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annieb123's review
5.0
Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.
George Sims, (1923-1999) has been referred to contemporaneously and posthumously as a prodigiously talented writer of noir, memoirs and gritty realistic mystery/thrillers. He was also an antiquarian bookseller in real life and wrote about his acquaintances and acquisitions in the rare book trade. His writing garnered praise from a host of fellow writers and this particular book, The Last Best Friend, was included in H.R.F. Keating's list of '100 best books'.
The Last Best Friend (title taken from a poem by Robert Southey) begins abruptly with the falling death/suicide of Sammy Weiss, best friend of the main character, Ned Balfour. Ned, who is an antiquarian/rare book seller, is out of the country at the time, but immediately travels back to London to investigate. Sammy was extremely acrophobic and Ned can't get his head around the idea of him intentionally committing suicide in such a way.
I was immediately struck by the quality of the writing. Technically flawless and gripping, the author manages to write two simultaneous scenes at the same time without detracting from either one, and also without being confusing in the slightest degree for the reader. The writing is very simple and pared-down. Sims was a master of 'show, don't tell'.
I devoured this book in one sitting and immediately reread it (and noticed a lot of things which I had missed on the first read-through). Wonderfully written with a solid plot and dialogue that is pitch perfect. A lot of reviews mention 'swinging 60's London', but apart from mentioning place names, the setting and time period weren't really central to the plot line. It didn't read as terribly dated as one might expect from other novels of the time period (compared to, for example, John Creasey (who is one of my secret passions - love his books, too)). I really admire that Sims never puffs up or shows off his writing. The descriptions are well rendered but not overly so, the characters are believable and the dialogue is spot on. There are, admittedly, some quotes which are dated ("He looked like a homosexual of the rare, vicious kind") and jarring (along with some *cough* relatively innocent(?) misogyny), but in general, the book reads well to a modern audience.
This is an author who deserves a much wider readership. For fans of Ross Macdonald, Mickey Spillane, Ed McBain and company, Sims, though certainly less famous (and British), will fill the bill nicely.
Originally released in 1967, and republished in all formats Nov 7th, 2017 by Poisoned Pen, with a new introduction for this edition by Martin Edwards.
Five enthusiastic stars
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher.
George Sims, (1923-1999) has been referred to contemporaneously and posthumously as a prodigiously talented writer of noir, memoirs and gritty realistic mystery/thrillers. He was also an antiquarian bookseller in real life and wrote about his acquaintances and acquisitions in the rare book trade. His writing garnered praise from a host of fellow writers and this particular book, The Last Best Friend, was included in H.R.F. Keating's list of '100 best books'.
The Last Best Friend (title taken from a poem by Robert Southey) begins abruptly with the falling death/suicide of Sammy Weiss, best friend of the main character, Ned Balfour. Ned, who is an antiquarian/rare book seller, is out of the country at the time, but immediately travels back to London to investigate. Sammy was extremely acrophobic and Ned can't get his head around the idea of him intentionally committing suicide in such a way.
I was immediately struck by the quality of the writing. Technically flawless and gripping, the author manages to write two simultaneous scenes at the same time without detracting from either one, and also without being confusing in the slightest degree for the reader. The writing is very simple and pared-down. Sims was a master of 'show, don't tell'.
I devoured this book in one sitting and immediately reread it (and noticed a lot of things which I had missed on the first read-through). Wonderfully written with a solid plot and dialogue that is pitch perfect. A lot of reviews mention 'swinging 60's London', but apart from mentioning place names, the setting and time period weren't really central to the plot line. It didn't read as terribly dated as one might expect from other novels of the time period (compared to, for example, John Creasey (who is one of my secret passions - love his books, too)). I really admire that Sims never puffs up or shows off his writing. The descriptions are well rendered but not overly so, the characters are believable and the dialogue is spot on. There are, admittedly, some quotes which are dated ("He looked like a homosexual of the rare, vicious kind") and jarring (along with some *cough* relatively innocent(?) misogyny), but in general, the book reads well to a modern audience.
