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A night out at an Aerosmith concert, a toke on a joint, and with his fiftieth birthday looming, Joe Portugal is feeling nostalgic for the 60s. He was young, he was in a band called The Platypuses, and with any luck he might even get laid soon. Now, 30 years later, he makes a reasonably steady living by appearing in commercials, he tends his cactii, and he's sleeping with his best friend Gina. He's kept his electric guitar all these years and when Gina treats him to an amp, he begins to think that he coulda been a contender. Serendipitously, he meets up with his old pals from The Platypuses, and they talk about getting back together. There's only one problem - the band's brilliant lead guitarist has been missing for nearly 30 years, and the rest of the band want Joe to find him. Somebody, however, doesn't seem to want the band to get back together. Surely their music wasn't THAT bad. This is the third in the Joe Portugal series and is decidedly less cosy than the earlier books. One Last Hit has a more edgy feel as Joe neglects his plants for rock and roll. Joe Portugal is an amateur sleuth with hardboiled aspirations. He's reluctant to get involved in sleuthing, and, although he talks like Raymond Chandler, he doesn't like guns, or violence, or danger. Wise man. It makes him a very endearing and likeable protagonist. While I enjoyed the previous two books in the series - mainly due to the humour, and the character of Joe himself - One Last Hit was far more satisfying. The plot kept me guessing to the end, the writing flows, and the dialogue in particular is excellent. Nathan Walpow seems far more comfortable with the slightly harder edge he's given Joe and this shows in the writing. In addition, there are some superb supporting characters - especially two of Joe's old band members. A really good read - and a really good choice by Uglytown. I've never met an Uglytown book I didn't like and this is another great entry in their catalogue.
Reviewed by Donna Moore, May 2003
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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