Last Light

From Publishers Weekly
The fourth in a series of Nick Stone thrillers (after the well-received Firewall), this one gets off to an exciting if typical start as freelance assassin and ex-British SAS agent Stone orchestrates a precision team hit on a high-level target attending a snobby dessert social on the banks of the Thames. The target is to be identified by the team leader, Yes Man, who is to tap the victim on the left shoulder and wait for the snipers to do the dirty work. At the moment of contact, without explanation, Yes Man compromises the mission, and the police end up killing the three snipers. Stone is inexplicably given a second chance to complete his assignment alone by "last light Friday" at the victim's fortified home near the Panama Canal Zone. At this point (if not earlier), the novel loses coherence, dwelling on Stone's encounters with an aging tree-hugger college professor, his ganja-smoking young wife and their adopted daughter, who provide him with weapons and a base of operations in the Panamanian rain forest. Among Stone's spine-tingling preoccupations in Panama are chigger bites, a nagging headache and his nonstop guzzling of water, and there is a plethora of dialogue-driven exposition about Noriega's overthrow and the ruin of the rain forests. More choir boy than cold-blooded killer, Stone is given to mawkish introspection and invites self-destruction by confessing all sorts of sins to his colleagues. Most readers will be praying for an early sunset.Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
Some listeners avoid British audio thrillers because they say the narrations are dry and boring. This latest by McNab as read by Clive Mantle proves they're dead wrong. Right from the beginning you're on the edge of your seat, and neither the plot nor the reader lets up. When SAS operative Nick Stone nixes a planned assassination, he's told he must complete the job or his 11-year-old ward will be killed. The first tape meticulously describes the attempt on the intended victim, and Mantle, a Michael Cain sound alike, has your complete attention. The end comes all too soon. A.L.H. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Booklist
Former British special services agent Nick Stone, now a freelancer, never fails to come through. This time, though, as he's manning the controls for a sanctioned, three-sniper assassination at a Houses of Parliament function, he chokes. Seems that his target is a boy, and his human side causes him to abort the operation. This doesn't sit well with his bosses, of course, and Nick figures he will be their next victim. But his life is spared on one condition: he must carry out the original assignment on his own. His punishment if he fails again is certain death, but even more excruciating is the bosses' threat to kill Kelly, the 13-year-old for whom Nick acts as guardian and who witnessed her family's execution in McNab's first novel, Remote Control (1999). The target is the son of a Chinese businessman with apparent ties to Colombian guerrillas, and as Nick gets closer to grasping the plot that led a legitimate government to hire an assassin, he becomes the hunted as well as the hunter. While traipsing through Central American jungles (leading to a climactic scene at the Panama Canal), Nick is haunted by the image of Kelly being in danger, motivating him to make some tough, life-altering choices. An exciting story line, believable dialogue, and a flawed but honorable hero converge in what is clearly the best Nick Stone adventure yet. Mary Frances Wilkens
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Review
BooklistAn exciting story line, believable dialogue, and a flawed but honorable hero converge in what is clearly the best Nick Stone adventure yet.


Book Description
Former SAS commando Andy McNab returns in electrifying form with his newest international bestselling novel Last Light Top-secret operative Nick Stone has just aborted a sanctioned assassination attempt at the Houses of Parliament -- and now he's in a world of trouble. His bosses have handed him an ultimatum: fly to Panama and finish the contract -- or Kelly, the young orphan in his guardianship, will die. With no way out, Stone travels to the sweltering jungles of Central America, landing up to his neck in high-stakes action as he closes in on the key players in a global conspiracy of death involving Colombian guerrillas, the U.S. government, and Chinese corporate powers. With countless lives hanging in the balance, and time running short, Stone is forced to make the toughest decision of all: Who lives, and who dies?


Download Description
"Former SAS commando Andy McNab returns in electrifying form with his newest international bestselling novel Last Light Top-secret operative Nick Stone has just aborted a sanctioned assassination attempt at the Houses of Parliament -- and now he's in a world of trouble. His bosses have handed him an ultimatum: fly to Panama and finish the contract -- or Kelly, the young orphan in his guardianship, will die. With no way out, Stone travels to the sweltering jungles of Central America, landing up to his neck in high-stakes action as he closes in on the key players in a global conspiracy of death involving Colombian guerrillas, the U.S. government, and Chinese corporate powers. With countless lives hanging in the balance, and time running short, Stone is forced to make the toughest decision of all: Who lives, and who dies? "


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By an ex-commando about an ex-commando, the fourth persuasive entry (Firewall, 2001, etc.) in the secret agent Nick Stone series. That Nick Stone is McNab in disguise is a conclusion difficult to avoid. Not that you'd want to avoid it, since authenticity in this kind of novel is what makes the heart thud faster. Still, Nick-unlike his much-decorated creator-does have a history of screw-ups, or at least such is the view of his often-irritated employers. As far as the Firm is concerned, his latest mission is a case in point. The routine assassination gig failed because insubordinate Nick suddenly wouldn't pull the trigger-when he discovered that his target happened to be a kid. Behavior never to be tolerated. His job was not to reason why but to blast away at those his bosses have decided are inimical to Britain's well-being. But Nick will be granted a last chance to redeem himself: a crack at the same target now returned to his native Panama in company with his dad, a wily and enterprising thug much too close to the worrisome Chinese. At issue is a high-tech missile system named Sunburn, which the Brits covet and the Chinese control, at least for now. But if Nick can make his kill, the Brits, given the labyrinthine way these things work, will gain their ends. But if he disappoints again, Nick is warned, the consequences will be dire indeed-to his own adopted 13-year-old daughter. Between good guys and bad, the line grows ever blurrier. No matter. Nick, hardened and embittered, has long since left such distinctions behind. He cares only about his guys, and so this time, it's clear, there's to be no backing off. Nonstop warrior Nick, with each of his engagements meticulously detailed. Alittle less of a very good thing, truth be told, might have benefited narrative flow.


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