coolreads# Retro Books # Last Snow

Last Snow
Author: Eric Van Lustbader
Publisher: Forge Book
ISBN: 9780765364364
Year Published: 2010

Jack McClure, aide and friend to the US president, is back at work after the death of his daughter and also the resolved kidnapping of President Carson's own daughter, Alli. However, Jack hasn't fully recovered; he's still in mourning and full of self-recrimination.

McClure is accompanying the President to Moscow for the historic signing of a security agreement between Russia and the United States when he learns that Senator Lloyd Berns has died, and his body found on the Isle of Capri.

Though the death is shocking, the location of the body is even more surprising as Berns was supposed to be in the Ukraine on a political assignment for the President. While the President returns to the US, McClure is asked to find out what led Berns from the Ukraine to the Isle of Capri, and the circumstances surrounding his death.

McClure sets out from Moscow across Eastern Europe, following a perilous trail of diplomats, criminals, and corrupt politicians. The mission takes him into the Ukraine and the seamier side of power on both sides of the Atlantic. After Alli's traumatic experiences at the hands of Morgan Herr, Jack is the only person she trusts, so she insists on coming along for the ride, despite his objection. His task is also complicated by the unexpected, and incompatible companions. Besides Alli, there is another woman, Annika, a rogue agent with the Russian Federal Security Bureau, whom he saves from her killers.

Together, the trio travel from Moscow through Eastern Europe facing deception, violence, and murder.

Apparently, every action hero needs a note of uniqueness. In the case of McClure, he's reflective, he is written by author Eric Van Lustbader who's not afraid to kill off established characters. Not only is Jack dyslexic, but Eric knows enough about the condition to make it a positive. For instance, Jack has an intuitive sense of direction and is a whizz at languages.

Also Jack's emotional wounds bleed through the story adding an edge of reality and depth to the fights, encounters, gore and chase scenes in a photogenic novel. There are also some wonderful twists in this book. Thrust into the midst of a global jigsaw puzzle, Jack’s unique dyslexic mind allows him to put together the pieces that others can't even see. Occasionally, his internal soul searching may seem momentarily over-indulgent, but in the end, it shows that he is human after all.

Last Snow is a compelling sequel to First Daughter, this time incorporating international political intrigue into the fast-paced plot. McClure is a likeable, well-developed character who has dyslexia; rather than being hampered by this learning disorder, he has embraced it, picturing letters in his mind as three-dimensional images and extending that ability to "read" people and calculate situational risk.

The descriptive settings add to the appeal, providing a dramatic backdrop to the exciting situations into which the three characters - McClure, Alli, and Annika - are drawn. Readers may be tempted to complete this thriller in one setting.

In the vein of Eric Van Lustbader's bestselling Jason Bourne novels, Lustbader takes the readers on an international adventure in this powerful page-turner that will keep them reading through the night.