Customer Reviews

Last Breath

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This is my fourth Michael Prescott book.
All have been page turners. I'm not sure why he writes about women heroes, but it didn't seem unnatural to me.
It starts fast, and keeps up a great pace. I never found myself saying, "can we just move along now." For the money, it can't be beat.
Plenty of twists and turns, and I didn't see any technical mistakes.
Child long ago stalked by "the bogeyman", now is a cop and finds herself being stalked again.
She must face her fears or never be sure of herself.

$.99. Why not? I want more.

I have read everything available, on Kindle, by this author. He is spell binding. I look everyday for something new. Once I started any one of his novels, I am really hard-put to lay it down.
From first sentence to last page, they are fast moving, keep you on the edge of your seat, entertaining, books.

When C. J. Osborn was a little girl she prevented her own kidnapping. She fought the attacker and escaped from the clutches of `The Boogeyman'. Twenty years later, she is working as a police officer who is always looking behind her shoulder waiting for `The Boogeyman' to assault her again. This is the synopsis we get at the back of the book, however the story is completely different.

An ex-husband wants vengeance against the woman who divorced him. As he begins to plan he learns that his ex-wife is being targeted by a serial killer and decides to use this to his advantage. He studies the killer's methods and tries to emulate them when it comes time to kill her and therefore commit the perfect crime. The police will concentrate on the serial killer and ignore the ex-husband who already has an alibi. As it is with most of these novels it does not turn out that way thanks to the quick thinking of Officer Osborn and the police.

The serial killer story is what takes center stage in this book. `The Boogeyman' is only important at the beginning and at the end. The plot of the story takes place in twenty-six hours that does not give enough time for character development. Mr. Prescott should have done the serial killer story exclusively, that story was good. C. J.'s boogeyman turned out to be something flat and I think he could have done something better had he written this novel knowing that there would be a sequel. Fans will be disappointed on the way things turned out in this book.

Michael Prescott has done it again -- written a psychological thriller that won't let you stop reading. Catlin, or C.J. as she prefers to be called, is a tough L.A. cop with a past that has been haunting her since she was 10 years old. An intruder, whom she thinks of as the boogeyman, broke into her home and frightened her so badly she has never been able to get the experience out of her mind. Now, he's come back to find her, and this time, he vows not to leave empty handed. A few surprising plot twists heighten the suspense and keep the reader up late at night.
Prescott is not only a superb wordsmith, he writes in the female point of view more realistically than most male writers. "Last Breath" is a must for suspense fans.

Everybody looks for something different in the books they read. Were all different. This book, to me, is excellent. Just like all his others. His stories and the way he describes them are movie quality stuff. Yeah, I know, everyone wanted the hourglass killer to be the main adversary. But the perosn they "did" use, (not letting out any spoilers.)was great. He was dark, perverted, mean and smart all at the same time. Great characterization. He was my favorite character of them all.
This should be made into a movie..big time. It's dark, scary and tough. And lets not forget it has edge. I may be exaggerating, but i cant help it. buy this book. NOW!

Implausible and contrived...I have to wonder if I read the same book as other reviewers. A cop who knows nothing about the internet one moment, and is discussing proxy servers the next...a psychotic husband who became an accomplished computer hacker overnight...one contrived coincidence after another. Arrgggghhhh.

Like a couple of the other one-star reviewers, I can hardly believe I read the same novel - and that this mess got past reputable editors and literary agents. One coincidence after another fuel the major plot points, e.g., a bad guy just happens to see the prey that got away on a local TV news report. The characters are cardboard and stereotypical and the dialogue is stilted. The supposed flirtation between the protagonist, CJ, and a potential love interest, Tanner, was painful to read. I never bought the ex-husband as a character. Not that there aren't angry, violent ex's, just didn't believe this character. Actually, none of the characters felt very real, nor did their relationships feel real. The worst part is, structurally, the tension is split between two bad guys - it doesn't make the tension greater, it's just distracting. The book isn't made up of "three independent yet equally significant narrative threads" that are "effortlessly intertwined" as the Publisher's Weekly review has it. It's a bunch of different puzzle pieces that don't belong together.

I am such a fan of Michael Prescott that I find it hard to wait for each new novel. As I waited for Last Breath's release, I wondered what new characters and new plot twists I might enjoy. Wow! C.J. is so believable...she's just a gal with a job she loves, a past that terrifies her, co-workers who give her a hard time, and an ex-hubby that mollifies her into thinking he might be a decent guy. Wrong! He's nuts, she's vulnerable; and, if that weren't enough, there's another crazy out there who let her get away as a child, but is determined to get her now. I am always amazed at how Prescott is able to scare me to death and yet keep me turning page after page late into the night. I loved the book just as I have loved every other Michael Prescott novel. Once again, I'm waiting for the next one and hate the fact that it will be late in 2002 before I can, once again, be mesmerized by Michael Prescott and his wonderfully believable characters.

Without giving away too much of the story I was totally amazed that all the people he thanked allowed the endless back-story of past murders; listed one after the other which seemed to go on ad nauseum with no action whatsoever! Slowed to pace to stop where I just turned pages on my Kindle. On the other hand, the story was cleverly done. I can tell you there's no way all those cops would have been allocated to that final stakeout!

I always knew the boogeyman existed...and Michael Prescott confirmed it, and wrote an amazing thriller about it! I love how the heroine is strong and independent, with a healthy fear...that's what makes her so believable. You are rooting for her, scared for her. Prescott does an amazing job of drawing readers in and not letting go! You'll be hooked from the first to the last page!