The Last Act of Adam Campbell

Adam Campbell had it all – a loving wife, adorable little girl, the perfect family – until he threw it all away with an old flame one drunken night. And now, given just 12 months to live, he is desperate to make amends of wasted moments and past regrets with the limited time he has left.

He joins a cancer support group - an eclectic bunch of people, each facing their own battle, bucket list and ultimate deadline. Together they help each other through their ‘last act’.

The characters, including a nun, an ex-junkie and a young girl desperate not to die a virgin, are likeable and well-rounded. Adam is complex – tragic events from his past affected his future, including what lead to his infidelity. His efforts to hide his illness from young daughter Mable is heart-wrenching.

This is a stunningly poignant story about making every moment count. Moving and life affirming, witty and sharp, Andy Jones is the master of tugging at your heart strings.

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<p>Thank you Jenny Platt for the invitation to the tour and for my copy of the book in return for a fair and honest review.</p>
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<p>Firstly, this book should come with a packet of tissues, I do not usually read books about death and dying but this one intrigued me. As soon as I started reading it I loved it, even though I knew that it would be emotional.</p>
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<p>Adam has a counsellor, Dr Sam who persuades him to come along to a group of people who also have cancer, he is reluctant but goes and meets the other characters who feature in the story, Tom, Laura, Patricia, Vernon, Erin and Raymond.</p>
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<p>The story takes an unexpected turn and the group becomes important in all the characters lives as they set off on their journeys to sort things while they can. Whilst having to go through the treatments, side effects and realisations of their illnesses. I am not going to share too much as I think this is the best way to read this book.</p>
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<p>I liked Adam he has made mistakes but he really loves his little girl Mabel and he wants to make the most of the time he has left with her.&nbsp; As a Mum I found Adam's story the hardest to read but it is written in a sensitive, heartfelt and uplifting way..</p>
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<p>You will need a lot of tissues, as it is funny, sad and touching and really shows the strength of human spirit and how even when everything seems hopeless you can find hope as the group all do in The Rude Mechanicals. A great but&nbsp; heart-wrenching read.</p>
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A heart wrenching emotional box of tissues nearby read.A group of terminally ill cancer patients form a support group a group where they share all their feelings a group where they cry can be angry andalso have fun laugh.When they decide to put ion a play I could not put this book down.So moving so real characters you will not be able to forget,#netgalley#hodderstoughton

I love Andy Jones’ writing. Every time I think he can’t possibly better his latest book, he proves me wrong. The Last Act of Adam Campbell is astoundingly good. It takes a very dark subject and approaches it with warmth, wisdom and humanity. Nobody is a saint because of their diagnosis. No tragic characters here: just real, fallible people dealing with life and death. I loved the characters and the vivid way they were portrayed. It broke my heart but also gave me hope. Brave, wickedly funny and profoundly affecting. Wow!

One of the most engaging books I've read for ages! I particularly liked the graphic, tiny details that made the characters and their experiences seem completely realistic; the trials of chemo chemicals contaminating body fluids and the pumpkin scene being of particular note. It's emotionally challenging without being maudlin. It's a book about death that is filled, ultimately, with hope. I loved the interweaving of the disparate lives. I loved the fact that the characters had 'shades of grey'. And I loved the idea of hanging it all on Shakespeare.

O how I loved this book . I loved the characters , Iaughed and I cried about their lives and their friendships. Having had family members in this situation, I could relate to some of the issues that they had and it gave me insight into some issues that I hadn't thought about.
This book is definitely not for the fainthearted, it gives you lots to think about and the subject matter is pretty serious( being about terminal cancer , death etc !). But it isn't depressing and isn't heavy going . I 'm still thinking about it day later and it is a book I would like to read again sometime in the future . I loved the end

I received anArc from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. Thankyou Andy Jones, Net Galley and the publishers for a fantastic read

Absolutely outstanding!
Gut-wrenching, heart-warming, life-affirming, sad, funny, profound and beautiful without ever being cheesy, or overly sentimental, or shallow and glossing over things - a fabulous story about a group of terminal cancer sufferers and the play they are putting on together.
I found this moving and full of lightness at the same time, and incredibly true to life - the characters will stay with me for a long time. Simply wonderful..

Fantastic!

Adam has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and has months to live. He joins a therapy group - calling themselves The Rude Mechanicals - who decide to organise a play based around Shakespeare and some of his more famous death scenes. The characters provide support for each other throughout their journeys leading to many touching, heart wrenching but also funny moments.

The book is wonderfully written and well-paced, so much so that I found it hard to put down. The author has a excellent style of writing and manages to take a harrowing subject and somehow make it heart warming with a good balance of humour and life affirming content. Heartbreaking but in the loveliest way.

Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for the ARC.

