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Homelanders #4
The Final Hour
"You're not alone. You're never alone."
Charlie West has held on to that belief, 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.
Charlie West has held on to that belief, 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.
288 pages, Paperback
First published July 19, 2011
117 people are currently reading
1689 people want to read
About the author
Andrew Klavan
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 267 reviews
October 16, 2017
Um...so it was good? I felt like it was a rather disappointing end to the series and I didn't like the ending - it felt too abrupt to me. (Plus, I fell asleep like two or three times while reading this...though that's probably just because I'm a tired college student. xD)
I also felt some of the characters' actions weren't 100% in line with their character and that bothered me a bit. Maybe I'm alone in this? *shrugs*
Overall, it was a decent book but not as good as the third one. I enjoyed the series but don't feel the urge to read more Klavan books...unless I'm really in the mood for some action. You never know. *mysterious smile*
3 stars
I also felt some of the characters' actions weren't 100% in line with their character and that bothered me a bit. Maybe I'm alone in this? *shrugs*
Overall, it was a decent book but not as good as the third one. I enjoyed the series but don't feel the urge to read more Klavan books...unless I'm really in the mood for some action. You never know. *mysterious smile*
3 stars
July 1, 2018
Charlie West (with young Larry's timely intervention) saved the day at the end of The Truth of the Matter, helping Detective Rose apprehend top members of the Homelanders terrorist group, but those accomplishments came at a price. Charlie has been remanded to Abingdon State Prison to serve his sentence for the murder of Alex Hauser and his subsequent escape from police custody, though he now knows he didn't kill Alex. The Homelanders have confirmed Charlie as a traitor to their cause, an American patriot who couldn't be corrupted, and they want him dead. Numerous Homelander agents among Abingdon's prison population are ready to kill for their bosses, but Charlie has some unexpected supporters: incarcerated neo-Nazis, who fight on Charlie's behalf for no other reason than to antagonize the Islamists. The Nazi leader, a sadist known as Blade, has an offer for Charlie: join their escape attempt through the prison sewers, and Blade will guarantee Charlie's survival until then. With the Islamists a perpetual threat—as well as the "Yard King", Chuck Dunbar, who runs his prison like a mob boss and despises Charlie—hooking on with the Nazis might be Charlie's only chance. Can he reconcile himself to allying with a hate group?
While Charlie tries to stay alive, two separate visitors show up to conference with him. The first is Detective Rose, secret liaison of the government task force Charlie had signed on with to infiltrate the Homelanders a year ago. The main players in the Homelanders organization are behind bars, Rose reports, except for Prince, the most dangerous of them all. But the government wants to pretend the Homelanders were an isolated cell, that no problem with Islamic terror exists in the United States. They refuse to acknowledge Charlie's role with the program to nab the Homelanders; thus, his fabricated murder conviction stands. How could the government strand him in Abingdon when Charlie risked everything to help them? Rose vows not to stop pushing for Charlie's exoneration, but time is running out. When Sensei Mike visits later, and Charlie hints that he's considering a jailbreak with the Nazis, Mike urges him not to do anything rash, but there isn't much choice. The time to move is now.
An explosive sequence of events hustles Charlie and his quasi-allies out of Abingdon with the police hot on their tails. With freedom in reach, Blade and his Nazis become as big a threat to Charlie as the Homelanders, and he must elude them to go on the lam from the law. Among Charlie's recently restored memories is a spy outing he took almost a year ago, which ended when the Homelanders caught him snooping at their headquarters and ordered him executed. He recalls hearing Prince speak of the organization's most ambitious terrorist attack yet, but the details of the memory remain hazy. Something is going to happen soon, and as long as the authorities won't accept Charlie as a credible information source, only he can stop Prince. He needs to clarify what he remembers right now, or his government service in opposition to the Homelanders—which tore him away from his family, friends, and girlfriend, Beth—will have been for nought. How and where would Prince launch an all-out terrorist strike on the U.S.?
Joined by friends who played important parts in the first three Homelanders novels, Charlie travels to where he believes Prince plans to attack, all the while stalked by terrorists. The Homelanders employ every resource they have left against Charlie and his companions. At any moment Prince will release his hidden weapon to massacre millions of innocents in the name of Islamo-fascism. As the resistance nears Prince's base of operations, Charlie's crew is taken out of commission one by one until it's only him and Prince battling over the fate of an American metropolis. Can Charlie win out against men more powerful than he will ever be? And how many of his friends will make the ultimate sacrifice for America to emerge injured but unbowed?
