Last Enemy

The 1955 copyright makes you wonder why this was withheld until now--it falls only slightly short of Roueche's customary perfectionism. Rex Corn, an itinerant criminal, kills the servant girl in the house of the wealthy Sessions; son Leland Sessions had also used her as a sexual convenience and seems the only suspect around after Corn disappears. Most of the story follows Leland as he makes half. hearted inquiries, cowers behind furtive anonymity, and then overwhelmed by the fear that is nowhere/everywhere, disintegrates like kapok when face to face with his last and worst enemy. Not as original as Feral (1974), but unsettling enough to keep you looking over your shoulder while quickly turning the next page. -From Kirkus Reviews