Last Man Standing
by David Baldacci
List Price:
Our Price: $3.38
You Save: $4.61 (58%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: David BaldacciEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2002-09-01
ISBN: 0446611778
Number of pages: 656
Publisher: Vision
Book Reviews of Last Man Standing
Book Review: Action, Mystery and Psychology: Overall, a good read.
Summary: 3 Stars
This is a story about an Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) assaulter named Web London who survived the massacre of his Team in a failed mission. Ridden with guilt and determination, he sets up his own investigation, breaking a lot of FBI rules along the way. The action is wrought with weapons and equipment detailing, usually relevant to the scene, written in straight-to-the point language with fast-paced sequences when the detailing is done and the door kicking begins. Humor is injected because of Web and Paul Romano's (his trusty sidekick) tendency to take things as they come because they've already seen so much and little surprises them. The melodrama is saved from its own goo because the author's approach is to avoid the touchy-feely aspects of emotion, an easy thing for an alpha male book like this one (It's got big guns, beer and NASCAR.). Lots of psychological twists that may be possible, a tad unbelievable, but not entirely over the top. The scope of the web (as in "spider's web"; not to be confused with the character) is a bit too broad; too many intersecting lines. In the end, I suppose whodunit makes sense after all, but what a tangle! However, it's all explained in the end... by the murderers of course. You have to keep in mind that they're just talking about the important details of what they've done, why they done it, as a matter of fact, as if it was the first time they were talking about it. As is they forgot to talk about it *before* they decided to do anything bad. Like, "Well, they're almost all dead. By the way, did I tell you why I wanted to do this? Lets talk about it then, in detail." It's really the only time it becomes a bit trite, but at least the killer/s didn't go into the whys and hows of it just before shooting the hero in the head. (In this last sentence, do I mean the hero dies? Well, I don't know! Read the book and find out!) The very, very end of it; the closing; I'm not too sure I like it, but maybe it was the only way to end it. Could've been better, but it'll do. Perhaps there was too much going on, but I suppose things couldn't be as simple as Colonel Mustard in the conservatory with a candlestick, especially when the FBI's involved.
Very good character development, but Mr. Baldacci could've done better for the mastermind behind the murders. The motivation for the murders was there, but the overall capability of the mastermind to do such things takes a bit of a stretch to believe.
This particular published issue has quite a few typos too, just so you know but I'd go ahead and recommend this book to Federal Agency Plot Enthusiasts. Mr. Baldacci makes an excellent job of letting the reader in on the workings of the FBI through his characters, Bucar and all.
Summary of Last Man Standing
When Web London's FBI Hostage Negotiation Team is ambushed in a dark alley, Web is the only survivor. As the FBI investigates, suspicion surrounding Web deepens. Now, he needs help from an unlikely ally in his desperate search for the killer of his friends, and finds himself up against a force intent on finishing the job that began in the alley.Last Man Standing has the essential elements of a terrific David Baldacci novel: a tough but tender-hearted hero, dirty dealings in the nation's bureaucracy, and a roller-coaster plot. Web London, a member of the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team, froze up on a drug raid and thus became the sole survivor of a remote-controlled ambush that killed six of his compatriots. Now the only witness has disappeared and the inside man on the botched raid has gone underground.
As a pretty psychiatrist puzzles over the corners of Web's brain that kept him alive, Web himself stays on the move. He's certain that the ambush is connected to the prison escape of a neofascist leader, Ernest B. Free, whom he helped arrest five years earlier, and a series of new murders leads him to a Virginia horse farm and the driving force behind all the carnage. It may seem as though Baldacci gives away the mastermind too soon, but both the bad guys and the good guys are complex enough that there's plenty of punch all the way to the last page. --Barrie Trinkle
Literature & Fiction Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Literature & Fiction Books
Little Womenby Louisa May Alcott
Scribner; Published: 1986-06-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.49
Price in other shops:
The Killing Groundby JACK HIGGINS
HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS LTD; Published: 2007; Hardcover; Book
Saving Fish from Drowningby Amy Tan
4th Estate; Published: 2005; Paperback; Book
Life Expectancyby Dean Koontz
Harpercollins Pb; Published: 2005-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.00
Constant Princessby Philippa Gregory
Touchstone/Simon & Schuster; Published: 2005; Hardcover; Book
Wolf of the Plains (Conqueror, Book 1)by Conn Iggulden
Harper; Published: 2007; Paperback; Book
Saharaby Clive Cussler
Harper Collins Pb; Published: 2005-03-21; Paperback; Book
Perelandra (Cosmic Trilogy)by C. S. Lewis
Voyager; Published: 2005-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.73
Price in other shops:
The Lord Of The Rings: Part 2 The Two Towersby J. R. R. Tolkien
Harper Collins Publishers; Published: 2001; Paperback; Book
Red Marsby Kim Stanley Robinson
Trafalgar Square; Published: 2001-06; Paperback; Book
Similar Books and other products
Wish You Wellby David Baldacci
Grand Central Publishing; Published: 2007-04-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.72
Price in other shops:
The Christmas Trainby David Baldacci
Grand Central Publishing; Published: 2004-11-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.01
Price in other shops:
Absolute Powerby David Baldacci
Vision; Published: 2010-01-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.55
Price in other shops:
Hour Gameby David Baldacci
Warner Vision Books; Published: 2005-09-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.96
Price in other shops:
The Simple Truthby David Baldacci
Grand Central Publishing; Published: 1999-11-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.99
Price in other shops:
Saving Faithby David Baldacci
Vision; Published: 2000-09-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.10
Price in other shops:
Total Controlby David Baldacci
Vision; Published: 1997-12-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.94
Price in other shops:
Split Secondby David Baldacci
Vision; Published: 2004-09-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.00
Price in other shops:
The Winnerby David Baldacci
Vision; Published: 1998-12-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.11
Price in other shops: