Last Man Standing: An intriguing thriller by David Baldacci

‘Last Man Standing’ was the first book of David Baldacci that I bought from a local bookstore when one of their aisle guys asked me to try David Baldacci's work out.

Believe me Last Man Standing seems to be one intriguing novel I bought because first of all its title justified its plot completely and second it gave me something to look forward to after work.

Last Man Standing is the 4th standalone novel by David Baldacci which was released on 6 Nov 2001.

The novel is a timeless David Baldacci mystery thriller that is adorned with brilliant storyline, believable but complex characters and mind-captivating action.

Speaking of the heart-grabbing storyline that Last Man Standing offers, this article on Last Man Standing wouldn't be complete if I didn't talk about it.

Last Man Standing Plot

FBI's elite Hostage Rescue Team, Charlie is led by Web London to raid a drug hideout in Washington DC.

But when they reach the dark alley closer to the place which they have to raid, to their surprise a ten year old boy appears out of nowhere. The boy stares at the team, says words ‘Damn to Hell’ and starts laughing like a maniac.

Ignoring him the team starts moving ahead but suddenly, they come across a high tech, fierce ambush.

But moments before the ambush London freezes up and falls over on the ground and watches the rest of his team killed in front of his eyes.

Everything changed for London in those 7 seconds, he lost everything, his team, his friends and all he gained out of it was distrust of the FBI.

London lost his reputation within a matter of time.

Such a huge loss only scarred London both physically and mentally and accusations by the anguished widows of his team members only rubbed salt into his wounds.

But now Web London had to pull himself together to put his life back together.

He needed to prove his innocence by gauging and investigating every inch of the traumatic event that decimated his entire team but him.

Thus, after taking up a job at a horse ranch in Virginia, he begins investigating who set the HRT up for the ambush and also with the help of a psychiatrist he begins digging into his painful past.

He had to investigate why he was the only person to come out of the carnage alive but wait there was another one who came out alive - the ten year old boy who he asked to inform the back up team about the ambush.

But the FBI wasn’t able to get hold of him.

London finds a link between the ambush and the independent murders of a judge, a prosecutor, and a defense counsel.

Also, the undercover agent who tipped them about the hideout is missing.

A lot of questions must be popping in your mind such as

Who was the 10 year old boy?

What happened to that 10 year old boy?

Where was the undercover agent who tipped them?

Why were Charlie, the HRT team were set up?

One thing is certain Web London has to connect a lot of dots to uncover the controversy lying underneath which is certainly bigger than he could imagine and deal with a lot of shady people inside and outside the bureau.

Last Man Standing Review

When I say that David Baldacci's novels are airport thrillers I am bang on with the term as Last Man Standing seems to be the right fit to be read on airports lounge or during the road trips.

You're already familiar with the storyline of the novel which you read above but let me tell you that the plot would seem convoluted at times.

The chapters of the book seem to drag more and more but over a period of time you realize they are important as they are dots that get connected as the novel progresses.

The main mystery of why Web London is the Last Man Standing is solved quite earlier in the novel but there are many questions that are answered either in the end or at the climax.

The novel has multiple clichéd components such as the Protagonist asked to stay away from the main investigation, weeping widows with their kids blaming London but London vowing them to nail the real culprits, a tough macho FBI agent with a failed mission in the past tied to multiple layers of mystery that is stacked up by the vintage Baldacci, but if you compare his recent works against Last Man Standing you will feel that Baldacci has improved by a large margin.

The Protagonist is not likable, he is stubborn selfish, a little arrogant because he refuses to listen to anyone which is why you won't feel a connect with him and of course you won't find any lovable characters in the novel but the flip side is that Last Man Standing focuses on the flaws of the characters.

You will not find Last Man Standing entirely plot driven but it's driven by a mix of character and plot.

Even though all chapters in the novel were important, they provided lots of irrelevant information that could have been avoided.

At times I felt this extraneous information added nothing to the development of the characters.

This is the reason why I feel that the novel could have been shorter by at least 100-120 pages.

Also, you will come across many implausible components in the novel which when combined with the featured clichéd components gives a sense of dissatisfaction in the middle.

But if you stay with it then in the end you will see that it all tied together in a plausible way with all the questions answered.

One good thing that Baldacci maintained was he kept Antagonists a mystery until the very end.

Speaking of the end, the novel ended abruptly with a strong demand for a sequel but it will give you enough to imagine on your own.

Relax!!! Good will triumph over evil in the end let me tell you that.

Last Man Standing is more of a psychological thriller than a suspense thriller, it is fast paced, it is an enjoyable read, it is vintage Baldacci but had it been a little shorter it could have been much better.

On Goodreads, Last Man Standing has 4.1 / 5 stars with 52356 ratings whereas on Amazon it has 4.3 / 5 stars with 11309 ratings.

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