3 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
Final Notice by Van Fleisher is a political thriller with the very intriguing tagline - What would you do if you knew - for certain - that you had 10 days to live?
VitalTech, a company headed by the brilliant Dr Vijay Patel, has developed a health watch, VT2, which can do just that - predict with surprising accuracy of upto 30 days, when someone will die. The idea is to give people time to settle their affairs and say their goodbyes. But the human mind is a strange and unpredictable place and human reactions often do not stick to the expected and anticipated. To VitalTech's increasing concern, it appears that some people are using their "Final Notice" as a license to kill with impunity and without fear of punishment.
Far away, in California, Vince and Trudi are a normal couple in their 60's, trying to adjust to life after retirement. They are a happy couple with a beautiful home, good health, great friends and an adorable dog named Miles. They watch with concern the prejudice and violence happening in the world around them. Vince and Trudi never imagined they would ever need or want anything to do with guns, but a series of events in their lives lead them to seriously debate the merits and demerits of owning one. They must weigh their dislike and distaste for guns and violence against an increasing need to be adequately prepared to protect themselves. The whole situation becomes very interesting when an angry and disillusioned Vince ends up becoming one of the test subjects for the VT2 watch.
The story includes a few burning issues in the world today - the problems faced by senior citizens, the prejudice against immigrants and different races, the easy availability of guns, the ever increasing incidences of gun violence and the vested interests of the NRA and the politicians in formulating gun laws. Trying to incorporate such topics into a plot could easily have gone wrong and made the book a tedious read. The author, however, manages to smoothly blend the issues into the story by showing the reader how it affects his characters at a personal level, thus making it more relatable.
There are a lot of characters in the book, and while some of them are very interesting and likeable, a few, I felt, had more potential. I kept expecting that Zoe, the FBI agent would have more to do, or J.Edward or Matt (the journalist), would be more devious. Trudi was my favourite character and her reluctance, bewilderment, anger and finally determination about handling the situation they were facing set the tone for the story.
What I loved about the book is, even though it deals with a lot of grim topics and problems, it somehow manages to bring out how most normal people are good and kind and helpful and the story ends in a hopeful note. The book is engrossing and keeps the reader hooked right till the end. I give Final Notice 3 out of 4 stars and recommend it to anyone looking for a real page turner.
******
Final Notice
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like Manali_DC's review? Post a comment saying so!