Last Stand

M. Wayne Cunningham is a past executive director of the Saskatchewan
Arts Board and the former director of Academic and Career Programs at
East Kootenay Community College.

Last Stand is a multilayered tale of lost opportunities and unstable
relationships. After years of aimless job-hopping, 50-year-old Adam
McBride has returned to his family’s cabin on the Miramachi to explore
and record his ancestral past. Maggie Hamilton, 42, has agreed to live
with him while completing the fieldwork for her forestry degree.
Surrounding them are Adam’s boyhood chum, Joey; his mother and aunt;
his alcoholic, suicidal brother, Tim; and Maggie’s son, Randy.
Gripping conflicts arise between Adam and Tim, Tim and Maggie, Joey and
the local wildlife wardens, the pro-environment Maggie and the local
logging company, and between Maggie and Adam whose jealous rages raise
spectres of “Mag’s” formerly abusive relationships with her
stepfather and husband. Adam’s research brings more family demons to
the surface.

Deft pacing, a believable story, fully realized characters, vivid
imagery, and evocative language make this novel an enjoyable and
satisfying read, despite the darkness of the subject matter.