LAST BREATH: A Sherry Moore Novel
George D. Shuman
Pocket Star
Mystery
Hardcover: 1416534903
Paperback: 9781416534914

Sherry Moore has been in a fragile condition, recovering from the death of the love of her life and burdened by the sorrow of the many dead people she encounters. She has been self-medicating with pills and liquor, just barely surviving when she is called to help with a case. Three women, kidnapped and missing for two years, have been found dead in a long-unused meat processing plant's refrigerator unit.
 
Attorney General Glenn Schiff asks Sherry to do what only she can do: relive the women's last memories. Ever since Sherry suffered a head injury as a child, she has lost her sight but has been able to touch the dead and see their last 18 seconds of memory.
 
Sherry had become a media sensation as a blind psychic years ago when her talent was first revealed to her. She happened to touch a dying man's hand and saw a murder in progress; her vision led to a Mob court case, and her talent puts her in great demand. Since she is frequently well paid, Sherry is comfortable financially, but it matters to her that she has this gift far beyond any monetary rewards. She is the dead's voice. It gives her life purpose, but it also frequently devastates her, contributing to an ongoing depression.
 
In LAST BREATH, the killer's story is told from his chilling perspective, complete with the history that twisted him into a monster. Time is passing, and he feels his needs changing; his urges are growing closer together.
 
Attorney General Schiff meets with strange, cold FBI agent Alice Springer, who suggests that they use Sherry to nudge the killer forward by hinting that Sherry has seen his face. Schiff doesn't have long to consider the idea, before it is leaked to the press --- and Schiff suspects that Springer is the leak. Yet it's all moot in the end because families of the deceased hire lawyers who bar Sherry from disclosing information about the victims. Do dead people have privacy rights, even if it is not in the public's best interest?
 
Meanwhile, Sherry is going down. She's living a nightmare, complete with the memories of the victims, sleeping constantly, mixing prescriptions, drinking --- and sliding over the edge from sanity to beyond. When she lands in the hospital in a coma, Sherry has a visitor who feels a profound connection to her, with ominous ramifications for her. In the meantime, what the media heralds as Sherry’s suicide attempt further complicates the use of her visions in the case.
 
Unlike most mystery serial main characters, Sherry Moore is flawed, fallible and damaged --- vulnerable not because she can't see with her eyes, but because of what she can see in her mind. She is all the more real for her vulnerabilities.
 
George D. Shuman does an excellent job of handling a large cast of characters, and the details of the investigation ring true. He also pulls the reader into the minds of the characters with great skill. Detailed graphic descriptions of murder scenes and gruesome situations make this book not for the faint of heart (or the squeamish of stomach). However, for anyone longing for a gripping, fast-paced and extremely creepy thriller, this one is for you.
 
   --- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon (terryms2001@yahoo.com)

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