Sounds like a good set up, right? Exciting? Maybe like that John Cusack movie Identity? I love a good dark stormy motel movie/novel, so despite its inauspicious beginnings, I thought this might be a fun read. On a cold stormy night close to halloween, a group of strangers converge on an isolated country motel, each one with a dark secret. I sat on this one for a week and a half because it was a total slog to get through. I've got a 2 week trip to Maui planned in a couple of weeks and honestly every day is just a grind right now, I've got total vaca brain and it's affecting my reading so I thought I'd pick up something light and pulpy to give me a bit of a kickstart. Sounds good in theory - I have nothing against exploitation films, I love the whole cheesy genre, and this one has a passing resemblance to that movie Vacancy, which I really enjoyed. Apparently it's a movie tie in for some low rent expoitation film from the eighties. Honestly I don't even remember how I found this book. I have yet to be disappointed by anything I've read from him. If you've never tried Brett McBean's novels or novellas before, do yourself a favor and pick up one. There is so much more I'd like to say, but can't without spoiler warnings in the review. Additionally, the graphic violence, torture, and unexpected developments kept me surprised at nearly every turn. This is a brilliant tale of psychological suspense in that 'everyone' is a suspect in a sense. Madge herself, the widow of a police sergeant, even has her own secrets. In one fateful night, their paths cross at just the right-or rather, 'wrong'-moment. McBean expertly wove his tale of these six travelers-completely unrelated-yet inexplicably linked by invisible threads yet to be found. I've read some reviews commenting that the characters were two-dimensional, but I have to say that I honestly got a feel for each and every one of them during the course of the novel. Motel owner, Madge Fraiser, has seen all kinds of things in her line of work, but something about this particular grouping puts even HER well-honed experience on edge. The first, two apprehensive friends (whose night took an unexpected turn), the next, a husband and wife, and last, a man with his 'son'. The main storyline begins with three separate groups of people, stopping on a stormy Halloween night at a motel-in the middle of a secluded stretch of wooded terrain. First off, I have to give credit for the design of this book-it is made to look like an old VHS tape, complete with 'warnings' and 'home video' labels on it.

As a fan of his later work, I was very eager to read some of his earlier writing. It took me a while, but I was finally able to procure a lettered, AND a paperback copy of the THE LAST MOTEL, by Brett McBean.

The Last Motel by Brett McBean