The Last Quarrel: The Complete Edition (#1-5)

by Duncan Lay

(Pub: Momentum Books, 2015)

**I received a free copy of this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

I really wanted to love this book, but unfortunately I didn’t. It had some qualities that I enjoyed: excellent action sequences, and a fallible hero, Fallon, who is also a family man.   I did enjoy the character development of Fallon’s wife, Bridgit – she begins to conquer her personal demons and emerges at the end of the series a stronger person and more likeable character.  However, I found it to be a plot with few surprises. 
 
The main problem for me was the combination of the stories in one volume.  (It is my understanding that this story was originally serialised in five parts.)  There is a need when writing a story which spans several volumes, with a substantial gap of time between each, to remind readers of certain aspects of the story or what has gone before.  When combined in one volume this became very repetitive and disengaged me as a reader. For example, the reader is often reminded of the marital problems between the hero and his wife and her depression and neurosis – this repetition was, in my opinion, unnecessary and added little to the story. The scenes that did this seemed almost carbon copies of each other. 

Perhaps this would not have been a problem if reading these parts as they were originally published, with a time gap, between each. 
 
In terms of pacing I found the first 300 pages (on my ereader)  on the slow side with an enormous amount of set up and little action.  After this the pacing improves greatly and the book is a much more enjoyable read.
 
I think the book could have benefited from a more judicious edit, particularly when combined. (Of course then it wouldn’t be the complete edition.)
 
Three Stars