The Last Alchemist

I had a bit of a hard time getting into this book. After I finally started putting it together it was quite good. Some of the characters names gave me a good chuckle. Such as Wen Ning - which he couldn't seem to do. Then Utterly - (useless) which I really liked pulling him out of the fire, and Dypsvick - which sounded a lot like "dipstick" who seemed to have a way of coming out on top. All in all I thought this book was a fun read especially after I started giving the characters ""sounds like" names.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I am usually a cozy book reader but enjoy some of the books that have a connection to the occult or some conspiracy. This book seemed to combine all of the above and leaves me thinking about the value of gold, the value of being rich and what are the trade-offs you need to make. It does make one think while reading this book and evaluate your own "principles". Thank you for writing about something that is on the news (alchemy and pyramids) and gives a perspective that has not been espoused in the past. A good clean mystery (several dead bodies but...) very readable.

This book sent me to Wikipedia to check out all the references to gold reserves and I had just finished listening to a podcast talk about fire guilding and mercury poisoning, so the story related to the gold mining and the quantities of mercury found on downed nazi ships was very interesting, although I did not remember anything about the reference to Hans Brumler at the end, so I have no idea what that meant. Anhow, nice job!

Great character development and very believable plot. Enjoyed the turns and twists. I have always been interested in the history surrounding WW II and the movement between past and present was seamless.

I just finished reading this, and I have no idea what happened. It started out ok, but then it was just the same info, over and over. The ending was baffling to me. What happened to David while he was in die Glock? I thought I had figured out what the bell was for, but it was never really explained. Is it extraterrestrial, or time travel, or something else? How did they plan to use it to win WWII? I read the last chapter and just said, "What?" to myself a few times. Waste of time. It was a very disjointed story.

Review: THE LAST ALCHEMIST by Erik Hamre

I found THE LAST ALCHEMIST wildly engrossing, surprisingly so because the foundation is ostensibly about wealth and why some have it and most don't . But like a tasty onion, this novel builds in layers upon layers upon layers. Utilizing my current favorite protagonist type, the feckless hero, we soon acquire multiple wild goose chases across Europe, many characters who turn out to be facades, Nazi history and the Nazi occult obsession, life and death and the fourth dimension. I couldn't put it down!

I borrowed this novel via Kindle Unlimited and opted to review.

I absolutely LOVE books that combine imagination, intelligence, history, research and action and The Last Alchemist by Erik Hamre certainly fits the bill nicely – and then some. A disenchanted MBA student in Australia, David Dypsvik, is given an interesting assignment by his professor – find out what happened to billionaire, Yossar Devan, who had more or less disappeared off the face of the earth after given a series of lectures on wealth principles at Oxford University over forty years earlier. Somewhat intrigued, David rises to the challenge, using his skills as a former investigative journalist to help him in his quest. What follows are a surprising series of twists and turns that leave the reader totally engrossed. Reminiscent somewhat of the mysterious assignment given to journalist Mikael Blomkvist by billionaire industrialist, Hans-Erik Wennerstrom in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Hamre’s reluctant hero, David, embarks on a journey of discovery somewhat akin to an Indiana Jones adventure. If you like well thought-out books rife with mystery, adventure and intelligent story-telling, you will surely want to read The Last Alchemist. Highly recommended!

By all rights, I did not read the whole thing. I was completely turned off after the multiple references of "Kindle EReaders" and their great features and how the technology will change the book buying game. Seriously? You think people are so brain dead they don't realize this product placement?

Either way, I found the writing to be pretty basic, and I did not see the characters being developed very well.

It starts out a lot Atlas Shrugged with a missing philosopher-economist who sounds like Ayn Rand's Ragnar Danneskjold, then it turns into a lesson about wealth much like Poor Dad Rich Dad.
I was about to give up on it when it talked about the Nazi CHRONOS Project which is all too real. Read the Book The Hunt For Zero Point by Nick Cook to get the full story.

I am new to the writings of Erik Hamre and find him producing exciting, plot twisting, and surprising in his book, The Last Alchemist. The detail to character growth and involvement with others in the book make for a comfortable read. It was hard to put down at any point in the book and I know I will reread it at some point to pick up anything I might have missed. Good plot, good characters - a winning combination. I will read more of his books I am sure.

The author says he reads every review so here's mine. I thought this book could benefit from the services of a good editor. The book, while it had no spelling errors that I found reading for pleasure, seemed to be written by some one for whom English was a second language.The sentence structure was not correct and some words were poorly placed. Other words were oddly used as if suggested by a thesaurus but not quite the right word for the situation. Overall the book was enjoyable till the ending, which seemed hurried and muddy. Keep writing! but use a good editor.

I like the fact that the subject is based upon a real piece of history and offers an alternative premise for it's functionality. Kind of like Dan Brown's The Davinci Code offered an plausible explanation of Christ's chalice. I would have preferred a slightly different ending that left the artifact available for future study. I would have also liked to have the ending expanded to explain what happened between the hero loosing consciousness and the last chapter.

Overall the book was ok but the first and next to last chapter really was unnecessary as it really had nothing to do with the story. I am disappointed not to learn what "die glocke" did at the end as it just wasn't explained (which was the whole purpose of finding out by the characters.)

The plot for this book is a good one, but the telling of the story isn't that good. A good editor could cut the book down by at least a third, tighten the story, perhaps make a good book out of it. Even then it would probably only appeal to a teenager. That's a pity, since the plot is a good one.

