The Last Collection — Seymour Blicker

Snappy dialogue and a plot full of twists and turns blend to make an adventure story with the unlikeliest hero -- and the unlikeliest villains!

The Last Collection takes the reader into the peculiar side of modern-day Montreal, a big city filled with colorful people such as Solly the Hawk Weisskopf and Big Moishie Mandelberg, loan sharks whose collection methods rely more on ingenuity (such as before-and-after pictures of their victims) than violence; and Artie Kerner, their "mark," whose rare addiction to purchasing expensive but worthless items finally leads him to seek professional help from Dr. Lehman, a psychiatrist only slightly more neurotic than his patients -- practicing in an office that resembles a South Sea island, complete with lagoon.

The result is a fast-paced satire with an unconventional humor that binds the book from beginning to unmatchable end.