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Title: The Last Good Man
Series: ———-
Author: Linda Nagata
Rating: 1 of 5 Stars
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 464
Format: Digital Edition
| Synopsis: |
True Brighton, former military, has started up a mercenary group. They rescue kidnap victims, etc, etc. A couple of years ago True’s oldest son, Diego, was captured while on a special forces mission. He was tortured on tape, and that video went viral. He became a worldwide phenomenon. His whole group was wiped out and True has never gotten the answers she wants about the whole situation.
In a pro-bono rescue mission, it becomes apparent that the leader of Diego’s group might not have died with his men. Thus begins True’s hunt for answers.
And be damned to the consequences of her actions, even if it means her friends die, her coworkers die and she leaves her husband and 2 adult children in the dust.
| My Thoughts: |
I enjoyed the story and the writing. Mrs Nagata is talented and this book shows that her The Red trilogy was not a fluke.
However, my problem with this book was how True acts and what motivates her. She is obsessed with her dead son and the facts surrounding his death. She allows that obsession to take over everything. She leaves her husband, wondering if he’ll ever see her again. She makes decisions that directly lead to her coworkers dying. She saves a man, time after time, who has kidnapped, tortured and killed American civilians.
Depending on how you feel about those issues will directly affect how much you enjoy this book. I will continue reading Nagata’s stuff due to how great the Red books were. But if she writes another one like this, well…
★☆☆☆☆
Not much worse than a well-written book marred by a protagonist you can’t get behind
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Yeah, I kept waiting for me to dnf it, but I never quite got to that point…
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Agree. This would be hard for me to swallow.
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If this had been my first Nagata book, I would have been completely done with her…
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yeesh shame that this character spoilt your enjoyment of the book
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Yeah. Things were see-sawing until one moment when the MC has a choice. Go home to her husband or run off to find a despicable killer who has info. She realizes her husband will probably leave her and she chooses to go find the info anyway. That was the point where I knew that this was a 1star for me.
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Well that’s the mature response lol
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It really rubbed me the wrong way…
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Yeah I definitely get why. Characters like that- who make rubbish decisions- really rub me the wrong way too
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Oof, impossible to like a book when everything the main character does is hard to relate to. The “obsessed about the past” thing reminds me of a book I read recently (The Space Between the Stars) where the protag also couldn’t get past her own hang ups, ruining the story for me. I loved Nagata’s The Red so I think I’ll still give this one a try at some point, but thanks for the heads up about the main character.
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If you loved the Red, this is almost a precursor to that world.
Maybe with knowing what is coming, you’ll be able to enjoy it more than me…
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I have a copy of this book to review so I will read it but your point is interesting, I’ll have to see how this character trait will influence my reading experience when I’ll get to it!
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I’ll be interested in how you react to her as well. Robert/Jarod over at readingovertheshoulder didn’t have a problem at all with it when he read it. So I suspect I will be in the small minority 😀
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Awww man! I was hoping you’d love this…..I guess I was wrong. I can see where you’re coming from though. That’s a key point in the story and you’ll either hate it or appreciate what it does for the character. I saw it as a point in which ignorance for True would be as bad or worse than what her husband would experience with her leaving in pursuit of that knowledge. It’s the question, do I stay broken for the rest of my life or do I hurt someone I care about on the chance I can be whole again?
Again, I can still understand your feelings and reaction even if I was hoping for a different one.
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I loved the story and the writing.
Is the point you are referring to when she walks off the plane? Because that was the point for me when I realized exactly why I was having such a hard time with the book.
I’m really hoping her next book/s are more inline with The Red though than this…
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Well, this was an interesting review. Could’ve sworn I was about to read a nice big rant about how bad it is. Seems like it’s actually well-written, but the character’s behaviour is where the problem is at. Hmm..
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Yeah, it was a great book. I liked what happened. Just not the motivating factors 😦
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