The Last Day Paperback - 2009 - 1st Edition

Media reviews

"James Landis' novel The Last Day is haunting and beautiful, rippling with skillfully intertwined themes of faith, love, religion and war.... Reading The Last Day is like sharing [the young narrator's] thoughts, as if the story were a memoir rather than a novel. But it is a novel, and an exceptional one. Landis writes with mastery and grace, weaving together fiction and philosophy with profound beauty. Through an ordinary hero, Landis has crafted an extraordinary literary work."  BookPage September 2009

“It’s tough to do a guy-meets-Jesus book and not be too pious for some and/or too heretical for others. [James] Landis walks a line somewhere between in this ambitious and lyrical story of a young veteran returning to his New Hampshire home from the Iraq War.. . . [THE LAST DAY] is worth a dozen Shacks.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Landis [shows a] deep knowledge about snipers. He has the technical lingo down, and ... he artfully renders the moral negotiations that War has had with himself about being a killer. The closing chapters feature a surprising amount of grit and gore, and there's enough gallows humor and tough talk to give War's experience an air of authenticity." — Kirkus Reviews

“I've always been a huge Kurt Vonnegut fan. Now I'm a huge James Landis fan for many of the same reasons. THE LAST DAY is simply wonderful--witty, profound, and exquisitely written.” — Michael Palmer, New York Times Best Selling Author of The Second Opinion and The First Patient

"A powerful story of one young man's faith, failings, and redemption."  — Library Journal

"Brings to mind the best novels on the Vietnam war, Tim O'Brien's books or John Irving's 'A Prayer for Owen Meany'..." — The Nashua Telegraph (NH)

“Landis probes the bonds between war and faith in a way that might both shock and comfort anyone who has kept up with the news…. Landis writes sterling dialogue, and the back-and-forth between Pease and Jesus, who asks to be called Ray, is the book’s best feature. Landis’ Jesus — or more accurately, Pease’s Jesus — is childlike in his wonder at the world, and the comfort that Pease takes in his presence is palpable.
What Warren Pease took to war brought him home at peace. Would that all our soldiers who suffer his fate have such an experience.” — The Valley News (NH/VT)