"We all want the same thing, I guess. Killers or no, good or bad. We all want to be free. We all want to go home."
—The Final Hour, P. 158
Dramatic personal growth was necessary for Charlie the high-schooler at the start of this series to triumph against such unlikely odds. Not a book goes by without him having to stand firm against the enemy at enormous cost. Charlie's father instilled these values in him, but Sensei Mike helped them grow. "Mike taught me that, whatever the situation, whether I was outnumbered, outsmarted, or even beaten and at the end of my rope, I could always ask myself a simple question: How can I come out of this stronger? Better?...He talked about how, in karate, whether you did well or badly, whether you won or lost, whether you got good breaks or suffered bad luck, there was always a path forward...to a better, stronger life. He taught me that if you look for that path hard enough, you will always find it." Even if the worst happens and your future is a shambles, the best thing to do is focus on strengthening yourself through the experience and prepare for what comes next, however difficult it will be. There is more hope than you're able to see in the midst of crisis.
Terrorism is a complicated area of government policy. How should global and domestic responsibilities balance out? Hardcore fiends will take advantage if politicians are too easy on foreign terrorists, which is what Prince is counting on. "When you attack Americans, they don't make themselves stronger, they make themselves weaker. They say to themselves, 'Oh, if only we are nicer to our enemies, they will see how wonderful we are and come to love us. They will stop being angry at us'...They don't understand that this is warfare in the name of God, warfare to the death. Two ways of life, two ways of looking at the world that can't be reconciled. One must live and the other must perish." Charlie has seen the Homelanders' evil up close, but those who haven't tend to downplay the threat. Taking it seriously is the only way to avoid mass bloodshed, and people like Charlie are needed to wage the war that most civilized folks shy from. Apologists for the other side play clever games of strawmen arguments and non-sequiturs, but their reasoning is fatally flawed, as Charlie understands. "(I)t's not a question whether your country is perfect or imperfect; it's a question of whether it's free or not free." Perfection isn't required for a nation to be good. Individual freedom and accountability is the only way to maintain a good society, and as long as that's not infringed on, we live to the highest potential of tarnished human nature. However Charlie's story ends, his ideals are right and his mission noble.
Andrew Klavan's debut YA series is filled with drama, action, and a fair amount of unpredictability. Unlike most series, I consider the middle books—The Long Way Home and The Truth of the Matter—the best Homelanders novels, with The Last Thing I Remember and The Final Hour a bit less engaging. All four are good, though, a superb execution of an imaginative and philosophically robust story idea. The payoff for following Charlie's odyssey from book one is substantial, and I'm glad I did. I'd rate The Final Hour at least two and a half stars, and I recommend the series for anyone who favors solid narrative undergirded by moral values. You won't be disappointed by the story or characters Andrew Klavan creates.
While Charlie tries to stay alive, two separate visitors show up to conference with him. The first is Detective Rose, secret liaison of the government task force Charlie had signed on with to infiltrate the Homelanders a year ago. The main players in the Homelanders organization are behind bars, Rose reports, except for Prince, the most dangerous of them all. But the government wants to pretend the Homelanders were an isolated cell, that no problem with Islamic terror exists in the United States. They refuse to acknowledge Charlie's role with the program to nab the Homelanders; thus, his fabricated murder conviction stands. How could the government strand him in Abingdon when Charlie risked everything to help them? Rose vows not to stop pushing for Charlie's exoneration, but time is running out. When Sensei Mike visits later, and Charlie hints that he's considering a jailbreak with the Nazis, Mike urges him not to do anything rash, but there isn't much choice. The time to move is now.
An explosive sequence of events hustles Charlie and his quasi-allies out of Abingdon with the police hot on their tails. With freedom in reach, Blade and his Nazis become as big a threat to Charlie as the Homelanders, and he must elude them to go on the lam from the law. Among Charlie's recently restored memories is a spy outing he took almost a year ago, which ended when the Homelanders caught him snooping at their headquarters and ordered him executed. He recalls hearing Prince speak of the organization's most ambitious terrorist attack yet, but the details of the memory remain hazy. Something is going to happen soon, and as long as the authorities won't accept Charlie as a credible information source, only he can stop Prince. He needs to clarify what he remembers right now, or his government service in opposition to the Homelanders—which tore him away from his family, friends, and girlfriend, Beth—will have been for nought. How and where would Prince launch an all-out terrorist strike on the U.S.?
