Last Goodbye

By Reed Arvin

When a down-on-his-luck attorney gets mixed up with a gorgeous singer with a secret past, it results in a volatile tale of love, betrayal and murder in the tradition of Richard North Paterson and other bestselling authors.

Jack Hammond is a man haunted by the sins of his past. Once a member of a white-shoe law firm, he lost his once-promising career because of a transgression with a beautiful female client. Now he works out of a seedy office in downtown Atlanta. The only income he can count on is as the court-appointed attorney to the dregs of the court system. When his friend-a former addict and computer whiz who'd turned his life around-is found dead in his apartment with a syringe stuck in his arm, Jack knows there's something very wrong. In his attempt to get to the bottom of Doug's murder, Jack is drawn into the spellbinding world of a gorgeous black opera singer with whom Doug had been secretly in love.

As the story deepens, Hammond gets pulled into the worlds of high-tech, biological research, big business, and high society. Arvin pulls all these threads together in riveting fashion.

Reed Arvin's new novel introduces an unforgettable hero whose flawed humanity and wry humour will keep readers rooting for him, and a fast-paced story with enough twists and turns to keep readers turning the pages.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Mar 17, 2009
• ISBN: 9780061748134

Reed Arvin

Reed Arvin grew up on a cattle ranch in rural Kansas. After a successful career as a music producer in Nashville, Arvin began writing full-time. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

Reviews for Last Goodbye

[lewilliams-1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I found the story about a down and out attorney dragging on in several places. The plot was okay but didn't hold my attention enough to read about a third of the book and no more.

[literaryfeline · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was one of 20 people chosen to preview The Last Goodbye for Bookreporter.com. I was thrilled with the opportunity, even though I was unsure this would be a book I would have chosen for myself. I like mysteries, suspense, and thrillers, but would I enjoy this particular one? I hesitate to use the word slow to describe this book because the word has a negative connotation to it. Sometimes slowness in a book is appropriate and it is tied into the style of writing used. That was the case in this book. Reed Arvin has a magical way with words. His style reminded me of the old black and white movies; although I am not sure I can put my finger on why that is exactly. Mr. Arvin’s story was complex in many respects; not only was this a book about a defense attorney investigating the murder of an old friend, this is also a story about love, ethics, and race and class divisions. The characters seemed human and real.

[pointedpundit · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My Introduction to a Promising WriterReed Arvin’s second thriller is a great read. The tale begins with a crying woman. Soon lawyer Jack Hammond, is doing the crying. As a result of his love affair with a client’s girl friend, he tumbles from defending Atlanta’s corporate elite to trawling the bottom of its criminal pool for clients.The story of his journey back to personal respectability is, however more than your average thriller. It is not often that a new writer creates believable, complex characters that find themselves in poignant, often, tender relationships. It is a thriller for thinking readers. Best of all, it is story that flies. Despite Arvin’s unique insights on race, business ethics, your past burdens, science, technology and love, the story never drags.My only complaint with the book is with Arvin’s inaccurate use of stock market jargon. But if this book is as successful as I think it will be, he will not have to worry. He will quickly develop a familiarity with that specialized vocabulary as he invests his residuals and future advances.