|
[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
On the night of the San Francisco earthquake in 1906, Sergeant Randall Blackburn finds another body killed by the serial killer known as "the Surgeon." The murderer castrates the men and then leaves a poem. Suddenly the devastating earthquake hits and the city of San Francisco is in ruins. Some of the police officers are killed during the quake and others run away but Blackburn feels duty-bound to continue his work and try to help people. Meanwhile, 12-year-old Shane Nightingale, adopted son of the wealthy Nightingale family, is hiding in a cupboard as his adopted mother and sisters are tortured and killed by an unknown man who had entered their home. Thinking that his family was safe, his adopted father had left them alone after the worst of the quake to make sure that his store wouldn't be looted. Later on, Sergeant Blackburn enters the house to see if there are any survivors of the earthquake. Thinking the earthquake killed the woman and girls, he leaves as now most of the city is on fire and the flames are approaching. All this happens without his knowing that young Shane is still hiding in the cupboard. Afterwards, filled with guilt, Shane exits the house and wanders the streets. He ends up at a mission where he helps the priests take care of the cemetery and the residence Eventually, after Shane reads about a murder in the newspaper, he helps Sergeant Blackburn solve the case by sending him a note. Blackburn takes an immediate liking to the boy and tries to help him survive in the shattered city. Little could the two imagine that "the Surgeon" is now after Shane and plans on killing him as well. THE LAST NIGHTINGALE is the premiere book by Anthony Flacco. The first part of this novel was extraordinary as the author expertly tells the readers about the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. We watch in horror as the city is destroyed and the survivors are wandering about looking for help. I found this section of the story completely absorbing. When we meet "the Surgeon," Flacco give us some insight as to who this person is and what is going on in his mind. We learn about his feelings and thoughts and are horrified by his plans. The strong beginning led me to believe that this was going to turn out to be a thrilling mystery but, unfortunately, that did not happen. Flacco has the habit of introducing characters for no reason. He goes into great detail about the police department's acting station chief. At first the character added some interest but he was dropped unceremoniously. The novel would have been just the same without him. The same goes for 'Vignette,' a little girl who lived in the orphanage with Shane before he was adopted. She eventually ran away and stayed with Shane in the mission, lying to him by making him think that she was his sister. There was no reason to introduce 'Vignette' since the most interesting thing about her was the lie and since Shane never found out that she wasn't his sister, nothing much came of it. And the biggest disappointment in the story was the plan that "the Surgeon" had for the city. We are told in great detail how the killer was going to make sure that all the people of San Francisco would die. The readers even had to endure a long, gruesome torture scene only to have this huge set-up dropped. The book ended with a run of-the-mill chase scene, similar to hundreds of other chase scenes I've read. THE LAST NIGHTINGALE has a strong beginning, but with so many plot lines and characters dropped along the way, the book turned out to be a great disappointment.
Reviewed by Sharon Katz, June 2007
[ Top ]
QUICK SEARCH:
Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]
| 
