Jock Murphy Words and PicturesThe writing and photography of Jock Murphy

Here we are, the 10th and final installment is here you expect it to be.

We started with a three chapter installment, and we end with one. Though the last chapter is barely that. It is more of an epilog or a coda. The book could stand alone without it, but it provides a nice endcap. Hopefully without trying things up too nicely in a bow.

Less is more, as the saying goes. It certainly is for the last chapter. In the first three drafts it was much longer. Quinn's wandering though the city was more detailed. There was a third flashback with Quinn and Becks. There was an encounter between Ray, and Becks, and Quinn. Becks message at the end was longer. If I do say so myself it was some good stuff, but it didn't matter and it didn't fit.

It was hard to accept that the book was better off without them, but it was. It ended things too neatly, and that didn't fit how things had gone for Quinn. Besides it was all anticlimactic after the final conversation with Betty and the reappearance of Vance.

I worried about how the Vance's return would play. It almost seemed a bit too boss-monster, popping up for one final battle. I like to think I handled it in a way people expect. If Quinn projected everything about himself onto Vance (even if he wasn't wrong), he dispatched his demons nicely. With a little help from a friend.

When I first wrote Betty, I fell a little bit in love with her. I mean, how could you not? She does seem to be the one character everyone seems to like, and I am pretty damned proud of that. In writing the treatment I realized how important she had to be to the story. Despite her connection to Vance, she is the only outsider in the story. The only one who can listen to Quinn and put things in perspective.

How bad is was Quinn did? Would he have carried though? Well I know what Quinn's answer would be, and I have my own opinions about it as well. People who have read the book vary on it. Some think it was, some think it wasn't. I will let you, dear readers, make up your own mind, though I would love to hear what you think...