FINAL BREATH
Kevin O’Brien
Pinnacle
Thriller
ISBN: 9780786017775
Kevin O’Brien and I both grew up watching a lot of the same classic television programs --- “Alfred Hitchcock Presents,” “The Twilight Zone,” “Thriller” --- designed from Minute One to scare the pants off of the viewer. There are moments some 40-plus years later that I still recall, and I’m sure O’Brien does as well. If those shows were a staple of network TV today, I can assure you that he would be writing for them. O’Brien has penned a number of thrillers that have in common a high body count secondary to horrific murders committed by seemingly omnipresent killers who appear capable of striking at will --- in other words, containing everything we love to see in a mystery, thriller or horror novel. With deceptive ease, he puts a new twist on a genre staple, so that the only place you know for sure he is going to take you is to the edge of your seat, and maybe off of it.
FINAL BREATH, O’Brien’s latest work, combines complex plotting with strong, unique characterization to produce another unforgettable story. The novel proceeds primarily along two tracks, both of which center on Sydney Jordan, an A-List television reporter who finds she is involuntarily at the nexus of a series of brutal murders. Jordan is the host of a television feature called “Movers & Shakers,” which spotlights everyday people who, when confronted with a dangerous or life-threatening situation, have stood up, taken a risk and saved a life, much as Jordan herself did several years previously when she rescued a young boy from a fire at great personal cost to herself.
Jordan is already reeling emotionally from her relocation with her son Eli from Chicago to Seattle, due to her sudden separation from her husband, Joe, a policeman she met when he was a guest on “Movers & Shakers.” Worst of all, it appears that someone is targeting individuals who Sydney has featured on the program for murder, brutally killing them in ways consistent with the manner in which they saved others. Adding to Sydney’s already significant troubles is Eli’s increasingly distant behavior, which she blames on his sudden separation from his father. She is correct but only up to a point.
What she doesn’t know is that Eli has been communicating at night with the spirit of a boy close to his own age who was murdered in the very room where Eli now sleeps and who will not rest until the killer is brought to justice. Eli, barely a teenager, has few resources to pursue an investigation, but utilizes what little he has in order to bring peace to the spirit that haunts his dreams, little guessing the danger that will result from his success --- even as Sydney slowly comes to realize that the shadowy killer who has been slaughtering her previous guests has targeted her for his final murder.
O’Brien keeps things moving throughout FINAL BREATH. The identity of the “Movers & Shakers” killer could be one of several people, and in all probability he will keep you guessing as to his or her identity until the very end of this energized tale. But even if you solve the mystery early on, the wild night ride that O’Brien will take you on will be worth every page you turn. Notwithstanding its generous length, you will want to read FINAL BREATH in one sitting, even if it keeps you up all night.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.com.
© Copyright 1996-2009, Bookreporter.com. All rights reserved.