Joined by friends who played important parts in the first three Homelanders novels, Charlie travels to where he believes Prince plans to attack, all the while stalked by terrorists. The Homelanders employ every resource they have left against Charlie and his companions. At any moment Prince will release his hidden weapon to massacre millions of innocents in the name of Islamo-fascism. As the resistance nears Prince's base of operations, Charlie's crew is taken out of commission one by one until it's only him and Prince battling over the fate of an American metropolis. Can Charlie win out against men more powerful than he will ever be? And how many of his friends will make the ultimate sacrifice for America to emerge injured but unbowed?
"We all want the same thing, I guess. Killers or no, good or bad. We all want to be free. We all want to go home."
—The Final Hour, P. 158
Dramatic personal growth was necessary for Charlie the high-schooler at the start of this series to triumph against such unlikely odds. Not a book goes by without him having to stand firm against the enemy at enormous cost. Charlie's father instilled these values in him, but Sensei Mike helped them grow. "Mike taught me that, whatever the situation, whether I was outnumbered, outsmarted, or even beaten and at the end of my rope, I could always ask myself a simple question: How can I come out of this stronger? Better?...He talked about how, in karate, whether you did well or badly, whether you won or lost, whether you got good breaks or suffered bad luck, there was always a path forward...to a better, stronger life. He taught me that if you look for that path hard enough, you will always find it." Even if the worst happens and your future is a shambles, the best thing to do is focus on strengthening yourself through the experience and prepare for what comes next, however difficult it will be. There is more hope than you're able to see in the midst of crisis.
Terrorism is a complicated area of government policy. How should global and domestic responsibilities balance out? Hardcore fiends will take advantage if politicians are too easy on foreign terrorists, which is what Prince is counting on. "When you attack Americans, they don't make themselves stronger, they make themselves weaker. They say to themselves, 'Oh, if only we are nicer to our enemies, they will see how wonderful we are and come to love us. They will stop being angry at us'...They don't understand that this is warfare in the name of God, warfare to the death. Two ways of life, two ways of looking at the world that can't be reconciled. One must live and the other must perish." Charlie has seen the Homelanders' evil up close, but those who haven't tend to downplay the threat. Taking it seriously is the only way to avoid mass bloodshed, and people like Charlie are needed to wage the war that most civilized folks shy from. Apologists for the other side play clever games of strawmen arguments and non-sequiturs, but their reasoning is fatally flawed, as Charlie understands. "(I)t's not a question whether your country is perfect or imperfect; it's a question of whether it's free or not free." Perfection isn't required for a nation to be good. Individual freedom and accountability is the only way to maintain a good society, and as long as that's not infringed on, we live to the highest potential of tarnished human nature. However Charlie's story ends, his ideals are right and his mission noble.
Andrew Klavan's debut YA series is filled with drama, action, and a fair amount of unpredictability. Unlike most series, I consider the middle books—The Long Way Home and The Truth of the Matter—the best Homelanders novels, with The Last Thing I Remember and The Final Hour a bit less engaging. All four are good, though, a superb execution of an imaginative and philosophically robust story idea. The payoff for following Charlie's odyssey from book one is substantial, and I'm glad I did. I'd rate The Final Hour at least two and a half stars, and I recommend the series for anyone who favors solid narrative undergirded by moral values. You won't be disappointed by the story or characters Andrew Klavan creates.
August 10, 2022
Overall Rating : C-
A very simple, clean, efficient ending to a very simple, clean, efficient series. 10 year old boys will definitely love them for its high stakes action and straightforward characters. I read them MANY years ago and not really sure what drew me to them besides the fact they cost as much money my mother gave me for the Scholastic Book Fair 😆
So of your looking for a book for your youngster to start that not heavy literature at all, start with The Homelanders.
A very simple, clean, efficient ending to a very simple, clean, efficient series. 10 year old boys will definitely love them for its high stakes action and straightforward characters. I read them MANY years ago and not really sure what drew me to them besides the fact they cost as much money my mother gave me for the Scholastic Book Fair 😆
So of your looking for a book for your youngster to start that not heavy literature at all, start with The Homelanders.
June 22, 2024
→The Homelanders Series←
Author: Andrew Klavan
Genre: Thriller, Christian
Age Rating: 13+
Spice: 0.5/5🌶️ (kissing, not detailed)
Cursing: 0/5 🤬
Content Warnings: violence, murder, torture, terrorism, prison, abuse
Will I read more books by this author if they have any? YES!
