Last Rights: A Novel [Hardcover]

Philip Shelby (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1997

Adventure/SuspenseLarge Print EditionA riveting page-turner . . . successfully builds dramatic tension toward a satisfying denouement. Library JournalWhen General Griffin North, a highly decorated African-American icon, is killed in a suspicious plane crash, the special commission deems it a tragic accident caused by pilot error. But Mollie Smith of the Criminal Investigation Division, convinced that the General was assassinated and keenly aware that certain people in high places would stop at nothing to keep a black man from a possible vice-presidential nomination, continues her own investigation. When Mollie is found murdered, her friend and protg Rachel Collins is left to pick up the scent of a conspiracy of dizzying proportions, thrusting her into a whirlwind of murder spawned by elaborately masked scandals in the corridors of power.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Philip Shelby's first novel, Days of Drums, was a crackerjack political thriller. It earned him big sales and good reviews for his ability to turn the nightly news into compelling fiction. His latest pulls off the same magic. A highly decorated African American war hero, General Griffin North, is killed in a plane crash just as his political career is about to take off. Ironically in light of modern military sex scandals, the only people who think the crash might have been more than an accident are two very interesting women--Major Mollie Smith of the Army and her protégé, Warrant Officer Rachel Collins. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Burdened with contrived plotting that depends on miraculous timing and fortuitous circumstances, Shelby's sensationalistic second thriller (after Days of Drums) asks for too much reader indulgence. And that's too bad, because its premise is intriguing: that the supposedly accidental death of a retired African American army general with an eye on the White House was no accident. When Warrant Officer Rachel Collins of Army CID hears the dying whispers of a sergeant who once served as driver for the highly decorated General Griffin North, she realizes that the general was the victim of an assassination plot. After Collins's mentor, Major Mollie Smith, is murdered following her attempt to relocate two witnesses who hold key information, Collins herself becomes the next target of an ace CIA hit man known as the Engineer. Help arrives in the person of Smith's brother, an FBI agent, but the plot thickens when Collins discovers that North was Smith's secret lover. In addition to the requisite high-level political shenanigans and an alphabet soup of covert agencies, Shelby stirs in white supremacists, a venal federal judge, cross-country air chases, glitzy resort settings and steamy romance. It's much too much, and while the final chapters crackle with action, the plot tricks Shelby uses to reach them, as well as his familiar characters, will have long worn readers' patience thin. 125,000 first printing.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 551 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Pr (June 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786209496
• ISBN-13: 978-0786209491
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,786,282 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great suspense book, May 3, 2000

By 

Mr. A. Chapman - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Last Rights (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the first book I have read of Philip Shelby. I usually read Sci-Fi books, but I was glad that I picked this book up. The mystery that surrounds every character keeps you wanting to know what was going to happen next. There were good twists in the book aswell which added intrigue to the plot. If anyone has read 'The Firm' by John Grishman, they will like this book. As I found it better than 'The Firm'. Cannot wait to read another book by Shelby

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Another Flight To Deception., June 21, 2006

By 

Betty Burks "Betty Burks" (Knoxville, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Last Rights / A Novel (Hardcover)

This thriller has all the features of its genre, plus some. A crooked judge, assassins galore, terrorists before the ones we are aware of, and secret agents (all using false names). No one is who he or she claims to be. This is right down Eddy Roy's alley, but I can't for the life of me remember the author he is devoted to and buys all his books.

Sarah Martindale, Wink's sister (not her real name), Rachel used to book a flight from Baltimore to Atlanta. I hope she had proper ID. On my first solo flight, I ran in panic to the nearest phone when ID was required. I had my own, but not for the name on the ticket. It was a last minute gift. Since Lee wasn't at home to verify he had given me the round trip to Chicago, I was finally allowed to use it for the last empty seat. She is a secret agent, a strong woman with military training.

Little did she know that the assignation was closely monitored and thwarted. The Engineer was determined to get her out of the way any way he could. Steven Copeland should never have gone into the hotel sauna alone. The depraved Engineer got to him first. "We don't believe in virtues, that some things are good and others evil. Consequences. That's what we knw for sure, the only thing we hold true." His soul "was utterly rotted away." He was the very essence, the presence of evil. That's how Philip uses dialogue, choppy and to the point. Not much elaboration or explanation. It gets old after awhile. So much blood and gore, you'd think you were in Baghdad. There was much evasion of the truth and delusion -- too much, in fact. The Engineer turned out to be David McFadden of Hong Kong. What business of his would it be if a black man were elected V. P. of the United States in the first place. He was just doing what he was paid to do, as was she in trying to protect the rights of U. S. citizens.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding! Believable! Energetic, August 7, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Last Rights / A Novel (Hardcover)

Philip Shelby has once again delivered a blockbuster! Once I started reading, I couldn't put the book down. At first, the threads of the story are delivered very quickly - the "accidental" death of a prominent Afro-American general with political potential, the female Army officer who suspects murder, the tip to the Baltimore police about an Army sergeant suspected of illegal arms dealing- these & more threads seem to be disjointed. But Shelby brings them all together in a series of events that seem plausible & very natural. Even with the White House involvement, the book never, in my opinion, borders on fantasy. You find yourself in the middle of the book "cheering" for the good gal & guys. Shelby's main character, Rachel Collins, comes across as being a "normal" person. The author even leaves room for the possibility that Rachel will be around for another novel. Perhaps with a love interest?!!!? GREAT BOOK