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Carol Golden #5
Good to the Last Death
When Carol Golden’s husband, Rigo, disappears, she not only has to look for him but also elude the FBI at the same time since there is evidence she may have been involved in his disappearance. She doggedly follows a faint trail, keeping her location a secret from everybody except her friend, Jennifer, a spy-in-training, who takes time off from her top-secret job to help Carol. What they find out is that an organization of “good” people dedicated to saving the earth from pollution and global warming may feel justified in carrying out activities reminiscent of the worst tyrants of the twentieth century as part of their solution, and that Rigo may be the first casualty.
The search for Rigo and the truth will take Carol from her married home of Los Angeles to the ruggedly beautiful Rocky Mountains near Denver where an unusually hot summer is fueling passions that may not be conducive to the long-term viability of the human race. Carol and Jennifer must have concrete evidence of wrongdoing and Rigo’s whereabouts before they can call in the FBI, but keeping themselves alive is going to be their first job. One misstep in the mountains can be fatal.
The search for Rigo and the truth will take Carol from her married home of Los Angeles to the ruggedly beautiful Rocky Mountains near Denver where an unusually hot summer is fueling passions that may not be conducive to the long-term viability of the human race. Carol and Jennifer must have concrete evidence of wrongdoing and Rigo’s whereabouts before they can call in the FBI, but keeping themselves alive is going to be their first job. One misstep in the mountains can be fatal.
211 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 16, 2015
2 people are currently reading
9 people want to read
About the author
Alan Cook
48 books70 followersAlan Cook is an author of mystery/suspense novels and young adult/Children's books. However, his latest novel is a comedy, ROCKY ROAD TO DENVER, set in 1968. His novella, DEATH AT MONKSREST, takes place in England in the 1960s and is the third book of the Charlie and Liz series. EAST OF THE WALL takes places in East Germany in 1963 when the Berlin Wall was up. It is the second book in the Charlie and Liz series. TRUST ME IF YOU DARE, the first Charlie and Liz novel, takes place in 1962 in the U.S. and Cuba. YOUR MOVE is the seventh Carol Golden book. A serial killer is on the loose. FOOL ME TWICE is the sixth Carol Golden book. It deals with scams, and we've all been fooled. GOOD TO THE LAST DEATH is the fifth Carol Golden novel. It deals with junk science. HIT THAT BLOT, with a backgammon theme, is the fourth Carol Golden novel. DANGEROUS WIND is the third Carol Golden novel. It takes place on all seven continents. RELATIVELY DEAD and FORGET TO REMEMBER, the first two, are about a young woman who loses her memory and calls herself Carol Golden. His short story, "Checkpoint Charlie," is in the anthology, MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA PRESENTS ICE COLD: TALES OF INTRIGUE FROM THE COLD WAR, edited by Jeffery Deaver and Raymond Benson. PICTURELAND, is a Young Adult novel that takes place in a dystopian world. DANCING WITH BULLS, his first children's book, takes place at Knossos Palace on the island of Crete 4,000 years ago. YOUR MOVE is he seventh Carol Golden book, in which Carol is asked to help track down a serial killer. RUN INTO TROUBLE has won a Silver Quill award from the American Author's Association and was named best Pacific West book by Reader Views. It is about an ultra-marathon along the California coast in 1969, during the Cold War. But is the Cold War about to heat up? HONEYMOON FOR THREE, has received a Silver Quill award from the American Author's Association and was named best Mountain West book by Reader Views. WALKING THE WORLD: MEMORIES AND ADVENTURES has been named one of the "Top 10 Walking Memoirs and Tales of Long Walks" by walking.about.com
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 13, 2016
This, the fifth novel in the Carol Golden series, is packed full of suspense and terror. Now married to the man who saved her life, Rigo, Carol learns from his parents that they are afraid that he is missing, and they think an old girlfriend may have a hand in his disappearance. But why?
Once again Alan Cook has combined a tantalizing and mystery with a terrifying determination. Rigo has been kidnapped for a surprising reason, radical insanity with little culpability or restraint, the terrorists are blind to humanity and certainly lacking in human reason, although they believe they are saving the planet. And there lies the problem, but is their group doing anything good? Or are they spelling doomsday. Carol is in tracking mode with her spy-in-training friend Jennifer, racing to find Rigo, and to stop so much more from happening than she can imagine.
This book is completely different from others in the series but packing a punch as always, and often with the ring of plausible authenticity. The team that has Rigo is extremely focused on what they are setting out to do and time is running out. Another strong story-line from the author.
Once again Alan Cook has combined a tantalizing and mystery with a terrifying determination. Rigo has been kidnapped for a surprising reason, radical insanity with little culpability or restraint, the terrorists are blind to humanity and certainly lacking in human reason, although they believe they are saving the planet. And there lies the problem, but is their group doing anything good? Or are they spelling doomsday. Carol is in tracking mode with her spy-in-training friend Jennifer, racing to find Rigo, and to stop so much more from happening than she can imagine.
This book is completely different from others in the series but packing a punch as always, and often with the ring of plausible authenticity. The team that has Rigo is extremely focused on what they are setting out to do and time is running out. Another strong story-line from the author.
