Final Victim [Kindle Edition]

Stephen J. Cannell (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The man who dreamed up such TV heroes as Mr. T., Hunter, Jim Rockford and the Commish now introduces maverick U.S. Customs agent John Lockwood. This hero of Cannell's boisterous second novel (after The Plan) is "one of the best pound-for-pound bullshitters on the planet," who totes a gun with a two-inch barrel (although "he'd never been able to hit anything with it, at least it didn't poke him when he sat"). Not unexpectedly, Lockwood's breezy style infuriates some important superiors, but readers will enjoy how he puts together a team (beautiful Ph.D. Karen Dawson and handsome computer whiz/convict Malavida Chacone) to track down Florida-based serial killer Leonard Land, he of the "brilliant, twisted" mind and "fat, gluttonous body." The story rambles at times and includes too many forced, nick-of-time heroics, some jarring noir pensees from Lockwood and an anomalous burst of piety from Karen ("Lead me out of this darkness. In the name of your Son, Jesus. Amen"). The bloody climax sees Malavida and Lockwood, both severely damaged, dragging themselves to the rescue of Karen, who's offered herself up as bait. It's a lightweight, generally enjoyable yarn, and if readers have seen it all before, well, they probably will again, sometime between dinner and the 11:00 news. Author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Cannell, the creator of such television series as The Commish and author of The Plan (LJ 5/15/95), shows his TV roots in this thriller about a pair of U.S. Customs employees who stumble upon a serial killer. Leonard Land, a colossal young man who operates from a converted garbage barge in Florida, uses his computer hacking expertise to cover up a series of heinous mutilations. In the time-honored but cliched manner of so many writers in this genre, Cannell imbues his hero, Customs agent John Lockwood, with a healthy sense of disrespect for rules, regulations, and authority. Lockwood is paired with the beautiful egghead Karen "Awesome" Dawson, whose robust IQ is put to the test by her quarry's devilish hacking skills. Cannell plays fast and loose when writing about technology, and his characterizations sometimes stretch credibility, but his story's frenetic pace and the occasional fresh surprise will keep most readers tuned in until the end. For large popular collections.
-?Mark Annichiarico, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 396 KB
• Publisher: HarperCollins e-books (October 13, 2009)
• Sold by: HarperCollins Publishers
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000W915SA
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #183,279 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 3 1/2 stars - Uneven, January 15, 2002

By 

D. Hern (CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Final Victim (Mass Market Paperback)

Final Victim grabs the reader on the first page, by putting us right inside the mind/world of the killer. A great start. Maybe that's why it's such a jolt when we're introduced to the main character (think Bruce Willis) and all action stops as we're given seemingly endless detail about his career in Customs.

This book was an improvement over his first novel, The Plan. The killer was a truly scary guy. The book was most interesting when it dealt with the killer and his motivations. This could have been a 4 or even 5 star book if Cannell had just concentrated on the killer and the investigation. The "chase and capture" scenes were well-done; and there's even a nice little twist at the end of the chase. As always, Cannell knows how to write an action scene.

The biggest problem with this book is that it takes far too much time examining the three main investigators and their interrelationships. The fact is, they're just not very interesting, and there's not a whole lot to examine. One is a 'rogue' Customs Agent - your basic guy who won't play by the rules, etc. One is a woman genius - she's brilliant, she's beautiful, she's lonely/vulnerable, etc. One is a convict released to help with the investigation. The convict turns out to be the most realistic character, since he's pretty much just out for himself.

These fairly two-dimensional characters are given far too much time and attention. At perhaps the lowest point in the book, this female genius attempts to examine her feelings about the convict. Just a painful, poorly-written little interlude that might belong on a soap, but not in the middle of a thriller.

Overall, a decent thriller. The killer is sufficiently interesting to keep up interest; and the action scenes keep you turning the pages. With a little more fine-tuning, this would have been a very good book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book, July 17, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Final Victim (Mass Market Paperback)

I thought this was an excellent thriller book. I have never read any other books by Stephen J. Cannell, a friend leant me this to read and I absolutely loved it, could not put the book down. If you are into computers a little you will enjoy this book as it adds a bit of a twist to the novel that you don't see in other thrillers. I read Patricia Cornwall & James Patterson as well, most of their books are great but I found this one to be alot more scary, I actually screamed in one section.

I must admit that the ending was not the best, it really didn't finish with the thrill you normally receive. Overall this book is worth picking up.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Bland, April 11, 2002

By 

John G. Hilliard (Toronto Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Final Victim (Mass Market Paperback)

The final victim may be the reader. Ok I am sure it is difficult to come up with a new exciting story all the time so I do not get too disappointed when an author goes to the holy grail of thriller writing - the bad cop, good side kick murder mystery caper. But this book pulled out so many of the good old stand by's that I thought it was written just to add them in. Sure the story is good - we all know it, and the action keeps you reading that particular section of he book, but the author tried to make these dull, well used characters have some depth and he just could not pull it off. I do give him credit for trying to make these central casting characters a little more meaty, but unfortunately all it did was slow down the book. If you are looking for something new, this is probably not the one to stop on, if you are looking for a standard fair action mystery then this will fit the bill.