The Last Act – Brad Parks
Genre: Fiction / Thrillers / Suspense
Published: March 14, 2019; Faber and Faber
Swathi’s Rating: 4.5/5
Verdict: An utterly thrilling experience recommended for all crime fiction lovers!
So guys, today is my spot on the tour of this bloody brilliant book by Brad Parks which is now out in the US and UK (releasing today!). As soon as I read the blurb, I knew I had to read it and I am happy to report that I thoroughly enjoyed it!! Brad Parks is one author whose books can be picked up blindly just looking at his name on the book. If you haven’t read any of his books yet, The Last Act could easily make you his fan. Here is the blurb for you:
Plot:
Struggling stage actor Tommy Jump knows he has to stop chasing applause and start chasing greenbacks. But then he’s offered the role of a life-time: $150,000 for a six-month acting gig. With a newly pregnant fiancée depending on him, it’s an opportunity he can’t refuse, even though the offer comes from the strangest employer imaginable: the FBI.
The feds won a small victory when they arrested Mitchell Dupree, a banker who has spent the past four years laundering money for New Colima, one of the deadliest cartels in Mexico and a major supplier of crystal meth in the US. But Dupree has documents that could lead to arrests of high-ranking members of New Colima, including their fearsome leader, El Vio…if only he’d tell the FBI where they are.
Using a false name and backstory, Tommy will enter Dupree’s low-security prison as a felon and get close to the banker in the hopes that he’ll reveal the documents’ whereabouts. But when Tommy arrives, he quickly realizes that he’s underestimated the enormity of his task and the terrifying reach of the cartel. Because the FBI isn’t the only one looking for the documents, and if Tommy doesn’t play his role to perfection, it just may be his last act.
Story Locale: Virginia
Swathi’s Review:
The Last Act is a standalone thriller and the first book I’ve read by Brad parks. This is one book I picked relying on the plot and the author’s credits and the book kept me hooked from start to finish.
Tommy Jump is an actor who loves what he does but when his fiance falls pregnant, he knows he should pick a regular job for the convenience of living. Tommy performs his last show, after which he runs into an old friend who is now an FBI Agent offering a job offer! A 6 month job that could ensure $150.000 for which Tommy has to do 3 things.
1. Change his identity and take up a fake one.
2. Go to jail.
3. Befriend a banker who holds information pertaining a Mexican drug cartel boss.
You can very well expect Tommy to accept the gig and prepares himself for the 6 month job – He is an actor. He can bloody well ACT it!! (At least that’s what he thinks.)
A rollercoaster ride of events are what follows this suspense filled plot which is narrated through various perspectives including Tommy, his fiance, the drug lord). Brad paints a vivid picture of the ruthless Drug lord and his assistant, making them a deadly combo who would do anything to keep their secrets concealed.
The first few chapters are a bit slow for me and I have to do some page turning to get into the pace of the book. Once the tension begins, the pace quickens and stays consistent keeping hold of the readers until the very last page. I can assure a lot of twists and thrills all through the story, that totally changes the way you might expect the plot to turn out at last. If you are a crime thriller fan, you ought to try Brad Park’s books for the original, unique, sensational stories.
I urge you to follow what my brilliant fellow bloggers have to say about this gripping thriller!
Author Bio:
International bestseller author Brad Parks is the only writer to have won the Shamus, Nero, and Lefty Awards, three of American crime fiction’s most prestigious prizes. His books have earned starred reviews from every major pre-publication journal.
A father of two and a husband of one, Brad lives in Virginia, where he spends four hours a day at his local Hardee’s, writing his novels. When not at Hardee’s, he’s a slow runner and an even slower swimmer who enjoys long walks in his head. He’s grateful for his readers, because otherwise he’d just be a guy who has a lot of conversations with himself and nowhere to put them.
For more information — or to sign up for the newsletter written by his impertinent interns — visit his website at www.bradparksbooks.com.
To find Brad on Twitter, go to www.twitter.com/Brad_Parks.
And for Facebook: www.facebook.com/BradParksBooks.
Brad Parks is the only author to have won the Shamus, Nero, and Lefty Awards, three of crime fiction’s most prestigious prizes. A former reporter with The Washington Post and The Star-Ledger (Newark), he lives in Virginia with his wife and two children.