This is an author who deserves a much wider readership. For fans of Ross Macdonald, Mickey Spillane, Ed McBain and company, Sims, though certainly less famous (and British), will fill the bill nicely.
Originally released in 1967, and republished in all formats Nov 7th, 2017 by Poisoned Pen, with a new introduction for this edition by Martin Edwards.
Five enthusiastic stars
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher.
slhandy45's review
3.0
Picked this one up from the library on a whim. The story is a bit clunky, but the strong sense of place and the peeks into the world of collecting are fun.
abookishtype's review against another edition
3.0
Few people would do what Ned Balfour does in George Sims’ The Last Best Friend. After Balfour’s friend, Sam Weiss, falls out a window and dies, Ned drops his sunny holiday in Corsica and heads back to London to find out why. It doesn’t make sense that Weiss would commit suicide. Plus, there is the telegram he sent Balfour about a “terrible decision” he had to make. The best clue that Weiss didn’t kill himself comes later in the book, when Balfour is beaten up. Every mystery reader knows that that the detective is definitely asking the right questions when someone beats them up...
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley for review consideration.
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley for review consideration.
tonstantweader's review against another edition
3.0
The Last Best Friend opens with recently separated Ned Balfour enjoying a lighthearted Mediterranean vacation with a young woman. He receives a cable from his best friend Sammy Weiss telling him he has a “terrible decision” to make and needs Ned’s advice. Before Ned can call him, he gets another telegram telling him his friend is dead and he must come home.
He can’t quite understand why his friend would kill himself, particularly since jumping out a window is probably that last choice of an acrophobe with vertigo. He asks around among their mutual friends to see if he can understand what the terrible decision might be and if there is some explanation.
He is soon warned off by a menacing enforcer accompanied by a few hired strongmen. I really don’t understand why bad guys “warn off” folks like Balfour who without their intervention might soon have decided there was really nothing to investigate. Once you are warned off, you know there is something to investigate. It’s a big flashing neon sign that there is some crime.
George Sims wrote The Last Best Friend in the Sixties and that is when it takes place. Seeing the date 1966 in the story, though, always left me disconcerted because it felt so much more like a post-World War II novel. It felt out of its time. Did England in the late Sixties still orient itself fully around World War II or what that a generational orientation? I just felt the time and the mood of the novel were incongruent.
I like the way Sims writes. I was interested in Ned Balfour and his friend’s death. I wanted to know the answers. I figured it out, but I think that’s because this plot has been used several more times since it was published in 1967. It would have been so much fresher then. It is unfortunate his work has gone out of fashion because he was a clever writer.
I received an e-galley of The Last Best Friend from the publisher through NetGalley.
The Last Best Friend at Poisoned Pen Press
George Sims at GoodReads
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2017/11/06/9780881844047/
He can’t quite understand why his friend would kill himself, particularly since jumping out a window is probably that last choice of an acrophobe with vertigo. He asks around among their mutual friends to see if he can understand what the terrible decision might be and if there is some explanation.
He is soon warned off by a menacing enforcer accompanied by a few hired strongmen. I really don’t understand why bad guys “warn off” folks like Balfour who without their intervention might soon have decided there was really nothing to investigate. Once you are warned off, you know there is something to investigate. It’s a big flashing neon sign that there is some crime.
George Sims wrote The Last Best Friend in the Sixties and that is when it takes place. Seeing the date 1966 in the story, though, always left me disconcerted because it felt so much more like a post-World War II novel. It felt out of its time. Did England in the late Sixties still orient itself fully around World War II or what that a generational orientation? I just felt the time and the mood of the novel were incongruent.
I like the way Sims writes. I was interested in Ned Balfour and his friend’s death. I wanted to know the answers. I figured it out, but I think that’s because this plot has been used several more times since it was published in 1967. It would have been so much fresher then. It is unfortunate his work has gone out of fashion because he was a clever writer.
I received an e-galley of The Last Best Friend from the publisher through NetGalley.
The Last Best Friend at Poisoned Pen Press
George Sims at GoodReads
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2017/11/06/9780881844047/