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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exciting and Thought Provoking Throughout, July 13, 2011
This review is from: The Final Hour (The Homelanders) (Hardcover)
I've really enjoyed Klavan's Homelanders Series and this final book is an excellent end to a suspenseful and action-packed story. Teen super-hero Charlie West is in one of the most dangerous prisons in the country for a crime he didn't commit. And amidst his struggle to stay alive in prison, he is also one of the only people left with knowledge of an upcoming terrorist attack on America. He struggles through his fear and circumstances in order to save the people in this creative and fantastic adventure. Each book in this series brings a piece of the mystery and character of Charlie West. It's not a "deep" story so much as it is action-packed, but many important issues are brought up in the realms of faith, politics, violence, war and terrorism, patriotism, good versus evil, and even identity. As a mother, this is the kind of story I'd want to discuss with my teenagers after each book, and I am pleased that The Final Hour does have a Reading Group Guide for further reflection. I received a complimentary copy of this book as a part of the Thomas Nelson Book Review Blogging Program through booksneeze.com.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Satisfying Conclusion to the Insanely Epic Series, July 9, 2011
This review is from: The Final Hour (The Homelanders) (Hardcover)
Charlie West woke up one morning to find himself being tortured by terrorists with absolutely no memory of what happened during the last year of his life. And, to make it worse, he's wanted by the police for the murder of his best friend. Over the next couple of months, Charlie is faced with a ridiculous amount of misfortune on his quest to clear his name and expose his would-be murderers. I'm actually starting to think Andrew Klavan is incapable of writing a boring scene. Practically every sentence is packed to bursting with suspense. From a dogfight through the streets of New York to dodging subway trains in a shootout with the Homelanders, Klavan never lets up on the thrills. And now, it's finally over. The final hour has come and gone, answering every question; revealing every mystery. Every fan of the previous books will need to get their hands on this truly satisfying conclusion to the insanely epic series.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Final Hour: decent read, July 5, 2011
This review is from: The Final Hour (The Homelanders) (Hardcover)
The Final Hour by Andrew Klavan is the fourth and last in a series of Christian fiction called the Homelanders series. The main character, Charlie West, is a teen who has decided to take a stand by agreeing to go undercover in a homegrown terrorist group in order to catch them and stop their plans to terrorize America. Throughout the series,the story takes us through an action packed adventure where we see how Charlie deals with basically being alone and on the run from both the police and from the terrorist group he infiltrated. With the exception of a few friends, Charlie has to deal with almost everyone thinking he is basically one of the bad guys. In this last book of the series, The Final Hour brings everything to closure and we the reader are finally able to see whether or not Charlie will succeed or have to live the rest of his life perceived as one of the enemies of America. This book subtlety allows the reader to see that Charlie and his sensei, Mike, are Christians and knowing that, as the reader we are to assume his values and everything he does is because of his relationship with Christ. I had mixed feelings about how little was attributed to Charlie being a Christian. I personally was expecting more of a testimony through the story itself and would have liked to see Charlie and his sensei, Mike, being established more as Christians throughout the series. The storyline and development of Charlie's character made it seem that his values were more based in his training from karate than a sense of it being because he was a Christian. I will grant that some of it was implied in the story even though not as intensively as I would have liked for it to have been done. The books do include a nice set of discussion questions at the end of the book (reading group guide) which does make up for what I felt was not as strong of a testimony within the story itself. Regardless of what I would have liked to have seen with the development of Charlie's character and despite some slow parts in the book, it still made a decent read especially in light of what fiction is out there for both young and older adults. Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."
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