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A review by fredsphere
The Last Coin by James P. Blaylock
4.0
Blaylock combines two very different kinds of stories here: a magical thriller and a screwball comedy. The comedy dominates for the great majority of the book, leaving the thriller neglected.
The magical premise concerns the 30 silver pieces paid to Judas. These have vast power, when gathered into the possession of one person. The villain of the book, Mr. Pennyman, after surviving for centuries, is nearing his goal.
The hero is Pennyman's landlord, a schlub called Andrew Vanbergen. Andrew is not nearing his goal. It takes him forever (past half the book) to wake up to the threat, or discover that the "spoon" in his possession is in fact the last coin Pennyman needs. (It came to him, via his aunt, out of the mouth of a pig. Yes, really.)
Andrew spends much of his time pursuing hairbrained schemes and spinning insane lies to explain away the inevitable disasters that result. I really, really, wanted this story to focus on the threat and build the tension instead.
Blaylock has a wildly inventive mind and I've enjoyed his writing before. ("The Pink of Fading Neon" is a short story featuring an unforgettable, mock-horrifying horde of armadillos. It's an example of Blaylock getting the horror-humor balance perfectly right.) I wanted to read more Blaylock and found this book at a used bookstore. He's won the PKD award with [b:Homunculus|421130|Homunculus (Narbondo, #2)|James P. Blaylock|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348302165s/421130.jpg|410258]; I think that's the one to read next.
The magical premise concerns the 30 silver pieces paid to Judas. These have vast power, when gathered into the possession of one person. The villain of the book, Mr. Pennyman, after surviving for centuries, is nearing his goal.
The hero is Pennyman's landlord, a schlub called Andrew Vanbergen. Andrew is not nearing his goal. It takes him forever (past half the book) to wake up to the threat, or discover that the "spoon" in his possession is in fact the last coin Pennyman needs. (It came to him, via his aunt, out of the mouth of a pig. Yes, really.)
Andrew spends much of his time pursuing hairbrained schemes and spinning insane lies to explain away the inevitable disasters that result. I really, really, wanted this story to focus on the threat and build the tension instead.
Blaylock has a wildly inventive mind and I've enjoyed his writing before. ("The Pink of Fading Neon" is a short story featuring an unforgettable, mock-horrifying horde of armadillos. It's an example of Blaylock getting the horror-humor balance perfectly right.) I wanted to read more Blaylock and found this book at a used bookstore. He's won the PKD award with [b:Homunculus|421130|Homunculus (Narbondo, #2)|James P. Blaylock|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348302165s/421130.jpg|410258]; I think that's the one to read next.