The Last Track

Imagine if being late meant a child disappeared forever. That is the fear that drives Mike Brody: the man you want, when the one you love is missing.
Mike is more than just a master tracker. An ex-Special Forces operative, Smoke jumper, and now extreme adventure tour guide, he also possesses a unique ability to tap into the memory and emotional state of those he pursues.

In The Last Track, a police detective recruits Mike to help find an asthmatic boy lost in the dense woods surrounding a dude ranch in Montana. An unwitting murder witness, the boy burrows ever deeper into the rugged terrain, fearful of being found. As Mike and a local officer search for the boy, the killer follows them. While the investigation expands, his ex-wife, a well-connected journalist, uses her contacts to unravel the truth behind the murder.

Her discoveries threaten to snare them all in a treacherous conspiracy...

For much of The Last Track, I was plagued by the question of whether it packed enough of a wow factor to bring me back for a second adventure. With low key action balanced by an ever building air of suspense, it's not so much the story that keeps you entranced as much as the strong ending that it all builds up to.

I found myself thoroughly agitated by the character Erich. Or ELRICH, as I continued to call him. I wanted him to be the bad guy just so he would go the hell away. And I was pleasantly surprised with the turn fate took with him.

So either you're guilty and dead, innocent and dead, innocent but guilty, or guilty but innocent. I love the complications!

And I can't help but be ticked pink that the book didn't conclude all neatly packed up with a pretty bow. I like it when the bad guy outsmarts them all, even the noble hero.

What I don't like is when divorced couples get back together. But that's a topic for another post...