Although this book is only about 200 pages, its contents pack a major wallop. I started this book yesterday afternoon, picked it up again after dinner, and did not stop until I was finished. At a couple of different points I had to put the book down because I had a major case of the willies -- to me, the mark of a good horror story! If a book can give me the creeps and a case of stomach knots from tension, then it's a good one. And that's exactly what I thought of the Last Trumpet. It is a very very good book of horror -- mostly mental, leaving the reader to conjure up the images the author is producing through words. It totally succeeds. I think that Rainey's strength here lies in the fact that he doesn't end up with a pastiche-type collection of Lovecraftian stories (don't get me wrong...when these are done well, I enjoy them immensely), but he manages to deliver original horrors from the unknown and then plant them squarely in realistic situations. His opening story, he notes, is taken from a dream he had when he was young. The book consists of 13 stories, all pretty much settled in the same rural area of Virginia, but each very unique and different in its own way.

I am looking forward to more from this author, and I highly recommend this one to Lovecraft readers as well as general readers of good, quality horror. If you want something to chill you to the bone, pick up this book! ( )