Kim Liggett’s The Last Harvest is a young adult horror novel that kept me in suspense from beginning to end. There are some terrifying and creepy events that happen within the book but it wasn’t until the end that I was truly creeped out. I spent most of the novel trying to figure out what was real or what was imaginary in which the ending did truly surprise me in that regard. The only unfortunate was the twist, I kind of saw that coming.

This novel did slightly feel like Friday Night Lights and Rosemary’s Baby but as I was reading it, I thought the novel seemed more like The Ninth Gate. Clay’s father died one year ago after a series of bizarre and terrible circumstances. During that year, Clay has stepped up to be the man of the family and taken care of the farm while still going to school. He dropped out of football after his father died. Clay has pretty much ostracized himself from society because what happened with his father, he doesn’t even speak with people who were once his friends. His remaining family is also in shambles.

The one year anniversary of Clay’s father’s death has Clay remembering all the strangeness of the events that happened during that time. But it is the death of a golden calf that stirs the newest events that has Clay trying to figure out why his dad died like he did. Clay’s family has been a part of the town’s Preservation Society ever since the town was founded. Clay never took his rightful place on the council after his father’s death and because of that his “girlfriend” Ali wasn’t allowed to speak to him until he chose to come back.

The events that follow Clay investigating his father’s death are a mixture of supernatural and just plain unfortunate. Clay is hoping to rekindle his relationship with Ali but his school mates and the townsfolk are just acting plain weird. He isn’t sure what is real and what isn’t and just when he thinks he has things figured out he learns that he doesn’t.

Clay is driven with the need to learn about why his father died the way he did. He seems to care a lot for his littlest sister, Noodle. He tries to help his sister Jess but he mostly lets her do her own thing. Unfortunately, he thinks he is helping out his mom by not being demanding like his father but it just seems to backfire. Clay’s guidance counselor, Miss Granger, is the only one he can turn too with his investigation because she’s the only one who believes his crazy tale. I really liked Clay and he is a lot braver than I because I wouldn’t have put myself in half those situations he puts himself through.

The story is dark and deals with the prophecy of Lucifer returning to earth. This story ended up being a quick read for me because I was really intrigued on how all the supernatural events would play out. I was very curious myself with what Clay dealt with was real or if it was imagined. The ending surprised me but not entirely so because I was surprised by how the events did play out. I do recommend this for the older “young” adult horror fans or if you want to read something a bit creepy.