I don't remember who introduced me to Dr. Prendel. However, I do know that it was at the home of Martin Fleming, the psychiatrist, during a get-together of the faculty professors to celebrate his promotion from Assistant Dean to Dean, and I was immediately captivated by his reserved, taciturn attitude and the indifference with which he looked around him, as if he knew exactly what would happen and what would be said . . . '
Legend has it that Dr. Matthew Prendel, an expert sailor, had been shipwrecked years before the action in The Island of Last Truth opens in contemporary New York. His boat was attacked by pirates. He survived thanks to an incredible stroke of luck, while his entire crew perished, but then found himself embroiled in a ferocious fight for survival between two castaways on a desert island. There, too, he was lucky and came out the victor.
But perhaps luck played no part in it. Perhaps something darker was at work and at stake. The only sure thing is that Matthew Prendel disappeared for five whole years. He has been back in New York now for a couple of years. That's what they say at least. Though one should never rely entirely on hearsay.
The Island of Last Truth is part adventure story, part noir, and party mystery, one that, like many novels belonging to the adventure genre, doesn't shy away from incisive observations about the nature of human relations.
