The Last Refuge

by Chris Knopf

Book Overview

Available in Canada for the first time a compelling debut from a fresh new voice in crime fiction. Sam Acquillo is at the end of the line. A middle-aged corporate dropout living in his dead parents... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 157962118X
• ISBN13: 9781579621186
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Permanent Press (NY)
• Length: 287 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.8" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

More Sam Acquillo

Chris Knopf uses a technique in "The Last Refuge" that I see from time to time some of in my favorite novels, whether they're murder mysteries or not. I've seen it in Lee Child and I've seen it in Herman Melville. It probably has a literary name, but for now I'll call it the Observational Aside. The narrative stops for a moment, usually just as something big is about to happen, and the author throws in a little treatise on some philosophical or physical subject. For instance, just before a corporate showdown, Sam Acquillo steps out of the moment and speaks directly to us, as if he were standing at the lip of the stage in a Greek tragedy, Omniscient Observer: "Embarrassment is a complicated human emotion. Probably because it's an aggregate of other emotions - shame, guilt, anger, regret - that assemble in temporary alliances to suit the particulars of the moment. It's also one of the few emotions truly scalable to large organizations." Then the camera rolls again, the action resumes, and we pick up where we left off, with two benefits: a greater understanding and appreciation for what is about to occur, and a little shot of tension-building as a result of the interruption, like a second shot of espresso in the mix. I love that. This is a novel that uses the murder-and-mayhem form to examine the human condition, deeply and with conviction. Sam Acquillo is a guy fighting through never-ending pain, with no earthly idea why. A capable warrior without a lord, like the old Ronin samurai after the emperor was gone, wandering the countryside, looking for something to do and a reason to do it. Buy this book, get down with Sam Acquillo, and join the rest of us in looking forward to his next challenge. Believe me, you want to root for this guy and his dog and his '67 Grand Prix.

"I want more Sam Aquillo"

In the Hamptons, where Knopf is a "local", this was The Book To Read this summer. And what a refreshing one! This author doesn't just describe, he evokes - unexpected characters, a stirring sense of place and surprising twists of murder and intrigue. You can almost smell the place. I re-read many sentences for the sheer pleasure of the language and dialogue. And the action is so character-driven, the story could only occur in a world where money makes weird things happen. I totally identified with Knopf's irreverent nonconformist protagonist, Sam Aquillo. At the end of the story, you're left wanting more Sam, please. Hurry up, Chris Knopf. We're waiting.

The last refuge for a great read

The Last Refuge is a great read. Once I got started, this was in the "couldn't put down" category. Knopf's hero, Sam Acguillo, is quirky enough to be truly engaging and believable enough to push the story as it develops. And I have to admit I found his lifestyle oddly appealing, if not how he got there. In truth, the lawyers Knopf paints are every bit as entertaining. The mystery itself has a good, if complex, underpinning, with history and motive I assume are not entirely alien to the real world Hamptons. The engineering know-how that winds through the book provokes some interesting thoughts about attempting the perfect crime. And what hero-lead mystery would be complete without the potential for dashing the plutonic relationships? The Last Refuge accelerates at a good pace as Sam scrambles to settle the debts before returning (one hopes) to his foggy, languid state. I may never order another vodka with anything but ice. Great stuff! How long till the next Acquillo story?

The Last Refuge Is A First in Fiction

Don't miss this exquisite novel. With all the hype about the Hamptons and all the recent misguided critiques, Marxist and otherwise, this mystery is a must read for anyone who wants the best insight into the minds and souls of those who sought redemption in a painfully beautiful place, only to be drawn into conflct and chaos. Chris Knopf is a major writer, who, like Martin Clark, came out of nowhere to knock the socks off of the famous wordsmiths who get the big review and the giant advances. Permanent Press deserves a world of credit for saving this wonderful book from the oblivion of the impenentrable mediocrity of the New York publishing world.

Sand, salt, murder and money

Clearly a fan of the hard-boiled noir detective fiction of writers like Dashiell Hammett Raymond Chandler, and Ross MacDonald, Chris Knopf updates the genre with a tale of modern murder in the salty, sandy, money-drenched Hamptons. Sam Acquillo, a burned-out corporate v.p. and engineer, has dumped his job and his wife and retired to drink and brood in the small cottage his father built in the 1940s in a working class enclave along the Little Peconic Bay. It's 2000, and "a neighborhood like this, in a place like this, is a little like a guy in a cheap suit accidentally invited to a gallery opening." Sam sits on his porch staring out at the bay, drinking vodka, smoking filtered Camels and talking to his dog. But when he discovers the body of his neighbor, a mean old lady universally disliked, something stirs. Maybe it's the engineer in him noticing things that don't quite fit. He volunteers to administer her meager estate, a job no one else wants, and soon makes himself enough of a nuisance to land in the hospital, concussed. An amateur boxer who keeps himself in shape and is not averse to physical contact (taking after his father who was beaten to death in a barroom brawl), Sam gives the police no help in finding his attacker and keeps on probing. Along the way he meets several smart and interesting women who seem to find him as attractive as he finds them, keeping possibilities in play, and has a few more brushes with violence, not all of them defensive. Knopf paces this stylish debut well, revealing his narrator's complex character as he unravels the tangle of his mystery, imbuing all with a strong sense of place. Sam, though likable from the start, grows on the reader as he doggedly pursues a mystery with nothing in it for him but the satisfaction of a job well done. Though damaged and stubborn, he's a man of integrity and cautious feeling. A part-time resident himself, Knopf also captures the feel of the Hamptons - greed drawn by natural beauty through no fault of its own, beleaguered locals edged out by rich summer people - and transports the reader to its village streets, sprawling mansions, neighborhood watering holes and spectacular vistas. With its snappy (though occasionally overlong) dialogue, intelligent humor and strong protagonist, readers will be glad there's at least one more Acquillo novel in the works. - The Portsmouth Herald