What do you think?
Rate this book
Last Call at the Ringrose Pub
Burned-out former taxi driver Erick Papineau had thought he was finally getting his life back together after bankruptcy and divorce. Then thirty thousand dollars in taxi vouchers are stolen from his old Malibu while he is upstairs making love to Rachel Van Horne in her funky little apartment. When he lies about where he was at the time, he makes himself the prime suspect in the theft.
He thinks he has to lie to protect her. She thinks she doesn’t need any help. But then her website is hacked, her store is firebombed, and she’s run off the road and nearly killed by a beat-up old van. She’s also suspected of complicity in a homicide. Now they both need all the help they can get as they urgently seek answers to these questions: Who stole the coupons? Who’s out to get Rachel? Who killed the bank manager’s wife? And are Papineau and Rachel just friends with benefits, or are they something more?
Last Call at the Ringrose Pub is set in Montreal in the fall of 2013 but it plays out over a period of forty years against the backdrop of the contraband cigarette trade, a taxi industry in crisis and a bilingual inner-city neighborhood in constant change. The hard-scrabble taxi milieu is traditionally dominated by men, but the strong women characters of Last Call at the Ringrose Pub drive much of the story and its outcome.
He thinks he has to lie to protect her. She thinks she doesn’t need any help. But then her website is hacked, her store is firebombed, and she’s run off the road and nearly killed by a beat-up old van. She’s also suspected of complicity in a homicide. Now they both need all the help they can get as they urgently seek answers to these questions: Who stole the coupons? Who’s out to get Rachel? Who killed the bank manager’s wife? And are Papineau and Rachel just friends with benefits, or are they something more?
Last Call at the Ringrose Pub is set in Montreal in the fall of 2013 but it plays out over a period of forty years against the backdrop of the contraband cigarette trade, a taxi industry in crisis and a bilingual inner-city neighborhood in constant change. The hard-scrabble taxi milieu is traditionally dominated by men, but the strong women characters of Last Call at the Ringrose Pub drive much of the story and its outcome.
307 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 27, 2017
About the author
Peter C. Foster
3 books9 followersPeter C. Foster is a Montreal author, writer and erstwhile taximan. Semi-retired, he lives a quiet life in the Deep East End of the city, sipping quality wine at the Café Chabot and grilling Portuguese chicken on the barbecue.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 31, 2018
Last Call at the Ringrose Pub is my first novel. I hope you will enjoy it! If you do, please take the time to post a brief review.
Writing this was a challenge for me: to see if I could write the story from beginning to end and actually finish the damn thing. Just for that, I've given myself five stars.
I wanted to produce a novel set in the West End of Montreal; there are very few published in English. And I wanted to write a story which would bring the taxi industry to life. There are lots of books and movies featuring taxi drivers. I wanted to involve some of the other characters who populate this vibrant milieu, including drivers, of course, but also dispatchers and call takers, fleet owners and office staff.
Once it was finished, I spent some time worrying about genre, because it seems to be so important these days. Is it a suspense story? Is it an adventure? Is it a mystery or maybe a thriller? Does it fit into the enigmatic ‘upmarket’ category? In the end I gave up trying to pin the thing down. Sometimes I call it a mystery, but now I usually just say it’s a ‘mainstream’ novel ‘with a gripping story and more than a little suspense’.
One more thing. I wrote this story in 2014. At the time, the c-cigarette business was flourishing, vape shops were popping up everywhere, and people like Joe Decarie were vaping away happily in restaurants and bars. In just three years, things have changed radically. The Quebec government has declared all vaping equipment to be tobacco products (even though this is obviously absurd). And Internet sales of vaping products are banned outright. So Rachel’s entire business would now be illegal. If she wanted to continue selling her stuff online, she would have to move to Ontario. And no more sweet vapor in the pub; Joe would have to go outside to vape today.
I guess Ringrose has become a historical novel!
Writing this was a challenge for me: to see if I could write the story from beginning to end and actually finish the damn thing. Just for that, I've given myself five stars.
I wanted to produce a novel set in the West End of Montreal; there are very few published in English. And I wanted to write a story which would bring the taxi industry to life. There are lots of books and movies featuring taxi drivers. I wanted to involve some of the other characters who populate this vibrant milieu, including drivers, of course, but also dispatchers and call takers, fleet owners and office staff.
Once it was finished, I spent some time worrying about genre, because it seems to be so important these days. Is it a suspense story? Is it an adventure? Is it a mystery or maybe a thriller? Does it fit into the enigmatic ‘upmarket’ category? In the end I gave up trying to pin the thing down. Sometimes I call it a mystery, but now I usually just say it’s a ‘mainstream’ novel ‘with a gripping story and more than a little suspense’.