Brief summary: Charlie West has woken up in a chair, strapped down, and about to be killed. One problem: he can’t remember the last year of his life. This series details his journey of escaping the terrorist organization trying to kill him, running from the cops, and getting his memories back. Along with stopping some terrorist attacks, and escaping prison. At least twice.
~Thoughts~
So I was randomly working on cleaning up my tbr and found this. My first thought was: where can I get this. My second: I AM OBSESSED. I didn’t even know this existed, a Christian THRILLER!? There were lots of talk of prayer and some Bible verses mentioned. It didn’t have any cursing, and it was amazing.
HIGHLY, HIGHLY RECOMMEND! I read this in less than twenty four hours. (the whole series!)
My rating: ∞⭐
Author: Andrew Klavan
Genre: Thriller, Christian
Age Rating: 13+
Spice: 0.5/5🌶️ (kissing, not detailed)
Cursing: 0/5 🤬
Content Warnings: violence, murder, torture, terrorism, prison, abuse
Will I read more books by this author if they have any? YES!
Brief summary: Charlie West has woken up in a chair, strapped down, and about to be killed. One problem: he can’t remember the last year of his life. This series details his journey of escaping the terrorist organization trying to kill him, running from the cops, and getting his memories back. Along with stopping some terrorist attacks, and escaping prison. At least twice.
~Thoughts~
So I was randomly working on cleaning up my tbr and found this. My first thought was: where can I get this. My second: I AM OBSESSED. I didn’t even know this existed, a Christian THRILLER!? There were lots of talk of prayer and some Bible verses mentioned. It didn’t have any cursing, and it was amazing.
HIGHLY, HIGHLY RECOMMEND! I read this in less than twenty four hours. (the whole series!)
My rating: ∞⭐
February 1, 2024
A very satisfying conclusion to this excellent series. A YA series, but written by one of the best mystery/thrillers still writing.
January 14, 2021
What an INSANE wrap-up for the series!
I had the bad guy pegged pretty much from book 1, aaaand the ally since...um...book 2? Or maybe it was the beginning of book 3. Idk, they kinda run together😂
But. Fantastic way to end the series and just what I needed after too many emotional books😆
I had the bad guy pegged pretty much from book 1, aaaand the ally since...um...book 2? Or maybe it was the beginning of book 3. Idk, they kinda run together😂
But. Fantastic way to end the series and just what I needed after too many emotional books😆
August 10, 2018
What an exciting conclusion! I had forgotten how epic this last volume was!
November 9, 2017
I was strangely satisfied at the end of the third book, more so then I was at the end of this one. For one thing, it was really drawn out. It really could have been half the length and been fine.
So many people are in danger, nothing ever happens to them.
But what really got me was that Charlie didn't really care about his faith anymore. He had a perfect opportunity to share his faith several times and he wasted it.
The ending was super rushed and I was so sad I didn't get to see things wrapped up.
Overall, this series was very clean, with fairly good characters. It was worth a once read.
So many people are in danger, nothing ever happens to them.
But what really got me was that Charlie didn't really care about his faith anymore. He had a perfect opportunity to share his faith several times and he wasted it.
The ending was super rushed and I was so sad I didn't get to see things wrapped up.
Overall, this series was very clean, with fairly good characters. It was worth a once read.
August 25, 2017
Sorrrr good!
June 1, 2020
This is for the 4 book series:
Sometimes it’s so nice to read a series of well-crafted juvenile novels. Nothing is ever so bad it can’t be remedied and the good guys win in the end. If you’re able to suspend judgement and go with the flow, this reeling, frenzied, implausible yet exciting adventure may just carry you away to that great place books and stories can take us.
But three stars, because these books aren’t without flaws - way too much “American mom-ism, Christian, land-of-the-free, everyone can be the best they can be if only they try” rhetoric. Although the author appears to be trying to avoid the matter of differing opportunities related to race and creed, this is hard to swallow when we are reminded of the stark reality of how people of colour and the poorer in society are being harmed the most in the middle of violent demonstrations and a global pandemic.
Yikes - back to the 21st. Century.
Sometimes it’s so nice to read a series of well-crafted juvenile novels. Nothing is ever so bad it can’t be remedied and the good guys win in the end. If you’re able to suspend judgement and go with the flow, this reeling, frenzied, implausible yet exciting adventure may just carry you away to that great place books and stories can take us.
