
Many reviewers found Cale to be unlikeable, but I found him fascinating; raised in an abusive monastery, Cale is trained for one thing: to be the perfect killer.
No kid is going to come out of that and feel “likable,” yet Cale manages to feel compassion for a young girl on the verge of a slow and painful death. Her rescue catapults him and several compatriots on a grand adventure that was, I felt, refreshingly original.
Since then, I’ve been anxiously anticipating the trilogy’s second installment—even going so far as to recommend the first book as the beginning of a good series—but much to my chagrin, Last Four Things simply doesn’t hold up. I found Left Hand to be darkly compelling despite its flaws, but The Last Four Things totally derails the sense of adventure of its predecessor.
At the end of Left Hand of God, Cale is faced with some harsh realities: not only is he abandoned by the woman he loves, he’s also captured by Bosco, one of the Redeemers he so greatly fears and hates. Because the book stresses how much ALL of his companions want to avoid the Redeemers at any cost, I assumed The Last Four Things would be the darkest chapter in the trilogy, a la The Empire Strikes Back.
Instead, it’s closer to—and I say this without personal knowledge, just a general impression—the Twilight series. The book begins with an angsty dream sequence in which Cale attempts to murder a representation of Arbell, his erstwhile lover. He then goes on to join forces with Bosco, who believes Cale’s destiny is to end all life on Earth (according to him, God has sent Cale for this purpose—he’s tired of man’s evil ways).
After pages and pages of pure exposition, Cale’s logic boils down to something like this: My girlfriend broke up with me, and I don’t have anything better to do, so…yeah, what the heck. Destroying every human on Earth sounds peachy.
The Last Four Things leaves out some of the more interesting characters like IdrisPukke, yet focuses on secondary characters who weren’t developed enough inLeft Hand to support their own chapters (Vague Henri and Kleist). Worse, the chapters they ARE given are few and far between—so they aren’t really developed in THIS book, either.
Aside from all that, the book is a painfully dull read. With the direction of the story derailed by Cale’s decision to simply throw in with the antagonists, he and Bosco mostly sit around being broody and quasi-evil. Cale is dispatched to handle minor insurrections involving people and places the reader has never heard of and couldn’t care less about, whining sporadically about how much he hates the woman who betrayed him.
Because I enjoyed Left Hand God so much, it was painful how much I dislikedThe Last Four Things. After requesting and receiving an advanced copy, I felt honor-bound to finish it—but just as obligated to report on it honestly.
And unfortunately, the truth is that The Last Four Things is a crash-and-burn situation I just can’t recommend.
A review copy for The Last Four Things was provided by the publisher. As always, my views are my own.
