THE LAST WORD
Matthew Top Richmond ? conqueror of Everest, scion of an old Gawpassatan family ? is in most other respects a failure. Summoned back top the wealthy seaside town of his birth after an absence of several years, he is disturbed to find his old stamping ground given over entirely to the Word, a crass and simplistic modern religion founded by his Uncle Ian. Matthew?s knowledge of the Word is foggy at best, but he soon remembers that the date of his uncle?s death, supposedly preordained by God, is only days away. A deathbed has been prepared, and devotees around the world anxiously await the Great Man?s demise: an heir is said to be in the offing. Rumor has it that the identity of the heir will be announced in The Last Word, Uncle Ian?s testament.