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jal755's review against another edition
3.0
2.5/5
This came across as 3 or 4 short stories that were written, chopped up, mixed and then pieced together. It wasn't bad, but it seemed very disjointed. The audiobook narrator was very good.
*I received a free audiobook copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.
This came across as 3 or 4 short stories that were written, chopped up, mixed and then pieced together. It wasn't bad, but it seemed very disjointed. The audiobook narrator was very good.
*I received a free audiobook copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.
lsp_ismyspiritanimal's review
5.0
Crazy. Good.
This was a really interesting take on an apocalypse novel. I definitely wasn't expecting it. The humor in it was great, and this author's style actually reminds me of my favorite author. Overall, I thought it was pretty great.
This was a really interesting take on an apocalypse novel. I definitely wasn't expecting it. The humor in it was great, and this author's style actually reminds me of my favorite author. Overall, I thought it was pretty great.
minniepauline's review against another edition
3.0
**SOME SPOILERS**
The ebook was well-written, but not well edited - especially toward the end. Sadly, that seems to be the case with a lot of ebooks. Typos everywhere, words missing. Very frustrating.
Technicalities aside, I liked this novel, but also found it frustrating. The main character is not particularly sympathetic, but not an anti-hero, really. He's just a guy, who does some things. Some of them good. A lot of them not so good. Most of them (as he admits) stupid.
I'm having trouble being articulate about why I didn't love this novel. There was a spark missing, I guess. The laziest man alive survives the Apocalypse. Not really sure how. Just does. It just didn't all connect, for me.
The ebook was well-written, but not well edited - especially toward the end. Sadly, that seems to be the case with a lot of ebooks. Typos everywhere, words missing. Very frustrating.
Technicalities aside, I liked this novel, but also found it frustrating. The main character is not particularly sympathetic, but not an anti-hero, really. He's just a guy, who does some things. Some of them good. A lot of them not so good. Most of them (as he admits) stupid.
I'm having trouble being articulate about why I didn't love this novel. There was a spark missing, I guess. The laziest man alive survives the Apocalypse. Not really sure how. Just does. It just didn't all connect, for me.
eccentricutie's review against another edition
4.0
I don't really know what to say about this book, so I'll keep it short and simple. It reads like a story one of my patients who is high out of their mind would tell me. Regardless, it was an interesting ride.
This was a goodreads giveaway book.
This was a goodreads giveaway book.
marissavu's review against another edition
4.0
This review was originally posted at http://www.marissavu.com/2014/01/the-last-bad-job-by-colin-dodds/
“For certain people and in certain times, self-control is a luxury, not a virtue. And I have never been rich enough to afford it consistently.”
The Last Bad Job is a dark, weird apocalyptic trip with profanity, paranoia, and comedy–a beautiful elemental mix.
The protagonist, who kinda oddly goes nameless for the whole book, is a detached, cynical journalist embedded in a suicide cult at a ranch in New Mexico. He’s hoping to get the scoop on a possible mass suicide and maybe win himself a Pulitzer.
The character is no sympathetic hero–he’s arrogant, manipulative, and a vulture of human tragedy–but he’s fascinating to read because he’s so self-aware of his flaws (and of other’s). Even though he’s prone to lying to other people, he attempts a blunt honesty in telling his story:
“I’d already begun rehearsing the sober, close-cropped sentences and pop culture references I’d use to express my phony anguish and righteous indignation over Dizzy’s Depraved Death Cult.”
Despite daydreaming about winning the Pulitzer, he spends most of his time with the cult making use of their liberal sex culture and waiting for ‘the jackasses’ to die instead of writing. The cult leader, Dizzy, is not fooled of fazed by him, and openly acknowledges his MO:
“You use death to sell newspapers and the newspapers use death to sell cars and shoes and watches. Beneath all your shallow protests about ‘helping people,’ or ‘saving people,’ death is just a currency to buy people’s attention. And so you want to protect the currency, like any businessman would.”
I read many books at once, but found myself constantly drawn back into this one. Colin Dodds has a talent for comic observation and rhetorical timing, and his protagonist’s views and philosophies on life are woven seamlessly into the narrative via internal and external dialogue, giving him a strong and distinctive voice.
Structurally, the novel is chaotic and weird, which might not be for everyone. I loved it’s unpredictability: not knowing where things were going helped me get through some of the sections where the protagonist isn’t really doing much at all except hiding out and waiting when he should be running. Every now and then, the lull is broken with an amazing WTF scene or new mystery to build up on the tension and make you question the narrator’s reliability, even as he tries to convince you he’s not hallucinating.
Most of the suspense comes from wondering what’s really going on and what information is missing, and the narrator’s doubts about his own sense of reality carry you through. The book is also filled with interesting secondary characters and beautifully strange and vivid interactions.
There were a couple of weak points: I almost didn’t get past the first chapter because it felt soft: the opening scene presents a large group of people on a boat, but they remain mostly out of focus, description-wise. Out of the two characters who are described in detail in the first chapter, one was not even present (the cult leader), so squishing his backstory in right at front felt a bit out of place.