Hated it when I had to put it down just so I could rest my eyes awhile. Loved the book beyond anything I've read lately. The suspense was thrilling. Story line fun to follow and the romance was sexy to boot. Would most definitely recommend to anyone I know. I can't wait to read all of his other books. Buy I truly can't wait for the movie to be made.

The author kept repeating the same things over and over again, often even in the same paragraph! It got to be so monotonous! The main character was not very likeable. The premise was okay, and the first half of the book kept me interested. It just went downhill from there.

I enjoyed this book tremendously both for its original idea and the pace of the action. It could do with some tighter editorial work because the author lost his way a couple of time - almost as if a couple of pages got misplaced. Given that, where otherwise I would have made this five stars rather than the four seen here.

This book was not what I thought it was but it was much better an exquisite story that I enjoyed reading it hooked me from page one till the end. My thanks go to the wonderful author Erik Hamre for the delightful pleasure of reading his wonderful book. This book I would be delighted to recommend to my friends so to all happy reading from wee me. xxx☻

The Last Alchemists was a good read with a nice twist on the storyline. Easy to follow and not a lot of jumping back and forth between characters. You could feel the emotions of the characters and follow the emotional rollercoaster and find yourself going "whew that was close."

I really wanted to like this story. The idea of the real mystery of the Nazi weaponry experiments connected with the myth of Midas gold was a contributing factor to my choice to download the story, but sadly I couldn't like the main character David. I understood his sense of lack and search for purpose in his life but found I couldn't engage with him so didn't really care about his personal life, which underpinned the whole story. However the adventure side of the story was great although I am still not entirely sure about the ending.

I am writing this review in response to a request from the Author at the end of the book. Prior to writing, I have read some of the previous reviews
posted, and am amazed by the level of criticism and negativity contained in some of them.
I guess that to a certain extent, fiction is akin to art - not everyone will love or enjoy it. Perhaps my own threshold for being entertained is
significantly lower than other readers.
Whatever, I have to confirm that I thoroughly enjoyed the book for what it was - an escape for an hour or so from the mundanity of everyday
life. It was fast paced, kept me involved on every page, and was enjoyable as a well crafted book of fiction should be.
I wondered at the end as to whether the author had left sufficient room for a sequel at some later stage ?

The book was pretty good, very comparable to others in genre. Interesting historical mysteries into a good fiction read but my gosh what a disappointment the ending was. Actually I am not even sure there was one. Better off coming up with some sci fi fantasy ending then nothing.

Yes! Erik Hamre does it again. Another well-crafted, well-researched, energetic and unique book. Hamre really knows how to mix insight with intelligence, and he adds an interesting bit of psychology to an excerpt right out of the bizarre-but-true history archives -- in this case regarding an ultra-secret Nazi experimental weapon. Erik's seamless fusion of seemingly unrelated things is great talent, and his thought-provoking twists are a treat to the reader. Thanks for another great book I've had the pleasure to read.

The book was an enjoyable rainy day read. It started slow, a bit too wordy for me, but the twists and turns in the plot kicked in creating enough interest to keep me going. The book is not about character development. And, I thought the comment about the Asian unwarranted.

Great beach read. It was an intriguing story and had characters that were mostly likeable. The story is engaging and original. As historical fiction goes, this didn’t disappoint. Good build in plot.
My only complaint was the end, I didn’t quite feel like every loose end was tied up, but maybe there is another book planned?

I got exactly what l wanted when l read this book. A good fast paced mystery with a bit of history and science. A story where l needed my imagination to work and as such an escape from everyday life. That's what l like in a book escapism. The characters had enough of a background so the reader could understand why the undertook their journey. I will definitely look for another book by this author

The assisting characters were not as developed as I would have liked but there was no wasted time on them either. I think there is a perfect balance of enough info about each character. This read more to the pace of a movie which is fun but I wanted to know a bit more.
Keep it up and I hope there is a follow up to the story. I really want the device to work and see where that goes.

An intriguing story I enjoyed. At times it took a minute to work out that the scene had shifted from one set of characters to another, but it soon became clear. I am not a physisist nor a historian, so it is plausible, which is what a book should be.

I think Eric has potential as an author but needs to polish up his writing style. The English is full of flaws and grammatical errors and incomplete sentences. I was also a little uncertain as to the motives of the characters: The professor, David's father and why the CIA? Eric needs a good editor.

Good read. The author adeptly blends historical persons and events with the story. It makes you want to learn more about the actual history of die glocke, Kammler, and others. Some threads in the book are confusing but overall a good conspiracy theory novel.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I couldn't tell where the story was going in the beginning. The ending took me to a place I never imagine the story would go. This was the first book I had read from this author. It was suspenseful, enjoyable and exciting . . . now I want to read more of Erik's books!

Enjoyable read, the type of story that balances fiction well enough with historical events that you find yourself trying to determine where that line actually exists.

To add another layer, the mystery aspect was extremely captivating and keeps you guessing until the end.

I really enjoyed this book and finished it very quickly. It builds well and the characters are plausibly flawed. Occasional grammatical errors don't detract from an interesting romp across more than 70 years of history. Highly recommended.

I wasn't sure about the book and whether it would keep my attention. It did. The Last Alchemist is a great read. It has all the makings of a great book. I look forward to reading more of Erik Hamre's work.

An enjoyable read from an author with a new storyline, not a rehash of stories one has read before. True historical facts from the Second World War are interwoven throughout this novel an enjoyable read.

Pretty good book well paced and fairly unpredictable. I like the whole second world war mystery surrounding the German scientific research and widespread disappearance of many war criminals. I enjoyed it.