One more thing. I wrote this story in 2014. At the time, the c-cigarette business was flourishing, vape shops were popping up everywhere, and people like Joe Decarie were vaping away happily in restaurants and bars. In just three years, things have changed radically. The Quebec government has declared all vaping equipment to be tobacco products (even though this is obviously absurd). And Internet sales of vaping products are banned outright. So Rachel’s entire business would now be illegal. If she wanted to continue selling her stuff online, she would have to move to Ontario. And no more sweet vapor in the pub; Joe would have to go outside to vape today.
I guess Ringrose has become a historical novel!
October 7, 2017
I read Last Call at the Ringrose Pub and found it riveting. I am not usually a fan of fiction novels but I thoroughly enjoyed this one from beginning to end. It's a very exciting story with plenty of plot twists to keep your attention. Rich characters and descriptive writing of the people and places captured me completely. I would strongly recommend this to anyone who enjoys thriller style novels.
January 11, 2020
Excellent Debut
Admittedly, I am not sure where, or even if, this should be put together with Flash Drive and Last Call. The Ringrose Pub, Taxi Soleil (also known as Sunshine Taxi), and Detective-Sergeant Louis St-Lauren are in all three. But I believe these are stand-alones with just the three things in common.
As the crux of the book, stolen coupons with an alibi the driver refuses to give (good thing!). And there's the matter of the murdered woman last seen in a Sunshine taxi.
This friendship between some of the characters is so believable and fun.
Despite a close call or three, Erick Papineau of Sunshine Taxi, along with some of his friends, manages to yank one of Montréalʼs premier taxi companies into the 21st century.
I'm sorry Mr. Foster doesn't have any further books available. I really enjoyed the three available.
Admittedly, I am not sure where, or even if, this should be put together with Flash Drive and Last Call. The Ringrose Pub, Taxi Soleil (also known as Sunshine Taxi), and Detective-Sergeant Louis St-Lauren are in all three. But I believe these are stand-alones with just the three things in common.
As the crux of the book, stolen coupons with an alibi the driver refuses to give (good thing!). And there's the matter of the murdered woman last seen in a Sunshine taxi.
This friendship between some of the characters is so believable and fun.
Despite a close call or three, Erick Papineau of Sunshine Taxi, along with some of his friends, manages to yank one of Montréalʼs premier taxi companies into the 21st century.
I'm sorry Mr. Foster doesn't have any further books available. I really enjoyed the three available.
December 18, 2017
Peter Foster takes us on a cleverly crafted journey through the streets of Montreal spanning four decades from the late sixties to the twenty-first century.
As we learn about the machinations of a Montreal taxi company, it becomes clear that shady dealings are afoot, and that the distant past can continue to hold sway over current developments.
This is a fast-paced page-turner of a book destined to keep you guessing as to the outcome right on through to the dramatic and chilling conclusion.
Last Call is an exciting read that I can wholly recommend.
As we learn about the machinations of a Montreal taxi company, it becomes clear that shady dealings are afoot, and that the distant past can continue to hold sway over current developments.
This is a fast-paced page-turner of a book destined to keep you guessing as to the outcome right on through to the dramatic and chilling conclusion.
Last Call is an exciting read that I can wholly recommend.
June 26, 2018
This book, was an AWESOME READ!!
This book, will be my favorite for quite some time!! Characters that you can almost see in your mind. Most of the characters are involved in the Taxi business in Canada. Whether as a driver or somehow involved with one of the drivers. Bad guys abound!! Can the good guys prevail? You'll have to read this book to find out.... PS, you might need score cards to keep track of all the players...lol.
This book, will be my favorite for quite some time!! Characters that you can almost see in your mind. Most of the characters are involved in the Taxi business in Canada. Whether as a driver or somehow involved with one of the drivers. Bad guys abound!! Can the good guys prevail? You'll have to read this book to find out.... PS, you might need score cards to keep track of all the players...lol.
January 15, 2019
Great read! Peter Foster's writing style is straightforward, clear, and easy to follow. Although it is a quick read, the book does not short-change on plot and action. If you are interested in reading about a culture that is both very close to and very far from, that of contemporary America, Last Call at the Ringrose Pub delivers in spades. As an anglophone Canadian, I enjoyed reading about the francophone city of Montreal. This is Foster's first novel, and heralds the introduction of a fresh new voice in suspense fiction.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews