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    Mr. Flood's Last Resort: A Novel
    Mr. Flood's Last Resort: A Novel
    Mr. Flood's Last Resort: A Novel
    Audiobook10 hours

    Mr. Flood's Last Resort: A Novel

    Written by Jess Kidd

    Narrated by Aoife McMahon

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    From the award-winning author of Himself comes a spellbinding and “magically entertaining read” (Good Housekeeping, UK) about a lonely caregiver and a cranky hoarder with a house full of secrets that “will appeal to fans of Tana French and Sophie Hannah, as it charms and unsettles in equal measure” (BookPage).

    Maud Drennan is a dedicated caregiver whose sunny disposition masks a deep sadness. A tragic childhood event left her haunted, in the company of a cast of prattling saints who pop in and out of her life like tourists. Other than visiting her agoraphobic neighbor, Maud keeps to herself, finding solace in her work and in her humble existence—until she meets Mr. Flood.

    Cathal Flood is a menace by all accounts. The lone occupant of a Gothic mansion crawling with feral cats, he has been waging war against his son’s attempts to put him into an old-age home and sent his last caretaker running for the madhouse. But Maud is this impossible man’s last chance: if she can help him get the house in order, he just might be able to stay. So the unlikely pair begins to cooperate, bonding over their shared love of Irish folktales and mutual dislike of Mr. Flood’s overbearing son.

    Mr. Flood’s Last Resort is “a rare delight” (Cosmopolitan, UK) examining the space between sin and sainthood, a novel that “perfectly balances tragedy with dark comedy” in which “the dialogue crackles and every detail enchants” (Shelf Awareness).​

    Note to readers: In the UK, this book is published under the title The Hoarder.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateMay 1, 2018
    ISBN9781508257462
    Author

    Jess Kidd

    Jess Kidd is the award-winning author of The Night Ship, Himself, Mr. Flood’s Last Resort, and Things in Jars. Learn more at JessKidd.com.

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    Reviews for Mr. Flood's Last Resort

    4/5

    236 ratings17 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Magic... I loved everything about the book. The reader was a perfect match for the story. Highly recommended.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed this book. The Narrator is excellent. Quirky characters and a couple that are twisted. Maud both sees and has conversation with long dead folks and when she finds out about a teenage girl that went missing years before and the suspicious death of the old cantankerous hoarder she’s sent to be caregiver of, she goes all in, becoming obsessed with finding out the truth of what happened and how they’re connected. She does get part of it very wrong and it’s really sad at how much hurt and damage it causes. I had to finish it in one night, it’s that good.
    • 4/5
      Rich and beautiful descriptions, clever humor, and flawed characters that grow on you. A little hard to follow in audiobook format, at times…maybe because of the interruptions of dream state that would be clearer in printed text. Good narration though.
    • 5/5
      A grumpy old man, a murder mystery, and a clairvoyant social worker!

      Loved it!
    • 5/5
      Magically written and narrated. Intriguing characters that creep into your heart. A unique story plot. Loved the conversations between the main character and the saints around her.
      This one stayed with me after I was done.
    • 5/5
      A wonderful narration of an engaging story at once realistic and fantastical.
    • 5/5
      I frequently laughed out loud, had a lot of moments of pure heart ache, thoroughly enjoyed the mystery, and haven't loved a book so much in a very long time.
    • 4/5
      Oohh this was a delicious book! Quirky, mysterious, creepy and unique, this novel is written in the gothic suspense style with great finess and creativity. A dash of humor, a cast of unforgetable characters, and a devilish plot will have you flipping pages well into the wee hours of the morning. The British title is The Hoarder. The Anerican title is Mr. Flood's Last Resort.I cannot wait to read the author's two other books now!
    • 5/5
      Mr. Flood is a nasty old man, a hoarder, a man of secrets, and Maud, his caregiver, is the only one who seems to be able to put up with him. And he won't go to a nursing home, preferring his moldering old mansion. And people want him out of there. Maud sees and hears saints. Not nice, harp-music and halos kinds of saints, but dirty, smelly, occasionally lecherous old saints who appear whenever they choose. Some very funny saints. Some very unsaintly saints. Throw in an agoraphobic transgender or transvestite neighbor who can't leave her house, with good reason, but with a tender and gentle heart.The result is a wonderful novel full of deliciously flawed characters, people I cared about. A little suspense, but this book is one of those where the characters are the book, and that worked well in this one.
    • 3/5
      I enjoyed this book because I found it highly imaginative. It's partly a mystery, with some ghosts and saints thrown in....usually not genres I like but this is well told and I really liked the main characters -- Maude, Mr. Flood and Renata. At times, I was a bit confused as to what was really happening, but so were the characters so I think that's a tribute to the character development. One complaint: there is a description of the various saints featured in the story at the end of the book. Reading after the story was over was kind of a let down -- it made the book peter out rather than end properly. I wish the author had interspersed these descriptions into the story -- or footnoted them. My suggestion is that you read these descriptions as each saint appears -- don't wait 'til the end.
    • 5/5
      Wow, wow, wow.
      Loved it.
      I haven't wanted to tell everybody about a book for quite a while, not since Eleanor Oliphant, but The Hoarder by Jess Kidd is a wonderful and engaging mystery and the best book I have read this year.  It is a blend of magical realism, crime writing and dark humour. 
      If you hadn’t already guessed, I adored this book.  I would recommend this book to just about anybody.  There is only a bit of suggested sex and no actual violence. If you love wonderful characterisation in a read with a twisty plot, then this is a book for you.