Adam had it all. A good job, a happy marriage, a cracker of a daughter. But then he did something real dumb and his wife kicked him out. And then the devastating blow was dealt when he was given only a year to live, diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Ok so now I have mentioned the C word - this book is obviously centred around a group of cancer sufferers and, as such is a little brutal and dark - especially if you have personal experience of this most horrible disease. But, and I'm going to mention it here, it's also wonderful and uplifting and also, given my own experiences with a friend who is terminal, very true to life.
Back with the story and Adam reluctantly agrees to go to a support group. Long story short and they are left to their own devices and decide to put on a play - a hilights reel of Shakespeare's greatest death scenes - and set a date - the Ides of March obviously - for their big performance, in aid of the hospice.
Firstly, yes there's quite a bit of Shakespeare to be had throughout this book but it is also completely unnecessary to be familiar with the Bard and his obsessions with interesting deaths as what you need to know is well explained throughout and it's easy to see the connection with the Bard's work and the situations that our cast find themselves in throughout the book. All very clever stuff!
Obviously to remain true to life there are some very sad moments throughout the book. But they are offset by some of the most wonderfully uplifting parts which are inserted in exactly the right places so that the tone is kept on an even keel throughout and the book never gets too dark. That said, I would have a tissue or two handy, just in case.
It's definitely a tough book to get through and, even with the lighter moments, I did have to take a couple of time outs along the way. That said it's also one of the most uplifting books I have read in a long time. I mentioned my friend who is terminal. He's actually a work colleague too and, even with his diagnosis, he still comes to work when he can. Mostly for the normality we give him with the humour and banter that surrounds the office in which we work. Often dark humour, but at the same time, we're also there to listen. So there were parts of this book that I really connected with and which felt so real and true to life.
It's hard to say that I enjoyed this book, given the subject matter, but I did. It gave me so much understanding and also, more importantly, perspective. We have a tendency to worry and fret about stupid things in this life that really don't matter. If nothing else, this book has given me the chance to change my priorities and focus more on the things that really matter. And for that, I wholeheartedly thank the author.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Wow if this book doesn’t make you cry then I’m pretty sure nothing will. This is a book about a group of terminal ill cancer patients who all attend the same support group. This bunch of people who have been brought together during the worst time of their life decide to put on a play that is a mashup of the most depraved and crazy deaths from the penmanship of William Shakespeare, the question is will they live long enough to make the performance. This book is sad and brutally honest but also filled with love and fun and a story of friendship that changes every single one of their lives for the better. The ending is heartbreaking but beautiful.

This is a novel about a beautiful group of people with terminal cancer. Statistically 1 in 2 of us will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives. This is obviously not an easy read especially if you have personal experience of the disease which many of us do. I’m a survivor as is my beloved sister, our mother and two of her brothers were not so lucky. Despite being an emotional mess at times, I cannot express how glad I am that I have read this book. I found it very cathartic and it made me feel very positive.

The central character, as the title suggests, is Adam. He is initially bewildered, tearful but then angry and this gives him strength. He is separated but reunites with his nearly wife Heather and they have an adorable daughter, Mabel. Everyone needs a Mabel. Through group therapy he meets a group of people, also with terminal cancer, who eventually decide to put on a Shakespeare based play about death because, let’s face it, old Will knew a thing or two about death. Many of Shakespeare’s characters meet untimely and dramatic ends (Exit pursued by bears) and the words in his plays and sonnets make you see that death is part of life and nothing to fear. Pat, Vernon, Raymond, Thomas, Erin under the guidance of gorgeous student Laura call themselves The Rude Mechanicals after the group led by Nick Bottom who perform the play within the play in Midsummer Nights Dream.

There is so much to admire in this thoughtful, thought provoking and very clever book. Andy Jones is a very good writer and I love that there is also humour (at times, inevitably a bit black but that’s ok), there’s joy and it’s very touching. The characters are so well portrayed and we see that they are flawed as many of us are but they can overcome that and face what future they have as boldly as they can. I really like the strength that the group give each other and the analogies they find to their situations in Shakespeare’s words. Pat’s prayer (she is an ex nun and the loveliest woman) is an adaptation of the Lords Prayer is brilliant, funny and apt. The many Shakespeare references are really enjoyable especially the Scottish Play and Macbeth’s speech just before Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane and as Lady Macbeth dies (Out out brief candle.....) is so appropriate. The scenes when they put on the play are tremendous. There is love, laughter, pride and inevitably some tears at what they have achieved.

Overall, yes I was mush at times but I do not regret reading it for one second. I thought of my mother as she accepted the fate that multiple myeloma had for her with quiet dignity. If she had the strength she would have been there with the Rude Mechanicals and have loved every minute of it. The book puts so many things into perspective, reminds you to embrace all that is good and live life to the full however long that is. Thank you to Andy Jones for writing it and to Mr W Shakespeare for his wisdom and wonderful words.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for the ARC.

I’m broken!! Completely and utterly broken!! Andy Jones what have you done to me?! This is a book I just wish I had the insightful and creative talent to have written myself as it just spoke to me in my language throughout. It’s a beautifully written tale that will evoke many emotions in you, a story of love, loss and regret that explores the complex relationship we have with death. There’s humour, there’s sadness, there is also anger but at the centre of it all there is friendship, kindness and hope. This is a book that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about since I finished it and one I know will be hard to beat when it comes to my favourite books of the year list at the end of 2020 (and yes I do realise it’s only the second week of January!).

Adam is dying. He’s probably not handling this very well but no one knows how they are going to cope when they have to face their own death. Although it’s something that is inevitable, as a species we seem rather reluctant to accept it. Adam ends up going to group therapy with other terminally ill people and it’s here that he becomes involved with Pat, Tom and a colourful host of characters who end up putting on a play written by teenager Laura. My favourite characters were Tom and Laura and I loved all the Shakespeare references as their relationship changed and developed. But I also adored Adam, Heather and Mabel. When Adam chose to attend Parents Day at Mabels school I completely crumbled!! I loved how the author explored the similarities between physical and emotional pain and how we deal with these differently when staring down death. Nothing is swept under the carpet here, there’s no point when time takes on a life of its own, slowly absorbing and digesting your final weeks, days, hours…

I’ve probably made this wonderful book sound a bit depressing but it’s far from it! It’s a life affirming story, uplifting and funny but yes it is also tear jerking in it’s honesty. I liked the epilogue(s) which I felt were the perfect epitaphs to a wonderful book. I laughed, I cried, I planned the songs for my own cremation whilst in the zone and I gave thanks for everything I have. This thought provoking book is just stunning and I loved absolutely every single moment of reading it.

Very highly recommended by me!