Last Survivor by Tony ParkMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Last impressions definitely not as good as first impressions, that's for sure.
The Plot has something to do with stolen super-rare plants, a super-rare-plant society, and a hard-ass soldier-lady sent to investigate how it all links up to terrorism.
The story was there for sure but it was just drowning in detail. The author works hard to communicate all of the corruption and illegal dealings of South Africa and the Middle East, but there are so many place names, people names, group names etc that it's almost impossible to follow if this is all new information to the reader. For someone already a little aware of these things I imagine the details would be fascinating but for me it was just confusing and rather hard to follow.
Along with all the political/terrorist drama, the book likes to refer to all weapons and vehicles by specific names which, again, will be a thrill for people interested in that sort of thing but for me just became a tangled mess. It's what I think of as a 'Boy's Book': it's all about cars, guns and sexual tension. YES I KNOW AM STEREOTYPING.
So then of course there's the sexual tension and the author's obsession with everyone's attractiveness levels (as well as with age). Sonja is portrayed as this rough tough warrior lady who hates feelings and likes violence. If this is a 'Boy's Book', Sonja is very much a 'Boy's Woman'; she reads like a man's wet dream, to be honest. I liked that she was a badass, but I think it was taken a little far and at times she really grated on me with all the gung-ho crap. I haven't read the previous books, though, so maybe others have been warming up to her for three books already?
Aside from Sonja, there's also this undeniable attraction between Joanne and Rod, and then between Sonja, Joanne, and any and almost all of the men they encounter, because no one in this book can stop thinking about sex for, like, five minutes. Like I said - Boy's Book.
Anyhoo, if you take out all the confusing details and the awkward sexy moments, there's actually a fun story here involving smuggling, terrorism and plants. Also because it's set in Africa there are a lot of gratuitous animal moments which were fun. Even if I did get a little bored of elephants. But I think I would have followed the story a lot better if the details were kept to the essential instead of every detail about every current event affecting South Africa.
Also, the showdown at the end took way too long and was such a mess that I had no idea what was happening and was basically just waiting for the final twist which I saw coming from a mile away.
I think if this book was turned into a movie, I would love it. The action is there, the characters are dynamic and interesting, and Sonja is a pretty decent lead. It travels across a bunch of locations to make things interesting, and the battles are intricately detailed.
As a reading experience, however, I felt it was weighed down too heavily with details for me to properly follow what was going on, and some of the 'romance' had me cringing pretty hard. (view spoiler)
Personally, I think Matthew Reilly might have ruined other action authors for me a little bit. His stuff is a lot faster so a novel with more character development like this one just seems slow and clunky to me.
This is an action story for the military buffs, and those interested in detailed workings of terrorism and smuggling in this particular corner of the world. It has a unique plot and a cast of unusual characters to support the lead, and we get the story from a few different viewpoints to keep things interesting. It travels relatively fast and will take you on quite a ride with some interesting trivia along the way. I can definitely see this appealing to a lot of readers, and I'd still recommend it for lovers of action stories.
With thanks to Macmillan for an ARC
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