Book Talk: Levine, ‘Last Chance Lassiter’

I’m glad that I bought this book. But, to be truthful, if I’d read the description carefully, I probably wouldn’t have ordered it. However, I was excited to find a Jake Lassiter book by Paul Levine that was not on my 15-book list in this series. Why might I not have purchased “Last Chance Lassiter?” Because it’s a novella. 

I haven’t read a novella (longer than a short story; shorter than a novel) since I read James Jones’ “The Pistol” when I was a college student. I’d previously read Jones’ “From Here to Eternity,” one of those modern classics that one will never forget. I liked “The Pistol” and remember the plot very well after all these years. So, I don’t know why I haven’t read more novellas.

“Last Chance Lassiter” (2012, 137 pages in paperback format) is really a novella (109 pages) and a short story about another of Levine’s series, “Solomon and Lord” (18 pages). The remainder of the book is annotated entries about Levine’s two award-winning series.