Fun read. However, the whole story seemed a little rushed. Plus the ending used a little “Deus ex Machina”. Kinda annoying when that happened. ( )

Best of the series so far! ( )

If you are a longtime Quarry fan, you will probably recognize the beginning of this story. You know- the part where the retired hitman who lives by the lake stumbles on two gay mafia hitmen in a convenience store buying tampax.

In Last Quarry, Collins has taken that opening and run with it. He has turned it into one terrific feature length tale where Quarry comes out of retirement to do one last job, one with the most incredible payday. He merely has to go to a small town and take out a librarian, but, of course, once this librarian strips down and dives into a swimming pool, even a aging Quarry knows she is going to be a difficult target.

As detailed in the First Quarry, Quarry is a former Vietnam veteran whose real name is never disclosed to the reader. He comes back, finds his fiancé, Joanie, in bed with another guy, finds that guy working under his car and kicks the jack out, survives a murder trial, and is then recruited by a mysterious figure named the Broker to carry out hits and we don't mean hits in baseball.
Collins published his first three Quarry novels in 1976, his fourth in 1977, and then his fifth in 1987. Nineteen years later (except for a collection of shorts released as "Greatest Hits"), he published The Last Quarry at the urging of Charles Ardai, publisher of Hard Case Crime. This began a new series of Quarry novels, including First Quarry, Quarry in the Middle, Quarry's Ex, and Wrong Quarry.
The Last Quarry is a worthy addition to this great series. It is just as good as the original series of Quarry novels.

This is another great Quarry novel, tightly written, and I found that the pages flew at a furious pace. It was well-plotted and an enjoyable read from cover to cover. Highly recommended.
Collins has done a great job of placing Quarry in the timeline, setting out his motives, his intentions, his fascination with the dazzling librarian.

The book is funny - gay hoods buying tampax- gee, what could they be up to? The characterizations are great from Quarry himself to the young lady tied to the bed in the cabin, to the rich mogul who thinks he has outsmarted Quarry.

As in all Quarry novels, the writing is smooth and it won't keep you busy for very long cause it is a damn quick read.
Bottom line: Great crime fiction! ( )

A great read! Raw and gritty, with "adult" language, Quarry is a man not to be messed with! When he comes out of retirement to take one last "hit", he finds that the target is not the usual type, and decides to find out why she has been contracted to be taken out. What he discovers is pretty messed up! I think this was a great find, and I am going to find the old Quarry stories and read those too! And who knows? Maybe this won't really be "the last Quarry" tale after all! ( )

This, according to the author, will likely always be the last in Quarry's chronology. Very good. Excellent read. The epitomizes why I buy HCC books. The cover is great & the material in between is perfect HCC material. The ending is wonderfully done.

As I would expect, lots of hard boiled action, not all of it predictable. In fact, I was plain surprised more than once. Quarry never really steps out of character, but he has matured. Be warned that this book does contain some spoilers for earlier novels. They were not published chronologically. ( )