The Last Days

The Last Days Scott Westerfeld Date: 2006-09-07   —   Book product page Rating:

Something strange is happening in New York City; stranger than usual, that is.  Fire hydrants are spraying black water, rats are overrunning the streets, and people are going crazy.  As Moz is walking home late one night, he witnesses a crazy woman throwing all of her possessions out of her window.  When the woman starts to throw a mid-seventies Fender Stratocaster, Moz tries to save the guitar from being smashed on the pavement.  A girl has the same idea and together they use a blanket to catch the guitar before it falls to the ground.  Once they've saved it, Moz and Pearl must decide what to do with it.  It's too valuable to let go to waste, so they decide to form a band and use the guitar until the crazy woman regains her sanity and comes looking for it.  Moz and his friend Zahler both play guitar, Pearl plays keyboards, Zahler knows where they can find a drummer, so all they need is a singer.  Pearl has the perfect person in mind, someone who used to be her bandmate, but she doesn't know if Minerva is well enough yet to be around people.  Minerva has the disease that's been going around, the one that makes people crazy, but her treatment is working and she seems to be getting better.  With Minerva as their singer, the band has a chance of making it big, as long as she doesn't have a relapse and try to eat one of the band members.

 Music and monsters . . . what more could you want?  This novel takes place in the same world as Peeps, a world threatened by an ancient enemy that has been living underground for centuries.  The main characters from Peeps make an appearance, but this is a different story.  First and foremost it's a story about a band trying to make it in the face of adversity.  I would recommend it to music lovers as well as vampire fans.  

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