DEATH COMES LAST Taken together, Death Comes Last and the expanded Redheads Die Quickly contain all of Brewer’s short fiction published between 1951 and 1959. Additionally, Death Comes Last features: • “The Golden Scheme,” Brewer’s last remaining unpublished story from the 1950s; • a pair of crime stories published in 1929 and 1930 by Gil Brewer’s father (who, confusingly, also published under the name Gil Brewer); and • the first-ever catalog of every Gil Brewer short story known to exist, including everything published thus far (with complete publication histories) as well as everything still unpublished. “Brewer was a master of the short format, and his ability to capture a bleak moment, a strong emotion, a world view in a few short pages is remarkable. Clever plots, sharp writing and pinpoint-accurate character motivation make the darkness, emotional intensity, despair, confusion, anger and violence here plausible… " --Paul Burke, NB “…each tale delivers a delectable slice of darkness…” --Ben Boulden, Mystery Scene magazine “Brewer masterfully hooks readers with the opening sentence of each story. Once hooked it is nearly impossible not to continue reading.” --Alan Cranis, Bookgasm Taken together, Death Comes Last and the expanded Redheads Die Quickly contain all of Brewer’s short fiction published between 1951 and 1959. Additionally, Death Comes Last features: • “The Golden Scheme,” Brewer’s last remaining unpublished story from the 1950s; • a pair of crime stories published in 1929 and 1930 by Gil Brewer’s father (who, confusingly, also published under the name Gil Brewer); and • the first-ever catalog of every Gil Brewer short story known to exist, including everything published thus far (with complete publication histories) as well as everything still unpublished. Gil Brewer was born Nov. 20, 1922 in Canandaigua, NY. After leaving the army at the end of WWII, he joined his family who had settled in St. Petersburg, Florida. There he met Verlaine in 1947 and married her soon after. Brewer started by writing serious novels, but soon turned to paperback originals after a sale to Gold Medal Books in 1950. At his height, he was a brilliant writer of sharply defined noir thrillers, usually involving a male protagonist driven to crime by the sexual allure of a young siren. But unwilling to promote himself, his career took a turn for the worse after a mental breakdown, and a long decline into alcoholism. Brewer died on Jan. 9, 1983.