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samwiebe.com - the website of award-winning writer Sam Wiebe

Winner of the Kobo Emerging Writers Prize
Winner of the Crime Writers of Canada Award of Excellence

Nominated for the Shamus Award


"Last of the Independents is a gut pumping pleasure to read. Prose crackles with wit, wisdom, and a main character who pounds Vancouver's pavement with a step at once heavy and light. Sam Wiebe delivers a fresh voice to the crime fiction genre, and he does it like a seasoned pro."
Robin Spano, author of the Claire Vengel series


"Smart, sharp writing that kicks into gear on the first page. Wiebe is a 21st century Raymond Chandler, and his Vancouver is like Chandler’s LA—its darkest corners are supporting characters. PI Mike Drayton is cynical, funny and warm-hearted, with a strict moral code and a terrifying temper. What a debut!"
E.R. Brown, author of the award-winning Almost Criminal


"A well-crafted homage to the age of crime noir combined with a thoroughly modern sensibility. Sam's characters were engaging and tightly drawn."
IAN HAMILTON, author of the AVA LEE series and judge for the Kobo Emerging Writers Prize.

 

"Has smarts, style, and a slick P.I. who deserves a long series of searches...Wiebe’s characters are believable and well drawn." 
Margaret Cannon, Globe and Mail

 

"An evocation of evil all the more powerful for its understated style...a literary achievement."
Booklist Online (starred review)

 

"Delivers a knockout punch...a debut well worth spending time with."
Sarah Weinman, National Post 

 

"Plucky and bold...Crime novel fans will enjoy this one."
Tracy Sherlock, The Vancouver Sun

 

"5/5...Wiebe nails it. Plot, pace, character, setting, action and resolution with moments of genuine tension and dread."
Col's Criminal Library

 

"A thoroughly satisfying read. An opening that grabs you, fast-moving and at times very funny...LAST OF THE INDEPENDENTS was our unanimous choice as winner of the Unhanged Arthur Award."
Crime Writers of Canada

 

 

Sam Wiebe delivers a shockingly gritty, moving crime novel. Wildly entertaining, emotionally haunting and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, “Last of the Independents” is a knockout debut performance by a promising new talent.
Thomas Grant Bruso, Plattsburgh Press-Republican

 

"The fresh voice will appeal to those who enjoy a good gritty novel that is not fluff. It is refreshing to see a PI character who doesn't mirror the Remington Steele type persona we're used to seeing on television....It's hard to resist a main character who is part cynical but deep down has a good heart. ...He is sort of like a dark tempered Mr. Darcy who stands by a strict moral code but has a good head on his shoulders. 4 out of 5 stars."
Shilpa Raikar, Sukasa Reads

 

"Wiebe’s characters and character arcs were fresh and surprising...Not only did the novel’s setting feel like modern-day Vancouver by the language alone, it also felt lived in by the character whose eyes we were seeing it through. The descriptions were lively and harsh, very materialistic, very real...a very enjoyable and humanistic take on the detective noir genre."
Anthony Biondi, 
The Cascade

 

"There’s a mastery in the novel’s overlapping of horror and humour ...Wiebe’s debut novel is something quite special. It promises more from a young writer who looks sure to turn Vancouver into one of the great cities of noir."
The Peak

 

"There is a new Canadian writer, Sam Wiebe, who is going to take the mystery community by storm...Edgy, violent, and tough in parts, but there is a subtle sense of humor that worked for me. I loved it...Tough, but so well written."
Sleuth of Baker Street, 'Marian's Picks'

 

"That burst of intitial excellence raises hopes and the bar too for the novel that follows--and Wiebe...rises to his own challenge."
London Free Press

 

"I highly recommend Last of the Independents, it’s a strong first novel from a young writer already pushing his way to the head of the pack in the next wave of fantastic noir writers."
 Michael Pool