December 22, 2018
The premise is a bit strained, that Rigo (Carol’s husband) is the only highly skilled app designer capable of helping a radical group achieve their nefarious goal. However, once you suspend disbelief, you are taken on an exciting journey as Carol and her friends team up to find the kidnapped Rigo. The reader is repeatedly challenged to think along with Rigo: what would I do in this situation? How and when would I try to escape?
Mr. Cook follows the author’s mandate to Write What You Know. He draws on his extensive experience in hiking mountain trails, giving the reader survival lessons along the way, much like Tony Hillerman, who teaches the reader about Navajo culture. Sneaking worthwhile knowledge into a novel is an enviable art. Mr. Cook is such an artist. He is also a poet, and wastes no opportunity inserting his verses into his highly entertaining fiction.
The author takes a chance presenting his views on the highly politicized pseudo science behind the climate change cult, but he is spot on. As a computer scientist (as am I) he knows full well how computer models can be skewed to work back from the desired answer, programmed to display fraudulent results. It all looks very “official” and can easily mislead the gullible. To quote from the book, “The universe is too complex for humans to reduce to a bunch of assumptions.” Amen to that. Another important quote: “A mathematician knows that even small errors in assumptions produce results widely divergent from reality. The further out the predictions, the more worthless they are.”
The gullible group Carol has to contend with is so convinced that their cause is righteous that they are willing to go to murderous extremes to prove their point. The end justifies the means in this suspenseful and thought-provoking novel.
Mr. Cook follows the author’s mandate to Write What You Know. He draws on his extensive experience in hiking mountain trails, giving the reader survival lessons along the way, much like Tony Hillerman, who teaches the reader about Navajo culture. Sneaking worthwhile knowledge into a novel is an enviable art. Mr. Cook is such an artist. He is also a poet, and wastes no opportunity inserting his verses into his highly entertaining fiction.
The author takes a chance presenting his views on the highly politicized pseudo science behind the climate change cult, but he is spot on. As a computer scientist (as am I) he knows full well how computer models can be skewed to work back from the desired answer, programmed to display fraudulent results. It all looks very “official” and can easily mislead the gullible. To quote from the book, “The universe is too complex for humans to reduce to a bunch of assumptions.” Amen to that. Another important quote: “A mathematician knows that even small errors in assumptions produce results widely divergent from reality. The further out the predictions, the more worthless they are.”
The gullible group Carol has to contend with is so convinced that their cause is righteous that they are willing to go to murderous extremes to prove their point. The end justifies the means in this suspenseful and thought-provoking novel.
December 6, 2017
A Skilled Mystery of High Stakes
In Good to the Last Death by Alan Cook, investigator Carol Golden has to chase down her lost husband Rigo, ultimately from coast to coast. Along the way Carol and her fellow spy Jennifer find themselves on stakeouts, held captive, and on the run. Especially since Rigo is in a similar predicament and Cook develops nice parallels in the plotline, all this activity leads to a suspenseful, fun read.
The plot focuses on a nefarious group called Save Our Planet [SOP] that claims they are out help the human race, but are instead fixated on wiping out large swaths of population. The group’s intentions add urgency and gravity to efforts to spring Rigo and track down SOP before it can do damage. Minor characters like Jules, Jacob, and Betty give Good to the Last Death some unexpected pleasures. Likewise, an early character Henry manages to exude timidity, creepiness, and kindness simultaneously.
Hey, any novel with an honest-to-goodness cliffhanger promises to play with our expectations. Good to the Last Death delivers on its rhythms of action and intrigue, including some fine late twists. Pick up Cook’s fine story. You’ll enjoy it.
In Good to the Last Death by Alan Cook, investigator Carol Golden has to chase down her lost husband Rigo, ultimately from coast to coast. Along the way Carol and her fellow spy Jennifer find themselves on stakeouts, held captive, and on the run. Especially since Rigo is in a similar predicament and Cook develops nice parallels in the plotline, all this activity leads to a suspenseful, fun read.
The plot focuses on a nefarious group called Save Our Planet [SOP] that claims they are out help the human race, but are instead fixated on wiping out large swaths of population. The group’s intentions add urgency and gravity to efforts to spring Rigo and track down SOP before it can do damage. Minor characters like Jules, Jacob, and Betty give Good to the Last Death some unexpected pleasures. Likewise, an early character Henry manages to exude timidity, creepiness, and kindness simultaneously.
Hey, any novel with an honest-to-goodness cliffhanger promises to play with our expectations. Good to the Last Death delivers on its rhythms of action and intrigue, including some fine late twists. Pick up Cook’s fine story. You’ll enjoy it.
December 22, 2015
This book is different from the other Carol Golden novels because the theme, global warming and other woes people are alleged to have perpetrated upon the earth, is currently hot (excuse the bad joke). Actually, the book has two threads. One is the disappearance of Carol's husband, Rigo, which starts things off with suspense that carries the action along at a fast pace. The other is the activities of a group of people who supposedly have the best interests of the human race at heart. Carol and her sidekick, Jennifer, a trainee spy, have to determine who is attempting to do what to whom while they try to find Rigo alive. Interesting questions arise about how folks use junk science to promote an agenda. Can't think of anybody like that outside of government and those whose stature depends on having people believe the "correct" things, whether they are true or not .
December 31, 2015
A quick read, and another win for heroine Carol/Cynthia/Aiko. Better to start at the beginning of the series. She is such a great character.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews