Evenson’s Klein is not so much after justice as theological certainty. That puts him on the same footing as many other protagonists – I think most memorably of Flannery O’Connor’s Misfit from “A Good Man is Hard to Find”– but he’s perhaps more driven than any others. He’s taken for a prophet by a group of believers so avid that they mutilate themselves, that they take the number of amputated limbs as the measure of believer’s holiness. Over time (and I can’t quite call this a spoiler) he comes to think he may in fact be a prophet, that he might even be the messiah of this twisted world. Brian Evenson is the celebrated author of books such as The Open Curtain, The Wavering Knife, Windeye and more recently The Warren, which was my first experience with his writing. His stories are elusive, unfathomable and reputably violent, which are three qualities I appreciate in fiction. I received several requests to include Evenson's work in horroctober although pigeonholing him into a specific genre would be inaccurate and dismissive of how complex and engaging his prose is. Last Days is perhaps Brian Evenson's most celebrated novel and it isn't cosmic horror at all. It is nonetheless one of the most enjoyable things I've read all year. Last Days lives up to its reputation, beautiful people. It had the effect of a jolt of electricity to my boredom and cynicism.

If darker than dark is not your cup of tea, stay away. If you like a dark challenge, very well written, try this one. Last Days . . . is a detective novel and a cult novel (in that it is about cults--though perhaps the other designation would work too) and a brutal horror novel and a fine work of minimalist literary fiction." --LitHub So intense is Evenson's focus on the admittedly extreme reality he sets out to explore that a kind of numinous evil comes to pervade the setting, the characters and events of the tale.... [O]ne of the most relentlessly disturbing pieces of horror fiction I've read since Joe Hill's remarkable short story 'Best New Horror.'"The clinical tone with which Evenson is able to traverse such situations, and the strange stark architecture of their world, makes even the most insidious or repulsive situations seem plausible, mathematical, nearby. Nothing is real, so everything is real.” —VICE

Sure, the thriller elements are most definitely present, and the novel is inspired by the classic noir detective fiction (the blurb mentions the author's fascination with Dashiel Hammett's Red Harvest). However it would be to do the novel a disservice by classifying it as simple genre fiction, even if drawing from the great masters. Last Days cannot be properly classified to just one genre - it draws from them, mixes them, refuses to melt and then become solid again, escaping categorial impositions. There's plenty of imagery and elements associated with horror fiction here, especially the Weird kind; The pervading, Kafkaesque sense of helplesness and being lost in a labyrinth of the events that can't be comprehend is a prevailing theme, where the labyrinth is really a slide, and even though one wanders through its mazes they always somehow point downwards, where there's only darkness.By shearing off extraneous elements Evenson removes all but the most necessary and important elements of mystery novels (the quest and sacrifice for truth) and reveals the horror at the core of the hunt."

Evenson's Ph.D is in both literature and critical theory, and his work is subtly philosophical, particularly influenced by continental philosophy. Many of Evenson's recurrent themes of virtuality and "sensation" being traceable to Deleuze & Guattari's Capitalism and Schizophrenia. Altmann's Tongue opened with an epigraph by Julia Kristeva; Dark Property featured quotes in untranslated German from Martin Heidegger; and several of Evenson's books have epigraphs from philosopher Alphonso Lingis. However, Evenson has stated that he intends any philosophical elements to be fully integrated into his fiction rather than promoting any particular viewpoint, and has argued that reading philosophical works directly is more rewarding than reading philosophy that is veiled as fiction. [7] Sometimes the plots can be a little too convoluted, but not so here - there’s nary a wasted word. Evenson never even bothers to describe the setting, and we’re provided zero clues as to where the story even occurs because it’s not important. The only things that matter are the actions of his character and the horrors they inflict on one another. Evenson, Brian (2003). The Brotherhood of Mutilation: Lettered Hardcover Edition. Earthling. ISBN 9780972151870 . Retrieved May 19, 2020. In its core, you could say that Evenson's Last Days is The Trial of horror literature, a Kafkaesque nightmare of being trapped within an elusive and surreal hierarchic machinery. That this machinery belongs to a cult which focuses and fetishizes amputations, doesn't really constitute the real meat of the story, please forgive my pun, but opens up a different layer, an additional disturbing platform for Evenson to playfully and metaphorically explore further social constructs such as religion – maybe even political or philosophical tendencies? My knowledge in both fields is highly limited, so, although I wouldn't be able to distinguish which, I'll trust my instincts on this one.There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried To Kill Her Neighbor's Baby: Scary Fairy Tales by Lyudmila Petrushevskaya / The Best of Gene Wolfe by Gene Wolfe (2010, tie) Still," said Ramse. "You're not much. You're what you are and we love you for it, but you're not much." (p.60-61) A] grim, darkly hilarious riff on blind obedience and pointless self-sacrifice, often reading like the twisted offspring of Raymond Chandler and David Cronenberg... B+." Evenson is a rigorous stylist, writing sentences that remain clear and stunning even when they’re conveying absolute terror." [four stars] The clinical tone with which Evenson is able to traverse such situations, and the strange stark architecture of their world, makes even the most insidious or repulsive situations seem plausible, mathematical, nearby. Nothing is real, so everything is real." --VICE