GRAND PRIZE WINNER 2018 WRITER'S DIGEST SELF-PUBLISHED EBOOK AWARDS RUNNER-UP 2018 DEL SOL PRESS PRIZE FOR FIRST NOVEL By the year 2031, global warming cooks the planet, endless wars sweep the globe and pollution tries to finish everybody off. Science has declared re-incarnation a fact and legally sanctioned death houses have sprouted up like mushrooms in overcrowded cities. Those so-called ‘Last Resorts’ provide the paying guest with the tools and the know-how for a successful exit from life—with one simple rule: once checked in, the check-out is feet-first only. Nobody leaves a ‘Last Resort’ alive. Ansel Grayson has been a resident at the ‘Hotel Terminus’ for over twelve years, unable to take the last step. On the day he finally works up the nerve to check out, he is interrupted by Nikki Forlan, the most recent addition to the guest list. Ansel and Nikki, broken by life, find themselves drawn into each other’s orbit, and with their final check-outs looming, they try to discover a reason to live, certain they will have to die. "This is literature of the highest order." —James Williams, author of Preparing to Teach Writing "Incredibly endearing... Think George Orwell with a sense of humor." —Aric S. Queen, author of the shanghai [exile] diaries "Love... makes life--and reading this book--worth it." —Judge, 5th Annual Writer's Digest Self-Published eBook Awards Peter is an award-winning Filmmaker. His films have played on Television and in festivals all over the world, garnering more than 70 awards. He's also a writer, and his last three screenplays have placed in the Quarter- and Semi-finals of the Academy Nicholl Fellowships, the most prestigious screenplay competition in the world. "The Last Checkout" is Peter's first novel, marking his debut in the world of prose fiction.