      For the full review check out my blog: Engrossed in a Good Book
    • 4/5
      Mr. Flood is a cranky old hoarder who's living in his crumbling mansion. His son wants him to go into a home where he can be properly cared for. Maud is his last chance to stay in his own home. She is the caregiver hired to clean up his house and to take care of him. This is not going to be an easy task for either of them. The quirky characters will keep you reading into the night.
    • 5/5
      Every so often I stumble across a jewel of a book, a wonderfully unexpected, serendipitous read. Such is the case with Jess Kidd's novel, Mr. Flood's Last Resort.Mr. Flood is a cantankerous old man, living in his crumbling mansion Bridlemere, surrounded by his 'collections.' His son wants to put him in a home and Mr. Flood has one last chance to stay put - let a carer into the house to clean up the house - and him. That last resort is Maud Drennan.That's just the starting point. There is so much happening in this novel - and it makes for an absolutely addicting read.Maud has a tragedy in her past - one that only slowly comes to light as the book progresses. "You'll only cause bloody trouble. Like you did before." There's mystery in Cathal Flood's life as well. A mystery that the house itself seems to be revealing to Maud as she cleans. Maud also receives assistance from the various Saints that trail after her. Ones of course that only she can see and hear.Kidd's characters are quirky and quickly endeared themselves to me. I adored Maud, but her agoraphobic neighbour Renata is a close second. Cathal Flood will have your emotions running the gamut.Mr. Flood's Last Resort is infused with magical realism. I enjoy this story telling element and Kidd does it extremely well, with the Saints and the collapsing house that seems determined to put the past right. Irish fables and proverbs add to that atmosphere. Kidd's prose are wonderful.There's a mystery to be solved in Mr. Flood's last resort, but there's so much more to the tale. Forgiveness speaks loudly. Heartbreaking, heartwarming and so very, very good. (And that ending? Perfect - although I wished I knew more....) Absolutely recommended.
    • 5/5
      Jess Kidd’s latest novel, Mr. Flood’s Last Resort, is one heck of a page-turning black comedy. Maud Drennan has become Cathal Flood’s last resort. He is a hoarder and an old curmudgeon of the highest order and he has managed to chase off every cleaner the agency has sent him. If Maud can’t bring him and his house to heel, it’s the old folks home for him. Maud fortunately is clever, resourceful, and patient (perhaps due to her life-long relationship with dead saints who like to visit and critique her life on a regular basis) and, eventually Maud and Cathal reach, if not a friendship, a truce. But, even as she conquers the mess of his house and person, she becomes obsessed with the possibly not accidental death of his wife and the disappearance of a young girl who is somehow linked to him. She and Renata, her agoraphobic transgender landlady, are determined to get to the bottom of it so, with Renata’s chart board and spirit of adventure (albeit somewhat hampered by her agoraphobia) and Maud’s indefatigable sense of curiosity, the two set out to solve these mysteries with the saints cheering Maud on from the sidelines. Okay, admittedly it took me a couple of chapters to acclimate myself to this novel because it’s not exactly your typical mystery novel or, well, novel in general. But once I caught up with it, I loved it. Mr. Flood’s Last Resort is definitely one of my favourite reads this year thanks to its twist and turns, its quirky characters, witty dialogue (including that of the saints), and its black humour. It should be noted that this is less about the mysteries and more about the relationships between Maud and the other characters but for anyone looking for something well-written, great fun, and completely original, this one's for you. Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review
    • 4/5
