Review by Corhan2 -- Final Report by Jeff Shear

[Corhan2]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Final Report" by Jeff Shear.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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Final Report follows the journey of the spy, Jackson Guild. The story begins on September 28, 2009, the day on which a nuclear bomb exploded in Washington. This explosion killed 58 000 citizens, including the U.S. president, most of Congress and all of the Supreme Court justices.

In May 2010, Jackson Guild was tricked by a former spy acquaintance, Elvin Kongartten, and was dispatched to a nuclear laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico. He is to investigate Edder Industries, who prepared a report named the LASS report, explaining the circumstances surrounding the explosion in Washington. The real question is whether or not the LASS report is true?

In his quest, he becomes involved with Dr. Alessandra Almont, the brain behind developing a so-called fourth-generation nuclear bomb. Dr. Exner, also a scientist at the Los Alamos lab, builds the fourth-generation nuclear bomb, according to the notes of Dr. Almont, but could not detonate it, as it needed a special battery to which the specifications was held by Dr. Almont.

I appreciate the manner in which the characters and their surroundings are described. It is sharp and to the point. There is enough background on the characters and their development are acceptable. The author did a decent job of creating a captivating plot. The progression in the plot was also acceptable. Furthermore, that the author definitely knows his science.

When I start out to read this book, I was not aware that it is the third entry in the Jackson Guild series. I did struggle to get my bearings and feel that if I did read the first two additions, I would have grasped the storyline faster.

For me, the writing was at times a bit murky. For example, the Edder family was the object of investigation and I thought they would be exposed as the villains, but they are only mentioned here and there. Another example is the French phrases that came up that was not translated or clarified. The author used many acronyms and it took me some time to remember what it stood for.

The cliffhanger ending was a bit of a shock, and although I do not like cliffhanger endings, I can forgive the author for this ending, as he had to leave room for a fourth addition to the series.

I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. I was a bit torn about the rating, as the book is supposed to be a spy thriller, but I really cannot call it a thriller. There were some grammatical errors and typos, but it did not detract from the story. This is a compact book and a quick read. I would recommend this book to fans of action and politics.

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Final Report
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Like Corhan2's review? Post a comment saying so!

[Allyseria]

Thank you for your detailed review! I think I'll have to read the first book in the series first so that I won't have to struggle with the bearings like you did! Hopefully the first book won't have a cliffhanger (although I doubt it!)

[Manang Muyang]

I wonder why the author placed the story in the past? I initially thought it was about a real event. That would have sparked a huge crisis!

Some authors (JK Rowling is a prime example) can make a book in a series make sense by itself. It seems Jeff Shear hasn't developed this gift.

I'm not so keen on political thrillers, so I am not eager to meet Jackson Guild. But thanks for the introduction!