The Last Day-John Ramsey Miller

The Last Day
John Ramsey Miller
Bantam, Jan 2009, $6.99
ISBN: 9780440243113

Near Concord, North Carolina, businessman Ward McCarty and his wife pediatric surgeon Natasha are mired in grief with each mourning the tragic death of their young son Barry by electrocution last year separately. They live in an isolated part of the state, but recently Natasha has had the disturbing feeling that someone is watching them. She is unaware how right she is as a man in the woods observes them closely; he plans to kill both of them on the one year anniversary of their son’s death.

Strange things are happening to the couple. Their son Barny’s’s things are being moved around the house with each McCarty blaming the other. Ward is having memory lapses and blackouts while Natasha’s hands are shaking, which removes her from surgery. They remain unaware that the Watcher has easy access to their home and is causing things to happen to them. Ward’s company server is sending out kiddie porn to anyone in their email leading to a public outcry. The Watcher anticipates THE LAST DAY when he kills the pair.

John Ramsey Miller has written a refreshing nightmarish crime caper centering around the Watcher who targets for death innocent people. Readers have no idea what motivates him to go after the McCarty couple or why he killed three teens.. Though shadowy he is ferocious but clever as no one notices him until it is too late. Natasha and Ward already on their heels from Barry’s death are constantly on the defensive as the diabolical Watcher works his deadly art. A bit over the Blue Ridge Mountains, but no one will care as fans will fascinatingly in a macabre need to watch the Watcher.

Harriet Klausner