The Last Talk with Lola Faye (edition 2010)

This was a fascinating look at people's actions, motivations, and how differently people see the same event. This book was recommended by my cousin's wife. Thanks Janet!

Luke, a middle-aged historian, is in St. Louis to plug his latest book. Lola Faye, the woman who worked at his father's variety store in the small town they both grew up in, shows up and wants to speak with him. They adjourn to the hotel bar and slowly start circling around the events leading up to the murder of Luke's father when he (Luke) was an adolescent. I'm not sure how Cook does it, but he manages to get the reader inside the head of both Luke & Lola Faye and we gradually begin to understand that the facts each knows about what happened may not be as close to the truth as they think. ( )

I like this ending. Very heartfull. ( )

Do you ever pick up a book, smugly knowing exactly what to expect, and read maybe 100 or 150 pages, getting more and more frustrated because the author is taking so long to get where you know he is going, but you keep going because once he gets there you know it will be worth the wait? And then there are only 50 or so pages left, and you realize the author is not doing what you expected and you realize you probably would have enjoyed the book more had you gone in with no expectations?

Such was my experience with The Last Talk with Lola Faye. I thought it would be a tight, suspenseful mystery with a big reveal at the end. About a quarter of the way in, I had already decided what that big reveal would be and how the story would resolve itself. I wasn’t totally wrong, but instead of enjoying the process of getting there, I was impatient with what I perceived to be Cook’s digressions, mis-directions, and ham-handed way of telling rather than showing. It was only in the last third of the book that I realized Cook was telling a much more subtle story, and that the suspense – the expectation by the reader of some sort of action-based denouement – was actually driven by the careful disentangling of threads.

Last Talk is a dialogue between Luke, a mediocre historian and academic and Lola Faye, an old acquaintance. Years ago, tragedy struck Luke’s family and he has spent years with the ghosts of his past and his certainty about what happened. The novel switches between Luke’s recollections and his conversation with Lola Faye in a hotel bar. Slowly, everything Luke thought he understood is revealed to be based on his own assumptions and biases. What takes the place of Luke’s “truth” is a story of miscommunication, misplaced anger, and missed opportunities. The youthful Luke is a character entirely devoid of sensitivity, empathy or understanding, despite his academic brilliance. The adult Luke is a man frozen in place and numb to the world. Neither one evokes any sympathy in the reader, and the redemptive ending of Luke’s story seems a little too pat and happy.

Despite these flaws, I admire how Cook deftly drew me in and shattered my assumptions and expectations of the story, just as Luke’s are during the course of one evening. ( )

Finished this book in about two days - found myself wanting to skim ahead, not because the writing wasn't interesting, but I was DYING to know what happened next, either in the present day St. Louis hotel bar where Lola Faye and Luke convene for this "last talk" or decades ago in the small town of Glenville. A great read. Surprised I've never read anything by this author before. ( )

Once in I was hooked. I had so many theories. Masterfully written with little twists slowly revealing the truth.
I couldn't put it down but was oh so tempted to cheat and read the last page....don't do it, just keep turning pages til you reach the end. ( )