Another of the opening characters came across as clichéd: a henchman type who throws a woman around, flexes his muscles, and then gets ruffled when she mocks his manhood. But the events were original and interesting enough to keep me going, and I’m glad I did because the writing just got stronger and stronger after that.
Some threads and coincidences were left hanging by the end, or at least weren’t tied up clearly enough for me to get them, but I definitely enjoyed trying. Besides, the ending was so weird and memorable I can easily forgive this.
I loved this book for many reasons: the detached but paranoid tone, the comedy and strong voice, the unpredictable turns and switchbacks, and the gonzo-style narrative. This is definitely a writer I want to read more from.
“This thing you call reality is just six billion completely insane people fucking each other with differing degrees of consent. And you really want back in?”
“For certain people and in certain times, self-control is a luxury, not a virtue. And I have never been rich enough to afford it consistently.”
The Last Bad Job is a dark, weird apocalyptic trip with profanity, paranoia, and comedy–a beautiful elemental mix.
The protagonist, who kinda oddly goes nameless for the whole book, is a detached, cynical journalist embedded in a suicide cult at a ranch in New Mexico. He’s hoping to get the scoop on a possible mass suicide and maybe win himself a Pulitzer.
The character is no sympathetic hero–he’s arrogant, manipulative, and a vulture of human tragedy–but he’s fascinating to read because he’s so self-aware of his flaws (and of other’s). Even though he’s prone to lying to other people, he attempts a blunt honesty in telling his story:
“I’d already begun rehearsing the sober, close-cropped sentences and pop culture references I’d use to express my phony anguish and righteous indignation over Dizzy’s Depraved Death Cult.”
Despite daydreaming about winning the Pulitzer, he spends most of his time with the cult making use of their liberal sex culture and waiting for ‘the jackasses’ to die instead of writing. The cult leader, Dizzy, is not fooled of fazed by him, and openly acknowledges his MO:
“You use death to sell newspapers and the newspapers use death to sell cars and shoes and watches. Beneath all your shallow protests about ‘helping people,’ or ‘saving people,’ death is just a currency to buy people’s attention. And so you want to protect the currency, like any businessman would.”
I read many books at once, but found myself constantly drawn back into this one. Colin Dodds has a talent for comic observation and rhetorical timing, and his protagonist’s views and philosophies on life are woven seamlessly into the narrative via internal and external dialogue, giving him a strong and distinctive voice.
Structurally, the novel is chaotic and weird, which might not be for everyone. I loved it’s unpredictability: not knowing where things were going helped me get through some of the sections where the protagonist isn’t really doing much at all except hiding out and waiting when he should be running. Every now and then, the lull is broken with an amazing WTF scene or new mystery to build up on the tension and make you question the narrator’s reliability, even as he tries to convince you he’s not hallucinating.
Most of the suspense comes from wondering what’s really going on and what information is missing, and the narrator’s doubts about his own sense of reality carry you through. The book is also filled with interesting secondary characters and beautifully strange and vivid interactions.
There were a couple of weak points: I almost didn’t get past the first chapter because it felt soft: the opening scene presents a large group of people on a boat, but they remain mostly out of focus, description-wise. Out of the two characters who are described in detail in the first chapter, one was not even present (the cult leader), so squishing his backstory in right at front felt a bit out of place.
Another of the opening characters came across as clichéd: a henchman type who throws a woman around, flexes his muscles, and then gets ruffled when she mocks his manhood. But the events were original and interesting enough to keep me going, and I’m glad I did because the writing just got stronger and stronger after that.
Some threads and coincidences were left hanging by the end, or at least weren’t tied up clearly enough for me to get them, but I definitely enjoyed trying. Besides, the ending was so weird and memorable I can easily forgive this.
I loved this book for many reasons: the detached but paranoid tone, the comedy and strong voice, the unpredictable turns and switchbacks, and the gonzo-style narrative. This is definitely a writer I want to read more from.
“This thing you call reality is just six billion completely insane people fucking each other with differing degrees of consent. And you really want back in?”
rostie's review against another edition
3.0
Ending of our world
Unique look at the apocalypse. The books most defining moment is the last chapter that lays out the main characters reasoning on the new world
Unique look at the apocalypse. The books most defining moment is the last chapter that lays out the main characters reasoning on the new world
ragne's review
2.0
I'm not sure what to say about this one. I sort of liked it in the beginning. Or, maybe not in the beginning, but somewhere in the middle, I started to like it. The language is good, even excellent at times. The main character is interesting and irritating in that way anti-heroes are. However, I didn't like the end of the book. It was a plot twist I did not see coming, and, to me, just made the whole story implausible where it had been rather realistic.
I don't normally like books like this, where the main character is a drunk and drugged dick, but I was willing to give this a shot. It's a shame it got ruined for me at the end.
I don't normally like books like this, where the main character is a drunk and drugged dick, but I was willing to give this a shot. It's a shame it got ruined for me at the end.
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