The premise is one I always enjoy - 'everyday guy in a bad situation'. In The Last Act it is an actor named Tommy Jump. The work has dried up, he has a child on the way and he needs monehy. Then he receives an offer from an FBI agent he knew when they were kids. Go undercover in a prison and cosy up to a banker convicted of working for a drug cartel. The FBI needs documents the banker he has hidden in order to bring the cartel down. The pay they're offering would set up Tommy nicely - and it's only for six months. Tommy takes the job......And you just know something's going to go wrong......
Oh boy! Parks has written an absolutely addicting read! Tommy is a great lead character and you can't help but cheer him on. There are some chapters from his girlfriend Amanda as well and I liked her just as much. The drug cartel is also given a voice. As we hear from them, it just ramps up the danger factor as we realize what Tommy has gotten himself into.
Parks put lots of stumbling blocks in front of Tommy as he tries to elicit the information the FBI needs. Often I find I can guess where a plot is going to go - but Parks truly surprised me with the first big twist in the book. I did not see it coming. And he follows up with several more twisty turns I had not anticipated. There are many red herrings along the way to keep the reader guessing as well.
And yes, some of the plotting requires a few grains of salt, but just go with it. The Last Act reads like a movie and I can absolutely see it on the big screen. Here's an excerpt of The Last Act. Brad Parks is firmly on my 'must read' list of authors - I can't wait for his next book!
2 comments:
I haven't read anything by this author.
He writes pretty good suspense stuff - that reads like a movie.
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