The Last Act
by Brad Parks
Award-winning author Brad Parks delivers a tense novel of thrills, twists, and deceit that grabs you and won’t let go until the final, satisfying page.
Tommy Jump is an out-of-work stage actor approached by the FBI with the role of a lifetime: Go undercover at a federal prison, impersonate a convicted felon, and befriend a fellow inmate, a disgraced banker named Mitchell Dupree who knows the location of documents that can be used to bring down a ruthless drug cartel. . . if only he’d tell the FBI where they are.
The women in Tommy’s life, his fiancée and mother, tell him he’s crazy to even consider taking the part. The cartel has quickly risen to become the largest supplier of crystal meth in America. And it hasn’t done it by playing nice. Still, Tommy’s acting career has stalled, and the FBI is offering a minimum of $150,000 for a six-month gig—whether he gets the documents or not.
Using a false name and backstory, Tommy enters the low-security prison and begins the process of befriending Dupree. But Tommy soon realizes he’s underestimated the enormity of his task and the terrifying reach of the cartel. 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.
Momma Says: 5 stars⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Last Act has a bit of a slow start, and to be honest, I wasn't sure if I would like the book. I've read this author before, so I should've known better because that slow start is like a calm before the storm. That lull is like a lure, pulling you into a false sense of security before it all goes crazy. The premise for this one seems over the top to me, and does require a suspension of disbelief with the danger the FBI is willing to allow a private citizen to put himself in. Tommy is offered a large sum of money for doing what he does best - acting, playing a part. Except this part may well cost him his life. Of course, the number of ways this job could go wrong kept running through my mind, and I really wanted to give Tommy a good shake to stop him. That wouldn't have made much of a story though, and off Tommy goes to prison. Naturally, things start to go wrong and just get worse from there with plenty of twists and edge of your seat moments for our characters. The story kept me turning pages, but the thing that impressed me most was Tommy. I'm not, nor have I ever been an actor, and thankfully, I've never had any dealings with a drug cartel or prison, but Tommy is just so relatable and likable that even when I wanted to scream at him not to do this, I was still rooting for him. This is one of those stories that I can easily see as a movie, and it's definitely one that I would buy a ticket to see.
❃❃ARC provided by Penguin Random House Dutton
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