Fiction | The Final Hour

"You're not alone. You're never alone."

     Charlie West has held on to that believe, but now he's starting to wonder. He went to bed one night an ordinary high-school kid. When he woke up, he was wanted for murder and hunted by a ruthless band of terrorists. He's been on the run ever since. Now he's stuck in prison, abandoned by his allies, trying desperately to stay a step ahead of vicious prison gangs and brutal guards. And a flash of returning memory tells him another terrorist strike is coming soon. A million people will die unless he does something. But what? He's stuck in a concrete cage with no way out and no one who can help. Charlie has never felt so alone—and yet he knows he can't give in or give up . . . not with the final hour ticking away.

Coming out this month, The Final Hour is the fourth and last installment of Andrew Klavan's exciting young adult series, The Homelanders. Expectant readers might be shocked by the contents of this book: Who knew life for Charlie West could get worse? A swirl of clanging cells, prison breaks, terrorist plots, and flashbacks, The Final Hour is the perfect conclusion to such an adrenaline-pumping series as The Homelanders.

After reviewing The Truth of the Matter, the third book in The Homelanders series, I got first dibs from Thomas Nelson on reviewing the fourth and final book. When I received the third book, I actually didn't realize it was the third in the series, and I was a bit worried that I'd have no clue what was going on. Thankfully, as most books in a series (sometimes annoyingly) do, The Truth of the Matter recapped so that I knew what was going on. The Final Hour does the same, but just enough so readers aren't confused after the long time between book releases.

In this conclusion we find Charlie West in prison. Because of his involvement with The Homelanders, a group of terrorists bent on destroying freedom, Charlie's been locked away indefinitely. Of course, we know that Charlie's innocent; he only got involved with The Homelanders to help the U.S. stop them from completing their plan to attack an American city. Charlie knows the exact location of the attack: he just doesn't remember it. Since he took a drug to erase his memory so that he wouldn't reveal anything important to The Homelanders, he's been having memory attacks that slowly and painfully help him to remember. But the time of the attack is coming, and he still doesn't remember. If he doesn't, many lives will be lost, and he'll be held responsible.

The Final Hour is the perfect conclusion to a great young adult series. If you've been anxiously awaiting this book, you won't be disappointed.

By the way, after a quick Internet search I discovered that this series is currently being turned into a movie. I can't wait!

Visit Andrew Klavan's Website |  Read an Excerpt of The Final Hour

I was kindly provided a complimentary review copy of The Final Hour from Booksneeze.

The Truth of the Matter by Andrew Klavan

The Truth of the Matter, third book in The Homelanders series, by Andrew Klavan. Publisher's description:

Charlie is certain that if he could just regain his memory, the chaos around him would make sense. But the truth of the matter is even more incredible than he could imagine.

Charlie West was an ordinary high school kid who went to bed one night and woke up in the clutches of terrorists and wanted by the police for murder. He also woke up with no memory of the events of the past year.

Now [eighteen-year-old] Charlie has found the one person who knows what happened . . . and who can help him remember. But remembering is painful--as well as dangerous--and figuring out what to do with this new knowledge may be Charlie's toughest challenge yet.

I was a little disappointed when I received this book from the publisher and found out that it is the third book in the series. I never read books out of order (well, now I can say I do). I was worried I would be thrown off and would not be able to genuinely like the book because I hadn't read the first two. Thankfully, though, people are willing to post revealing comments on websites like Amazon and Barnes and Noble. I was able to get a general idea of what was happening before I started reading The Truth of the Matter.

The Truth of the Matter is geared towards teenagers. It's printed by a Christian publisher, Thomas Nelson, so it is clean all around. It's action sequences have been compared to the television series 24. I don't know if I would go that far in the description, but the action/adventure is pretty nice. The book has a very catchy and intriguing plot involving terrorists, and it leaves you wondering, "Could a teenager really do this?" But that is the beauty of the fiction world. Maybe a teenager could stop a terrorist's mad plot.

The only thing that really bothered me, aside from the author's casual writing (which is the norm in today's fiction), is the lack of God. I find this the case in many Christian fiction books; the publisher is Christian, so the book has to have some Christianity in it. I feel that in this book God is mentioned sparsely, and in Charlie's life and death situations, I just wonder why he doesn't lean more on Christ. Honestly, there might as well have not been mention of God. At least in that way it wouldn't have so disrespected Him.

Otherwise, this is a great choice for teenagers who want a good story without all of the junk that secular media most often throws in. The last book in the series, The Final Hour, comes out in August 2011. I hope I can be patient until then!

I received a complimentary copy of this book
from Thomas Nelson via BookSneeze.
I was not paid to review this book.