But three stars, because these books aren’t without flaws - way too much “American mom-ism, Christian, land-of-the-free, everyone can be the best they can be if only they try” rhetoric. Although the author appears to be trying to avoid the matter of differing opportunities related to race and creed, this is hard to swallow when we are reminded of the stark reality of how people of colour and the poorer in society are being harmed the most in the middle of violent demonstrations and a global pandemic.
Yikes - back to the 21st. Century.
May 11, 2018
This book was pretty good. I really liked the author! The four book series was good, and it was interesting how "The Truth of the Matter," unfolded.
December 3, 2011
Charlie West is in prison, and not just some juvenile detentions center. He’s in Abingdon State Prison, a high security prison for the vilest offenders. And between the prisoners and the brutal guards, it looks like Charlie might be someone’s next victim.
But his memories are slowly coming back, and Charlie learns that a terrorist strike is coming soon. He has to do something, but what? No one will listen to a convict, all his allys are gone, and time is ticking away. But Charlie can’t give up. Not when lives are at stake.
Loved it! And I closed this book with a smile on my face, because these four novels really felt like one big story, and it was tough to wait for each next one. I loved the way Andrew Klavan told this tale, how he weaved it backwards and forwards with action and memories and mystery. It was very cleverly done. This is a GREAT series for boy readers. So if you love action and adventure novels, or if you’re looking for some books for a young man, look no further. This is the series. I highly recommend all four Homelander books.
But his memories are slowly coming back, and Charlie learns that a terrorist strike is coming soon. He has to do something, but what? No one will listen to a convict, all his allys are gone, and time is ticking away. But Charlie can’t give up. Not when lives are at stake.
Loved it! And I closed this book with a smile on my face, because these four novels really felt like one big story, and it was tough to wait for each next one. I loved the way Andrew Klavan told this tale, how he weaved it backwards and forwards with action and memories and mystery. It was very cleverly done. This is a GREAT series for boy readers. So if you love action and adventure novels, or if you’re looking for some books for a young man, look no further. This is the series. I highly recommend all four Homelander books.
September 22, 2015
This book was about a boy named Charlie West who loses him memory and has to follow clues to figure it out. He takes an antidote for his memory loss and finds out he was part of a terrorist attack only he was working undercover for a secret organization. He is wanted by the police and gets caught and gets sent to jail. Charlie has to break out and stop a massive terrorist attack called the Great Death.I liked this book because of the suspense and action on almost every page after Charlie escapes prison. I would recommend this book to ages 12 and up because there is violence and words that younger children wouldn't know.
August 12, 2015
This is a great series! The story never slowed down, never got boring and it kept my full attention from start to finish.
I highly recommend this series to anyone who likes these kinds of books -- Christian Young Adult, Action, Suspense, Mystery. But then, I'm not a big fan of YA books and I absolutely loved these!
I highly recommend this series to anyone who likes these kinds of books -- Christian Young Adult, Action, Suspense, Mystery. But then, I'm not a big fan of YA books and I absolutely loved these!
January 6, 2015
Wow! Great book from beginning to end! Loved it! So much action and a lot of surprises! Thrilling end to a fantastic series! :)
*I borrowed this book from the library, I was not required to write a review, but chose to. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.*
*I borrowed this book from the library, I was not required to write a review, but chose to. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.*
March 9, 2021
Non-stop action and relentless pursuit of righteousness in this suspenseful story. I was constantly surprised at the twists and turns, never a dull moment, making the book hard to put down. Great story!
March 27, 2022
And... the satisfying (if somewhat predictable) conclusion.
January 11, 2025
Great series finale!
May 30, 2017
This series ended very well! I was not disappointed.
May 15, 2024
This book was my least favorite in the series. It became pretty unrealistic and I just didn’t enjoy it like the other books.
January 7, 2012
The Final Hour is the last installment in the Homelanders Series. The story opens with young hero, Charlie West, in the slammer for a murder he didn’t commit. He only agreed to take momentary blame so he could infiltrate a terrorist ring, and the terrorists have mostly been rounded up, yet days, weeks, months go by, without a peep that tells him why he’s still locked up.
His cop contact Rose finally visits but delivers the bad news, that Washington wants to brush events under the rug, as the controversy could hurt their global interests, so getting him out isn't going to be as easy as Rose had thought. He promises to continue to fight for Charlie but doesn’t make any promises as to when he’ll be released, but says it will, at minimum, take weeks.
