Last Rights

by Philip Shelby

Warrant Officer Rachel Collins discovers a government conspiracy that may have claimed the life of a powerful African-American general and a fellow investigator, directed by a cunning killer who lures her by disclosing top secrets. Reprint.

Genres: Fiction, Thriller

368 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 1, 1997

Reviews

[Susan]

Philip Shelby's Last Rights, a sight-unseen purchase in a wrapped bundle for me, turns out to be more satisfying than I expected at first glance. I waded through the FBI, CIA, miliary, and armament jargon to get to the bottom of how General Griffin North died. Imagine my disappointment when the killer and the reason turn out to be......well, I won't spoil the ending, but let's just say it didn't hold up against the other plot elements. However, like so many other books that I mark "three stars," I liked reading this. It's a tightly crafted thriller (still with my caveat about the taped-on ending) with an engaging female lead, even if Rachel Collins to a little too good to ring true.

[Jeannine]

Competent thriller. Stands up pretty well for one written in 1997.

[Tomas]

Unsatisfying ending, somewhat rushed. Didn't do justice to the great buildups of the villain and heroine. Not bad for something written before smart phones and the Internet.

[John (JC)]

Good read

[Kim Repinski]

Very fast paced. Spy story

[Mike]

April 2001

[Lorraine Culver]

Fast moving story about who killed North and why. Unfortunately, the why was a big let down.

[Pat]

Lots of suspense. Hard to put down.

[Jamie]

An army CID investigator is snatched and killed after she started making inquiries into the wrong thing- namely the "accidental" death of General North whom was on his way to being the next Vice President of the United States. Was General North killed because he was black or due to how he might change the political climate once inside the White House? Who was behind such a treacherous conspiracy and more importantly why? Officer Rachel Collins, a CID investigator and friend and protege of Molly Smith, must go off the reservation to find the truth putting herself and others at great risk. But who is the "Engineer" and why is there no trace of this elusive figure? The Domestic Terrorism Unit starts running it's own investigation into Molly's death and discovers that CID investigator Rachel Collins is the key to the answers they seek. A shorter than average book and somewhat predictable in the Hollywood sense of a story, but entertaining nonetheless.

[Dale]

Good action thriller book for political junkies

This political / action thriller revolves around the murder of a Colin Powell-type successful black general that was staged to look like a plane crash. Army Warrant Officer Rachel Collins discovers a clue to the actual cause of the general's death while investigating another crime and a nation-wide chase ensues while victims fall all over the place at the hand of the professional assassin "The Engineer."

It started out slow but the middle part of the book is really quite good. Shelby creates good tension and the main characters get banged up most thoroughly and realistically.

http://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/

[THX]

This was a slow-read compared to some other stories. This also seems like a season of 24. interesting because this was written several years before 24?!? It was ok.

[Cindy]

I found this a bit hard to follow and the ending was cut short, like it all had to summed up at once.

[Jim Moffett]

02-00

[Jackie Simons]

Read 3/97