Last Man Standing by David Baldacci Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Last Man Standing
Book Review: A lot of death
Summary: 3 Stars
It seems that every chapter contains a death. As soon as a character becomes pivotal to the plot they get killed off in hopes that suspense is created. Come on, you have to be able to create suspense a little more emotionally and creative. It was a very fast paced book and I did want to find out who was behind everything. But I quickly got tired of being teased.Book Review: Don't Waste Your Time
Summary: 1 Stars
This review relates to the audio version of Last Man Standing. I listened to 22 hours of this book only find it had the worst ending ever. The budding romance that had been developing throughout the book, even up to the last chapters, died so suddenly that I was sure there was more to come, until the reader's next words were, "The End." It was as if David Baldacci got tired of writing this book and decided to finish it off quickly. This was my first attempt at a David Baldacci and I think it will be a long time before I get the courage up to read/listen to another. My sympathies to anyone currently listening to this story.Book Review: A Birthday Present that turned into a Sour Read
Summary: 3 Stars
I received this book as a birthday present many months ago, and the gift brought a grateful smile to my face since I have enjoyed many of David Baldacci's novels, i.e., Absolute Power, A Simple Truth and others and within a few days I was reading Last Man Standing. Overall, I thought the Web London character was boring and shallow. As an FBI hostage team assaulter he seemed more like a loose cannon rather than a team player which I suspect is the SOP for the FBI. The story is plastered with police that have nothing to fill their time with except to shoot bazookas like guns and love every minute of their destruction. Sometimes I had to laugh because some of the author's scenarios were so bizarre and far-fetched. I won't go into the constant splattering of foul, almost detestable language, which I didn't feel added much to the plot. There were few surprises and I felt I was sitting on the edge of my seat waiting to find out what would happen next.
Anyway, in my opinion Last Man Standing doesn't seem to fit Mr. Baldacci's style of a thrilling mystery novel that is at least realistic to a degree and his intensive research into the subject matter that he noted for. One last thought I think the book could have been shorten by at least 50 or 60 pages. It's not a terrible novel, it's a good read and I wouldn't recommend purchasing a hardcover, but pick up a paperback.
For you Mystery fans I encourage you to take a look at the gripping novel The Monopoly Factor by Robert L. Saunders. I finished reading it a week ago and the incredible effort in which the author used in his style of storytelling bring this thrilling mystery to the forefront of an excellent page turning read. You won't be disappointed. It's absolutely a top-notch novel. Have a good day.
Book Review: Couldn't 'Stand' any more! (1.5 stars)
Summary: 1 Stars
My first(and probably last) David Baldacci novel. I gave it an extra half a star for at least starting off well, with an interesting premise, and some believable action scenes and character motives. Then, apparently Baldacci took a long lunch, and let that room full of monkeys bang away on typewriters until they'd finished the story!
Way too many characters, subplots and 'Bet you thought we'd forgotten about THIS!'-style twists and revelations tacked onto the end of the story. Most of the characters and their dialogue, are corny and forgettable. By the time I reached the end, I just didn't care how any of it fit together.
The guy who suggested that anyone who likes this book should try reading Harlan Coben was insulting Harlan Coben. As cliched as Coben's books are, Baldacci surpasses him in stilted prose, and stale cliches.
Book Review: Incredible...
Summary: 2 Stars
...in its mediocrity. I have a hard time believing that David Baldacci even wrote this. Having read and enjoyed several of his other books I at first guessed it was either a very (very, very) early work where he was still a "green" writer or it was a later book where he'd suffered Author Burnout.
The plot isn't too complicated. You have this super-Gman type who, in the opening chapter, freezes during an assault by his team and ends up being the "last man standing," or in this case, lying down. After that, it's basically a story of why his team was set up and why he froze, including a tremendously tedious visit to an - surprise, surprise - attractive psychoanalyst. Then there are some scenes with his coworkers that are trite to the point of agony.
This story has so many things wrong with it, besides what's already been mentioned. First, there are too many point of view characters which makes the story hard to follow. Then there are far too many areas of the book where nothing of interest happens. For example, if you're going to detail a therapy session in a book it'd better be a revealing one - Baldacci's wasn't. Calling the book dull is an understatement.
After the first chapter the story drags on and on with little or no build up to sustain interest. Compared with the rest of the field it deserves no better than 2 stars. Against Baldacci's other stories it merits less than 1 star. If you've never read Baldacci before, please skip this one.