The missing year of Charlie’s life from taking a drug to erase his memory while captured by the anti-Americans is still trickling back in bits and pieces, and he begins to remember a terrorist plot that’s planned for New Year’s Eve. But with sketchy info to go on, no proof, no one to call, more than a million lives on the line, and the prison guards not only against him but abusing him too, he has no one to turn to and no way to out to stop it. Charlie doesn’t have weeks! Only days!
The Final Hour offers a gritty glimpse into prison life and contains some violence, but it never veers into the obscene. It’s in line with other thrillers of similar vein. This beginning unfolds more slowly than the previous because he's locked up, but Klavan does a good job of building suspense and keeping it taut throughout.
Even though there’s no hammering Christian message in this book, which I prefer in fiction, it still managed to feel, to me, a little preachy at times, even though it’s not talk but rather a string of moral dilemmas Charlie must wrestle through. And the current rhetoric that insists “terrorists hate America because we’re free” felt very heavy-handed as well and was clung to so mightily, it nearly topples the story. Terrorists have a blend of motivations and reasons for committing acts of terror, but with Klavan picking just this one and having the Homelanders be so blatant with their hate and anti-American speech, it made the recruitment of random, everyday Americans implausible. Even if this is the main drive of such radicals, one would think, to recruit, you'd exploit the susceptible where their hate can bloom into a desire to commit violence. You wouldn't really care if they believed the same as long as there was a willingness to act.
There were parts in the end, showing Charlie in action, which were almost laughable, but still, it does provide great escapism and this is the perfect series for teens, boys especially, who love thrillers. It’s hard to find good “boy books” and this is a wild, morally sound, action-packed ride. You don't need to be a Christian to enjoy this, just a YA thriller lover. If you enjoy books by Robinson Wells or Patrick Carman, you will love the Homelander Series.
* I received this book free through Booksneeze, but that in no way compromised or affected my review.
His cop contact Rose finally visits but delivers the bad news, that Washington wants to brush events under the rug, as the controversy could hurt their global interests, so getting him out isn't going to be as easy as Rose had thought. He promises to continue to fight for Charlie but doesn’t make any promises as to when he’ll be released, but says it will, at minimum, take weeks.
The missing year of Charlie’s life from taking a drug to erase his memory while captured by the anti-Americans is still trickling back in bits and pieces, and he begins to remember a terrorist plot that’s planned for New Year’s Eve. But with sketchy info to go on, no proof, no one to call, more than a million lives on the line, and the prison guards not only against him but abusing him too, he has no one to turn to and no way to out to stop it. Charlie doesn’t have weeks! Only days!
The Final Hour offers a gritty glimpse into prison life and contains some violence, but it never veers into the obscene. It’s in line with other thrillers of similar vein. This beginning unfolds more slowly than the previous because he's locked up, but Klavan does a good job of building suspense and keeping it taut throughout.
Even though there’s no hammering Christian message in this book, which I prefer in fiction, it still managed to feel, to me, a little preachy at times, even though it’s not talk but rather a string of moral dilemmas Charlie must wrestle through. And the current rhetoric that insists “terrorists hate America because we’re free” felt very heavy-handed as well and was clung to so mightily, it nearly topples the story. Terrorists have a blend of motivations and reasons for committing acts of terror, but with Klavan picking just this one and having the Homelanders be so blatant with their hate and anti-American speech, it made the recruitment of random, everyday Americans implausible. Even if this is the main drive of such radicals, one would think, to recruit, you'd exploit the susceptible where their hate can bloom into a desire to commit violence. You wouldn't really care if they believed the same as long as there was a willingness to act.
There were parts in the end, showing Charlie in action, which were almost laughable, but still, it does provide great escapism and this is the perfect series for teens, boys especially, who love thrillers. It’s hard to find good “boy books” and this is a wild, morally sound, action-packed ride. You don't need to be a Christian to enjoy this, just a YA thriller lover. If you enjoy books by Robinson Wells or Patrick Carman, you will love the Homelander Series.
* I received this book free through Booksneeze, but that in no way compromised or affected my review.
