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Last Shot

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The latest of Gregg Hurwitz's novels featuring US Marshall Tim Rackley gets off to a slightly slower start than some of the others; in fact the action doesn't really start getting intense until about a third of the way through the book. Keep reading, though, it's worth it. One word of advice for new readers: if you haven't read the previous three volumes already, read those first, and THEN read this; the experience will be much richer if you know the characters and their pasts better (though you'll still be able to follow the events fine). The ending is, as one can expect from a Tim Rackley novel, extremely satisfying. Hurwitz gives bad guys their comeuppance beautifully. Hurwitz still has yet to top The Program, but this is easily as good as Troubleshooter or the Kill Clause.

Have you ever wondered what it might be like to ride a rocket sled? Read a Gregg Hurwitz novel and you will know.

In his most recent novel starring U.S. Marshall Tim Rackley of Troubleshoot fame, Hurwitz spins a whirlwind yarn that uses nearly every bad guy archetype required in a thriller of this caliber.

Walker Jameson is a former First Force Recon Marine sniper and hero to the men that served with him. He has just over three months to serve on his prison sentence at California's Terminal Island Correctional Facility when he is approached by a prison flunky who whispers three words in his ear.

That night Jameson orchestrates a spectacular escape and vanishes before any type of coordinated response can be gathered. Rackley and his team of fellow Marshalls are immediately assigned to track and recapture a deadly fugitive who has all the skills to hide and stay hidden until after Rackley retires. However, Jameson does not stay hidden for long.

As the investigation progresses, Rackley learns of the apparent suicide of Jameson's sister, Tess, whose son suffers from incurable liver disease, is now under the care of Jameson's ex-wife, Kaitlin. This fact exposed, Rackley surmises that the spectacular escape of Walker Jameson is intertwined with the upcoming release of a new medication, a radical new cure, of which Tess's son was the poster boy, until he was removed from the program during the final selection process.

After interviewing Kaitlin Jameson, Rackley begins a parallel investigation of Tess Jameson's untimely death. What they find convinces them that Jameson has escaped to engage in a death hunt, to search and destroy those that brought about her death.

As the bodies begin to pile up, the pursuit intensifies as they piece together small leads into a much bigger case that has implications leading them into the dungeons of insatiable corporate greed, double dealing and hired murder.

Hurwitz masterfully details a desperate hunt for one of his best bad guys to date-a man who will stop at nothing to right a wrong and make those responsible pay the ultimate price.

Armchair Interviews says: Light-speed read. As with all the Troubleshooter novels, the action is death defying and literally non-stop.

Walker Jameson has escaped from prison using a strange method leaving the authorities a real puzzle as to how he did it. Jameson had only a short time left on his prison time that made this escape even more questionable.

Deputy U. S. Marshall Tim Rackley is called into the investigation. Tim and Bear, who is a close friend to Tim and his family and also in law enforcement, start their search for this cunning man. Jameson was a former military ranger and knew all the tricks to avoid finding him, much less capturing. He also knew how to kill and torture while obtaining information. Tim is married to Dray, also a cop, now on maternity leave. The life that Tim leads does not allow much time with his family but what time is possible is so important to the entire family.

Jameson has a nephew, Sam, who was seven-years old. Walker's ex-wife, Kaitlin, was raising Sam as Walker's sister, Tess, Sam's mother, had been killed. Sam has a disease that is shutting down his liver. Walker learns that Tess had gotten Sam on a list for a new trial drug treatment for the liver disease he had. At the start the program was free, which was all that could be afforded since Sam's medical coverage had lapsed.

This book opens up the reader's eyes as to what some of the large pharmaceutical companies do to get their products to market and keep them there. It also provides a very plausible scenario that many drugs are kept off the market because the profit might be lower than another researched drug they know will work better.

Walker continues on a long spree to find Tess's killer during which he murders several that he felt were responsible in her demise. He also learns that the pharmaceutical company was playing games with Tess and Sam's life. When this company told Tess that Sam would go off the program if Tess would agree to a liver transplant for Sam instead of the drug program. They fed Tess a line of bull that a new liver would be much better for Sam than an experimental program.

Walker's search for the truth causes him to cross paths many times with Tim and Bear, as well as other law enforcement officers. As Tim and Bear finish their investigation of the prison break, their search for Walker and the truth of what is occurring at the pharmaceutical company intertwine and make for a very interesting mystery and intriguing activity for all involved.

A very enjoyable read that occasionally gets bogged down but not for long. It gets active quite fast with Tim and Bear, their families, and all the research they are compelled to do to get to the truth and the real victims in "Last Shot!"

"Last Shot" is the latest thriller from Gregg Hurwitz, a rising star of the genre. A graduate of Harvard and Oxford, Hurwitz has the literary background to infuse his stories with an intelligence that is a welcome complement to the pulse-pounding action.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Tim Rackley has finally met his match in escaped prisoner Walker Jameson, an ex-Marine with tactical skills that are the equal to Rackley's own. Jameson has broken out of prison and it's up to Rackley to track him down.

As he follows the convict's trail, however, the marshal can't help but wonder what's really going on. In particular, he wants to know why a man with only a year left on his sentence would escape from prison.

"Last Shot" is an exciting thriller with plenty of great action scenes. But it also probes some interesting moral questions, in particular the identity of the story's true villain.

