The Final Twist: Book 3 (Colter Shaw Thriller) (edition 2021)

Another great Colter Shaw novel! ( )

The 'action' scenes are far too drawn out and tedious. Fast-forwarding over most of them. The ordinance, weapons and tactics info is too detailed and done too often. Hey, look at all my research! The constant rules and training from dad, I can't believe it was this much and they all remember every damn detail. Oy vey. When the narration got screwed up on the ap, I lost patience and returned it to the library unfinished. Don't care. Done with this series. ( )

My review of The Final Twist is available on Mystery and Suspense magazine at this link...
https://www.mysteryandsuspense.com/the-final-twist/

Jeffery Deaver does it again! The master of action-packed thrillers serves up yet another winner with The Final Twist—the eagerly awaited third outing of his latest protagonist, the extremely resourceful reward seeker, Colter Shaw.

Shaw, after his adventures in the Silicon Valley and the jungles of Washington, is now in San Francisco, finally on his way to fulfilling his dead father’s mission of bringing down the shady, sinister corporate espionage firm called BlackBridge Corporate Solution. BlackBridge carries out all sorts of evil tasks to help its clients become richer and more powerful, and is responsible for several murders—including that of Ashton Shaw, Colter’s father—and the destruction of numerous lives. Following the clues left by his father, Shaw is on the hunt for certain documents hidden by an ex-employee of BlackBridge—also killed by his employer for trying to blow the whistle on its criminal operations.

Despite the odds stacked heavily against him, Shaw takes on the mighty BlackBridge on its own turf, but is captured early in the game. Facing the prospect of torture and death at the hands of a skilled, sadistic mercenary, he is miraculously rescued by a person from his past—one whom he is not sure is even alive. When it becomes known that the success of Shaw’s quest holds the key to saving an unidentified family from their death scheduled two days hence, his saviour—who seems to be better equipped to take on the likes of BlackBridge—decides to aid him. Racing against the ticking clock, Shaw and his ally uncover something far bigger than the crimes of BlackBridge—a long-brewing conspiracy concocted by the firm’s biggest client that could put the future of the entire state of California in jeopardy. Meanwhile, Shaw’s conscience forces him to take up the low-paying job of finding the missing daughter of an illegal immigrant—a job that may or may not be a trap set by BlackBridge and its power-hungry client, and there is only one way to find out.

Thus, The Final Twist races away from the get-go, with nonstop action on multiple fronts, moves and countermoves by the villains and the heroes, and clever, unexpected twists all along. Colter Shaw’s character is one of the unique ones that I have come across lately, and Deaver has done a splendid job bringing him to life. The other characters, especially those on the good side, are well fleshed out too, and are quite likeable. Shaw’s backstory dealing with his relationship with his father and the estranged elder brother lends a lot of delectable meat to the plot. Shaw’s relaxed relationship with Victoria Lesston, the former Delta Force officer who became his partner in his previous adventure, is amusing to read about. Shaw’s new ally brings along quite some muscle and cutting-edge resources that even the odds against BlackBridge and its dangerous client. On the downside though, the appearance of this ally diminishes Shaw’s role a bit, unlike The Goodbye Man, which was Shaw’s show all the way. Also, the multiple threads of The Final Twist make it somewhat less intense than its predecessor, in my opinion.

To sum up, The Final Twist lives up to the expectations created by the two previous novels in the series and I had a fantastic time reading it! Though this book seems to be the concluding part of the series, Colter Shaw’s character has tremendous potential to endure for a long time and I do hope Deaver takes him through many more adventures in the future.

I am thankful to the author & the publishers of The Final Twist for the review copy through NetGalley in return for my unbiased opinion!! ( )

In THE FINAL TWIST, Colter Shaw continues his mission of finding his father’s killer.
Ashton Shaw was a survivalist and raised his children, Russell, Colter, and Dorion, to be able to take care of themselves. He was killed while trying to find information about a dangerous organization. He was not its first victim.
Based on a letter left by his father, Colter was determined to find not only the killer but also the information they were seeking and, in the process, save another family.
The story has many of the usual types of twists: Unexpected characters, people who are not who they seem to be, red herrings, traveling between locations and recovering from injuries in extremely short time periods ( )

The Final Twist by Jeffery Deaver is a highly recommended thriller and the third novel featuring Colter Shaw.

Colter, a professional seeker of missing people for the reward money, finds himself in San Francisco. He is following clues his father left in his search for the missing courier bag containing evidence that will bring down BlackBridge Corporate Solutions, a firm responsible for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of deaths. While searching he knows he is being followed by operatives that are Blackbridge enforcers who are out to kill him. Shockingly a figure from his past surfaces, his estranged older brother, Russell, who has a team of his own. They work together to take down Blackbridge and save a family who is slated to die. If that isn't enough, Colter also begins searching for missing person Tessy Vasquez for her mother, Maria.

The first two novels featuring Colter Shaw are The Never Game and The Goodbye Man. Unfortunately, I haven't read either of these novels but that didn't curtail my enjoyment of The Final Twist. There is enough background information provided that you can follow the action and have all the background information you need. The action is non-stop and there are plenty of deceiving clues and twists to keep you glued to the pages in order to keep track of everything going on and try to figure out what exactly is going on. This is a complicated thriller full of action, mystery, and danger. It is a well-written thriller that you will be hard press to put down.

Colter is a well-developed character. Even without reading the first two books, I felt I had a good handle on who he is, his background, and what is important to him. Throughout the novel are words of wisdom his father imparted to his children. Some of these lessons and admonitions are surprising, but not in relationship to Colter's upbringing and they had a profound effect on his character and how he thinks and views the world.

All in all this is good escapism and an exciting thriller that will make the time fly by while reading.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Penguin Random House in exchange for my honest opinion.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2021/04/the-final-twist.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3966143163 ( )