April 20, 2012
The last volume in the four part book series, the Homelanders. Charlie West is the typical all-American boy, having fun in high school, shyly contemplating a girl, and who gets lessons at the local karate dojo, where he is very good - he has a junior black belt. One day (in Book one), he wakes up, strapped to a chair and is being tortured for information he knows he doesn't have (WARNING: SPOILERS). He finds out he was arrested, tried and convicted for the murder on an old friend, and that he escaped and somehow ended up with the Homelanders. But he has no memory of these events. He believes he could never have done any of these things, but has no proof. By the next two books, you know that he escaped the Homelanders, went back to his home town to try and find out what really happened, found out one of his teachers was involved, and that he had been recruited by a shadowy part of the government to participate in a ruse - he would get framed for the murder of the old friend, get tried and convicted, and his teacher would try to sway him to his side, thinking he'd be disgruntled, and he'd play along, and try and infiltrate the Homelanders and get information out. But he was caught, and activated a tablet he had that erased his memory of the last year. But as he reconnected with the people that sent him, they gave him the antidote, and slowly his memories were coming back. This book opens with most of his memory intact and he is in prison, having been recaptured by Det. Rose, who is in on it, but figures that prison is safer than the outside right now (not so!). So Charlie is in prison, and more memories come back as he is beaten up regularly - he remembers talk of a plot to create a Great Death on New Year's Eve in what he believes is NYC. So he gets the information out, but no one believes him or Det. Rose. They need more proof that this Prince (the head of the Homelanders) is still out there, still plotting. So Charlie enlists the help of his sensei Mike to get word out of the plot, and then decides he can't just sit there, and decides to join a prison escape. Mike knows about the escape plan, and tries to talk him out of it, but Charlie thinks he has to be on the outside, working to try and prevent this catastrophe. What happens next is the action packed ending, fast and furious and exciting, of what happens to the terrorist's plot,and does Charlie get at least some of his life back? Solid read, a little on the patriotic, but nothing wrong with that. My only real complaint is it's simplistic attitude towards plot devices - in every way, Charlie manages to beat the best.
August 2, 2011
This book starts with a bang and keeps going full throttle to the end. Action, action, action, it hardly ever lets up. The forth in a series that looks now to be done, is fast paced and hard to put down. I read it in one afternoon. I'm not sure if Charlie will ever be able to return to normal life, he is anything but a normal kid.
I think this is a great book for kids 11 and older, especially boys. Good values and the message that you are never alone are weaved in and out of these pages. God is always with you and will lift you up when you are sure you have nothing left to give. This doesn’t deter the book from killing off very bad guys and from the main character wondering why him, why can’t he just be a normal kid? Normal isn’t so bad after all.
This story ties all the loose ends from the other three and gives you more background into the characters. I didn’t love the whole Islamic terrorist thing, I think anyone can be a terrorist and this book proves that also, but I hate stereotyping of anyone or any race. Good morals and values fill this book and anyone who likes action would enjoy this series. Maybe someday it will be a movie, could happen, look at the authors bio. 3 1/2 stars
I think this is a great book for kids 11 and older, especially boys. Good values and the message that you are never alone are weaved in and out of these pages. God is always with you and will lift you up when you are sure you have nothing left to give. This doesn’t deter the book from killing off very bad guys and from the main character wondering why him, why can’t he just be a normal kid? Normal isn’t so bad after all.
This story ties all the loose ends from the other three and gives you more background into the characters. I didn’t love the whole Islamic terrorist thing, I think anyone can be a terrorist and this book proves that also, but I hate stereotyping of anyone or any race. Good morals and values fill this book and anyone who likes action would enjoy this series. Maybe someday it will be a movie, could happen, look at the authors bio. 3 1/2 stars
December 11, 2011
This is the last book in the Homelander Series. Charlie West is in prison. He is accused of a crime he didn't commit. Every day he is in prison is another day he must survive. It seems everyone is after him. The different groups such as the White Supremists, the Islamic prisoners and the guards are all after him for one reason or another.
He's lost so much of his life, and memory throughout this series. Just when he starts putting it all back together he ends up in prison and feels abandoned. He starts questioning his faith like any normal human would do. He realizes that is all he really has to hold on to at the time.
One of my students, after reading the first two books said, Wow this book has everything a kid could like in a book. It has fighting, and running from the police and the bad guys. As an adult I could say the story was a bit unbelievable. However, as a teacher I have learned that my students want that element of unbelief. They need to feel like teens can come out the hero at times.
Anxious to return to his normal teenage life, Charlie realizes he must fight the forces of evil to help save the residents of New York City before he can return home to his loving family and girlfriend.
He's lost so much of his life, and memory throughout this series. Just when he starts putting it all back together he ends up in prison and feels abandoned. He starts questioning his faith like any normal human would do. He realizes that is all he really has to hold on to at the time.
One of my students, after reading the first two books said, Wow this book has everything a kid could like in a book. It has fighting, and running from the police and the bad guys. As an adult I could say the story was a bit unbelievable. However, as a teacher I have learned that my students want that element of unbelief. They need to feel like teens can come out the hero at times.