Gregg Hurwitz continues to be a terrifically compelling writer and his Deputy US Marshall character, Tim Rackley, has become a don't miss read. His books are intelligently written, filled with suspense, and carried by action sequences at breakneck pacing. In "Last Shot", Rackley is faced with moral dilemmas and with introspective confrontations with his own philosophical beliefs and codes that give deeper insight into his character.

Rackley must pursue a recent escapee from Terminal Island Penitentiary, Walker Jameson, who quickly seems determined to leave a trail of bodies in his seach for justice for the killing of his sister, Tess. The problem for Rackley is that Jameson is as good or a little better in spec. ops. strategizing, tactics, and killing than he is. Further complicating Rackley's pursuit is his growing realization that as more and more is uncovered about Jameson's life, military career, and "code of honor", the more Tim respects him and his mission--knowing all the while that the two of them are destined for a violent climax.

Tess Jameson was seeking a miracle cure for her liver diseased 7 year old when she turned up dead in an apparent suicide. Walker gets a cryptic piece of information from a snitch that impels him to escape from a high security prison and begin investigating Tess's "suicide" as a murder. Of course, as in many of Hurwitz' books, he must come into conflict with corporate America bad-boys, this time a mega pharmaceutical empire set to unveil a "cure" for what ails Walker's nephew.

Walker Jameson is a skilled man hunter and tactical technician who will enthrall you with his ploys, his secrets, and his various strategems to garner valuable information against his enemies but also in his ability to out guess Rackley's crew of deputies and even "use" Rackley for his own purposes. The strategical cat and mouse struggle between Jameson and Rackley propels the action and storyline at breakneck speed and keeps the reader guessing as to how this can possible turn out and perhaps, even hoping Jameson emerges intact in the end.

As with most of Hurwitz' books, my attention was quickly captured as two very volatile, higly trained, and complex individuals were drawn into each other's spheres of activity and which made them adversaries and collaborators at the same moments. The action and violence underscores the search for the truth about Tess's death, the fate of the dying nephew, and ultimately, Rackley's commitment to do his duty. He, as mentioned, questions himself, his skills, what he would do in a similar situation, and, ultimately, how man can be both bad and good at the same time.

I enjoyed the Walker Jameson character immensely and likened him (with more of a cynical edge) to Bob Lee Swagger in the Stephen Hunter series. I found myself smiling at his tactics and successes and hoping maybe for a new exciting character in a future Hurwitz series. Lovers of action and suspense should not pass up "Last Shot".

The hero of this book is Tim Rackley, U.S. Marshall. Rackley is noted
for tracking down escaped convicts.In this novel he has met a very worthy advesary. Walker Jameson is a Force Recon Marine is very deadly. Jameson has staged a daring escape from the Terminal Island Penitentary. This
escape is impossible. Jameson is looking to gain vengance for his sister
and her son who suffers from a liver disease. The villains in this story is the Kagan family who control Vector Biogenics. Jameson keeps discovering clues linking the Kagans to his sister's death. He discovers that a hit man named the Piper was hired to kill his sister. Tim Rackley
is doing all that he can to apprehend Jameson. Jameson proves to be nearly impossible to apprehend. He leaves a trail of bodies in his pursuit
of the Kagans. This was a very good story that you will enjoy reading.Be
sure to read it.

If you've read the previous Tim Rackley series, you know he's a great character. Now imagine him going up against himself - only a younger, more well trained version! Walker Jameson, a prison escapee, is that person. You find yourself sympathetic to him in the same way you were sympathetic to Rackley in The Kill Clause. He's doing really bad things for some understandable reasons. Rackley is the head of the unit commissioned to bring him in or kill him trying. The relationship that ensues between the two is a very interesting twist on the usual good vs. evil scenario. I, too, found the beginning a bit slow. For me, the details of the scientific process was a bit tedious and the lengthy descriptions of the weaponry meant nothing to me. I am aware that other people could view this entirely differently. However, the story is wonderful. As always, Hurwitz, is an extremely talented writer who creates terrific characters in a continually exciting novel. The story about Walker's sick nephew, Sam, was made more poignant by Tim's reflections on his daughter who had been murdered several years previously and his tender interactions with his two year old son, Tyler. This makes Tim, who is a very tough U.S. Marshall, more human and vulnerable. You know he will rise to the occasion if and when he has to to do his job, but his struggle in dealing with his sympathy for Walker and his contempt for the people that Walker is after makes for a much more profound story. Hurwitz brings it all together in a masterful manner with a satisfying prologue to answer the few lingering questions. If you haven't read the previous books in the Rackley series, I'd recommend it, although there is enough explanation about the characters and back story that it could be read on its own.

Hurwitz's official biography barely does credit to his wide range of interests. Somehow, he manages to get inside the pharmaceutical/bioengineering business (as well as the science), the prison culture, the paintball culture, the law enforcement culture, and the human heart to share what he's learned with his enthralled readers.

If I had looked this book up before I read it I would have thought about going to the first of the series.....but I didn't. I actually had the audio from the library. It was like a very very good Hitchcock movie. The reader was so expressive with all the emotions going on in the story. Because of my work times I find it hard to read books myself. I love a good story read to me. I was hoping for a terrific ending... This was good. Now I have to look for the first book. Thanks for the fun "read".

But when the action does get going, it's a great read. The final confrontation is fantastic and I never saw it coming. A very impressive novel.