The Final Twist

Jeffery Deaver does it again! The master of action-packed thrillers serves up yet another winner with The Final Twist—the eagerly awaited third outing of his latest protagonist, the extremely resourceful reward seeker, Colter Shaw.

Shaw, after his adventures in the Silicon Valley and the jungles of Washington, is now in San Francisco, finally on his way to fulfilling his dead father’s mission of bringing down the shady, sinister corporate espionage firm called BlackBridge Corporate Solution. BlackBridge carries out all sorts of evil tasks to help its clients become richer and more powerful, and is responsible for several murders—including that of Ashton Shaw, Colter’s father—and the destruction of numerous lives. Following the clues left by his father, Shaw is on the hunt for certain documents hidden by an ex-employee of BlackBridge—also killed by his employer for trying to blow the whistle on its criminal operations.

Despite the odds stacked heavily against him, Shaw takes on the mighty BlackBridge on its own turf, but is captured early in the game. Facing the prospect of torture and death at the hands of a skilled, sadistic mercenary, he is miraculously rescued by a person from his past—one whom he is not sure is even alive. When it becomes known that the success of Shaw’s quest holds the key to saving an unidentified family from their death scheduled two days hence, his saviour—who seems to be better equipped to take on the likes of BlackBridge—decides to aid him. Racing against the ticking clock, Shaw and his ally uncover something far bigger than the crimes of BlackBridge—a long-brewing conspiracy concocted by the firm’s biggest client that could put the future of the entire state of California in jeopardy. Meanwhile, Shaw’s conscience forces him to take up the low-paying job of finding the missing daughter of an illegal immigrant—a job that may or may not be a trap set by BlackBridge and its power-hungry client, and there is only one way to find out.

Thus, The Final Twist races away from the get-go, with nonstop action on multiple fronts, moves and countermoves by the villains and the heroes, and clever, unexpected twists all along. Colter Shaw’s character is one of the unique ones that I have come across lately, and Deaver has done a splendid job bringing him to life. The other characters, especially those on the good side, are well fleshed out too, and are quite likeable. Shaw’s backstory dealing with his relationship with his father and the estranged elder brother lends a lot of delectable meat to the plot. Shaw’s relaxed relationship with Victoria Lesston, the former Delta Force officer who became his partner in his previous adventure, is amusing to read about. Shaw’s new ally brings along quite some muscle and cutting-edge resources that even the odds against BlackBridge and its dangerous client. On the downside though, the appearance of this ally diminishes Shaw’s role a bit, unlike The Goodbye Man, which was Shaw’s show all the way. Also, the multiple threads of The Final Twist make it somewhat less intense than its predecessor, in my opinion.

To sum up, The Final Twist lives up to the expectations created by the two previous novels in the series and I had a fantastic time reading it! Though this book seems to be the concluding part of the series, Colter Shaw’s character has tremendous potential to endure for a long time and I do hope Deaver takes him through many more adventures in the future.