Sam Acquillo’s at the end of the line. A middle-aged corporate dropout living in his dead parents’ ramshackle cottage in Southampton’s North Sea, Sam has abandoned friends, family and a big-time career to sit on his porch, drink vodka and stare at the Little Peconic Bay.

But then the old lady next door is dead in her bathtub and Sam’s the only one who wonders why. Despite himself, burned-out, busted up and cynical, the ex-engineer, ex-professional boxer finds himself uncovering secrets no one could have imagined, least of all Sam himself.

Meanwhile, a procession of quirky characters intrude on Sam’s misanthropic ways – a beautiful banker, pot-smoking lawyer, bug-eyed fisherman and gay billionaire join a full complement of cops, thugs and local luminaries. Haves, have-nots and want-to-have-at–all-costs. Some deadly.

“The spare, emotionally eloquent style of Chris Knopf’s first novel, THE LAST REFUGE, gives shapely form to the confessional story narrated by Sam Acquillo…the characters are such original oddballs and their conversation so bracing you want to kick off your shoes and spend some time on the porch with them, just taking in the view and enjoying the talk.”

– The New York Times