Thank your lucky stars you’re not Lloyd Parker.
As his memory slowly comes back, he becomes convinced that he killed someone in a nightclub. But he’s about to discover that what he actually got up to on his Last Night At The Stairways was far, far more horrific.
*I was given a PDF version of this book for review on The Indie Bookshelf. I have tweaked this review a little bit from the original*
First of all, any book that has beer fear in the title automatically catches my attention. I mean, let’s face it…we’ve all contracted a case of Beer Fear. You have a little too much fun, drink a little too much, and wake up the next morning thinking, “how the hell did I get home?” or “did I really climb up on the bar and start dancing last night?” or even worse “I did what with who in the back of whose car?!” It’s never a proud moment and I’m not going to lie, my dignity took a severe hit on the few mornings I would wake up after a long night of drinking and immediately check to make sure I was still wearing my underwear. Luckily, I’m a little bit of a grown-up now and that doesn’t happen anymore…rarely ever…whatever, you get the point; beer fear is real and it sucks. Now…onto the actual review…
This book was not what I expected at all; in a good way. I expected a potential thriller about a guy who spent the whole book trying to cover his tracks and right his wrongs after a night of getting blackout drunk. Well, I was kind of right…but then again, not really. But kind of. Oy. Last Night At The Stairways was different than the books I normally gravitate to; it’s eerie, suspenseful, macabre, trippy, and you know what else? British. Yep, this nice little story takes place across the pond; I don’t think it’s any secret that I spend way too much time wishing I had a British accent and using words like “bollocks” and calling my guy friends my “mates.” In my mind, I read this entire book in a British accent and it just made my heart happy.
Although it did start off a little slow and seemed a little bogged down with descriptions, it picked up around the 25% mark and only escalated from there. The storyline was unique and anxiously kept me wondering just what did Lloyd do? Why was his best friend, Will, acting so strange? What in the every loving crap happened to his girlfriend?
There is a healthy amount of foreshadowing; however, I have to say I was shocked when I realized what was really going on with not just Lloyd, but everyone around him. I honestly felt for Lloyd; he seemed genuinely concerned and worried about his actions, but no matter what he said or did, he wasn’t getting any answers from anyone. Instead, he was trapped inside this nightclub and forced to endure some pretty grisly stuff. While he was clearly the antagonist of the story, he wasn’t really unlikable and I was rooting for him to make things right.
Overall, it was an intriguing read. I would recommend Last Night At The Stairways to anyone who enjoys a chilling thriller with a mind-warping twist. With a little gore, a little more creepiness, and a lot of “something else” (I can’t give away everything, silly) I think it was pretty perfect to read this book right before Halloween, because bloody hell…it was a ghoulishly good read. Yep, I used the phrase bloody hell; I told you I wanted a British accent ;)
Not available from Barnes and Noble
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