Last Resort

by Richard Williams

When the Covid pandemic hits the sleepy Welsh backwater of the Saltlands, young local fisherman Scott Ellis has to quickly work out how to survive. Together with Angie, a girl who joins him following a botched robbery, Scott embarks on a quest to capitalise on the swelling numbers of visitors and create the most exciting good times emporium the Saltlands has ever seen – the Flutter Club casino. But Scott’s plans are scuppered when a tourist mysteriously disappears from Wibli Wobli Bay – the jewel of the Saltlands beach scene – sending news stations into meltdown and holidaymakers fleeing east back over the hills into Pembrokeshire. Can the case of the missing tourist be solved? And will the Flutter Club finally open its doors?

Kindle Edition

Published September 21, 2023

About the author

Librarian note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. This is Richard^Williams, a catch-all for authors who can't be matched to one of the other specific ones.

Reviews

[Don · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't read this as a Kindle at all but this is the only edition that popped up in Goodreads. I picked it up out of curiosity at my local library in a shelf labeled 'Quick Reads'. It seems this is a series of books published as a project intended to give people not normally inclined to read a taste of what the experience of reading a book is like. The whole thing is coordinated by the Books Council of Wales and supported by the Welsh Government.

119 pages of largish print - the plan is obviously to offer up a page turner story with the final end in clear sight. The story is based in 'the sleepy Welsh backwater of Saltlands' during the months of the Covid pandemic, The local crab fishing industry has ground to a halt and the denizens of the town are looking for other ways to subsist. The central character are Scott and Angie, who hook up after a botched attempt to burglarise the home of a local hardnut, who happens to be Angie's brother.

Together with Scott's friend, Tom, they plan to open a casino in the town in the hope of cashing in on what passes for the local tourist trade. Great idea but in danger of being upset when a crank Welsh nationalist outfit called the Sons of Blodwyn kidnap a visitor to the town and threaten his public execution in retribution for the harm done to the local community. In addition to this complexity, a drug smuggling operation run by a town councillor in cahoots with a local police officer is dragged into the plot.

Scott and Angie are given the opportunity to save the day and restore a modicum of hope to the people of Saltland that some sort of future is still there for them. As close to a happy ending as anything I've read in a long time. Good luck to Quick Reads and here's hoping it opens up a route to Les Miserables for all the people who flick through its pages,

[Steffan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Aajshu · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished this one in one sitting. I liked it and would recommend it to you if you want a short read.

[Bethany-Rose Johnson · Rating 1 out of 5]

A boring and unoriginal short read. I would not recommend, even if you’re just looking for a time-filler for a couple of hours.