Anxious to return to his normal teenage life, Charlie realizes he must fight the forces of evil to help save the residents of New York City before he can return home to his loving family and girlfriend.
March 8, 2012
This is book four and the last book of the Homelanders series.
For the first half of the book, Charlie West is once again in less-than-ideal circumstances. He is locked up in the state prison where the radical Islamists are trying to kill him while he is protected (?) by the racist Nazis in the prison. The United States government refuses to acknowledge his participation in bringing down the Homelander terrorist group, and the leader of the Homelanders may have escaped. During one of his memory flashbacks, Charlie remembers that the group was planning an attack on Times Square on New Year's Eve. However, no one believes him, so he takes matters into his own hands and breaks out of prison. With the help of the Waterman group from book three, he finally ends the threat posed by the Homelanders, their leader is killed, and Charlie finally gets the recognition that he deserves. All of the plot elements are tied up nicely by the end of the book.
For the first half of the book, Charlie West is once again in less-than-ideal circumstances. He is locked up in the state prison where the radical Islamists are trying to kill him while he is protected (?) by the racist Nazis in the prison. The United States government refuses to acknowledge his participation in bringing down the Homelander terrorist group, and the leader of the Homelanders may have escaped. During one of his memory flashbacks, Charlie remembers that the group was planning an attack on Times Square on New Year's Eve. However, no one believes him, so he takes matters into his own hands and breaks out of prison. With the help of the Waterman group from book three, he finally ends the threat posed by the Homelanders, their leader is killed, and Charlie finally gets the recognition that he deserves. All of the plot elements are tied up nicely by the end of the book.
January 16, 2016
An absolutely amazing ending to the 4 book series. I was so excited to be able to read and review the final book. I have fully enjoyed every page of this 4 book series.
All along the way I have said that Charlie West is like a teenage James Bond. This book starts out like "Prison Break" (the TV series), then goes to "Top Gun" then ending with "Mission Impossible". Andrew Klavan does for Action/Suspense what Stephen King does for Horror.
This book was nothing short of Brilliant! I read it in just 2 days, I was totally unable to put it down.
And don't think it is just a "guy book"! I was in tears at the end, crying out "Oh no!". I don't think I have ever gripped a book so tight, Oh yeah! I did - the first 3 books! LOL
All along the way I have said that Charlie West is like a teenage James Bond. This book starts out like "Prison Break" (the TV series), then goes to "Top Gun" then ending with "Mission Impossible". Andrew Klavan does for Action/Suspense what Stephen King does for Horror.
This book was nothing short of Brilliant! I read it in just 2 days, I was totally unable to put it down.
And don't think it is just a "guy book"! I was in tears at the end, crying out "Oh no!". I don't think I have ever gripped a book so tight, Oh yeah! I did - the first 3 books! LOL
October 13, 2011
I have to admit that when I picked up the first book in this series I had no idea it was going to end up being this good. The first and second weren't nearly as good as this, but they were necessary. I don't think I could have loved the ending anymore if I tried. The entire time I was reading The Final Hour I just kept picturing the awful endings in my head because that was exactly where it seemed to be going. I was not disappointed by this book in any way, even though it was frustrating at times. It was a good kind of frustrating, I could feel Charlie's pain and hopelessness but I could also feel his determination.
September 13, 2017
This was a fun and entertaining conclusion to this series. It wasn't my favorite book in the set, but it wasn't the worst either. I feel satisfied with its conclusion and found the series overall to be a lot of fun. Give your teens and pre-teens these fun books worry-free. I love how clean they are--void of all bad language and a main character with incredibly high morals. I'll definitely be looking into more books by this author!
July 26, 2018
AWESOME! Just finished this and I'm so glad I read this series. The writing wasn't the most spectacular but the incredible plot definitely made up for that. I loved all the action and how real everything became to me as I read. Plus it's written from a Christian perspective with a strong Christian hero. What's not to love?!
We need more fiction like this! Who's going to get out there and write it?
We need more fiction like this! Who's going to get out there and write it?
January 26, 2013
Despite a somewhat slow start (the prison stuff seemed interminable), terrific slam-bang ending to a great series! Words can't describe how much I love Charlie's character. Now I want to buy this whole series so I can read them over and over and share them with my kids. I love how CLEAN they are--no bad language, no sex, no bloody gory stuff. I hope Andrew writes many more YA books.
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