      Maud Drennan is a caretaker in her 30’s. Her boss, Biba Morel, performs “that alchemic magic she was renowned for: matching geriatric hell-raisers with minimum-waged staff.” Thus Maud has been sent to the home of Cathal Flood, a curmudgeonly widower living alone in a Gothic mansion crawling with feral cats, trash, mechanical curiosities, and years of hoarded objects with no discernible use. Maud tries to get at least the kitchen and downstairs bathroom in a more sanitary condition.When not at Cathal’s, Maud spends time with her transgender landlady, Renata, who is agoraphobic and won’t leave her flat, and also with a panoply of patron saints who occasionally show up in Maud’s company and provide a running commentary to her about her life.Although Maud lives and works in Dorset, England, both she and Cathal are Irish, and thus share a love of storytelling as well as a rather rich vocabulary of expletives. But Cathal finds he can’t scare off Maud: “‘Don’t you ever lose your temper?’ he asks. ‘No, Mr. Flood, I have a sunny disposition.’ ‘Isn’t that a grand thing for the both of us, Drennan?’ he says…”There are two other characters who attempt to hang around the mansion and worm their way inside. One is a man who claims to be Cathal’s son Gabriel, although Cathal keeps insisting he is not, and maintains “Dr. Gabriel Flood is a gobshite.” The other answers to the name of the previous careworker, Sam Hebden, who left after being attacked by Cathal with a hurling stick. Both insist they are only trying to protect Maud.Maud finds Sam quite attractive, and before long, she and Renata are including them in their schemes to find out what really happened to Cathal’s long-dead wife and an apparently missing daughter.In alternate chapters, we learn that Maud has a tragic and mysterious past herself, involving her older sister Diedre who disappeared one summer back in Ireland when Maud was just seven.As the plot unfolds, the story turns into more of a dark Gothic tale, with plenty of danger and suspense as well as humor. Eventually we find out what happened to everyone, in an ending that offers redemption while also feeling quite tragic.Evaluation: I didn’t love this as much as the author’s previous book, Himself, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it thoroughly. Her characterizations are excellent, and her knack of adding an Irish flavor to her stories is outstanding.
    • 5/5
      I don't understand why everyone isn't running to get their hands on this book! Everyone who loves great story telling should run out and get this book when it publishes on May 1st. Really. I thought it was that good. In fact I just loved it. I had expected a quirky read with a quirky main character and, to some extent, that's what I got. But I also got so much more! Mr. Flood himself is quirky with a very capital Q, but Maud and Renata are real people with a capital R. They are so well drawn by the author they feel just like friends as you read along. Mr Flood's mansion is so perfectly described you can see each room in your mind and the house becomes its own great, quirky character. And the story - oh this story is a good one. There is a very luscious mystery woven through Mr. Flood's story that twists and turns just like the best of any thriller out there. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy to read in exchange for an honest opinion.
    • 5/5
      4.25. Clever and imaginative. When I read this authors first book I was blown away by her clever mixing of the worldly with the unworldly. She does the same thing here, in a different way. Maud, who after a devastating incident in her childhood has a special connection with some who have passed. She is sent by her agency to the home of Mr. Cathal Flood, a hoarder, an elderly gentleman who has an irascible personality. The house if full of meaningful and meaningless stuff of all sorts. It is also over until with cats. Maud herself is accompanied often by a cortege of saints, among them Saint Valentine, Saint Rita,Saint Monica, Saint George and Saint Dymphya. They often provide comic relief. This is a mystery of sorts, the house seems to want Maud to know certain things, and provides her with unexpected items. From these things she becomes fixated on a missing girl, and finding out the secrets she is sure Cathal is hiding. Could he be dangerous? As Maud takes up the Hu for answers, the readers are introduced to her past and as secrets are exposed, clues found, the story is put together in a very entertaining and I unexpected way.This author has such a brilliant imagination. Her characters are different, a little strange but poignant and delightful all at the same time. There is darkness and light in her fiction, help from beyond, and somehow, at least for me it all works. She has become an author whose books I eagerly await. Can't imagine what she will come up with next. ARC from Edelweiss.