The Last Witness

JM Mystery-thriller #3

by John Matthews

Elena Waldren has a secret that she's built fences around for the last twenty-nine years and kept from everyone. Through her work with an aid agency, her fears about the plight of a young girl placed with a nearby family finally set her on a quest to uncover the past that she's pushed away for so long. A quest that leads her into the dangerous heart of Montreal's leading crime family, the Lacailles. The Lacaille brothers are at odds over their business aims for the future. Caught in the middle is the money-man holding the key to legitimizing their enterprises, Georges Donatien. But as much as Donatien could be their saviour, he is also the last witness to a murder that could bring their empire crashing down.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Amazon, Mystery Thriller

480 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Noella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elena is op 15jarige leeftijd zwanger geraakt en haar vader heeft haar verplicht haar kind af te staan. Sindsdien heeft Elena een schuldgevoel, en is ze gaan werken voor een adoptiebureau dat kinderen uit Oost-Europa plaatst. Maar dan komen er problemen met één van deze geadopteerde kinderen, en het meisje smeekt Elena om hulp. Er kan echter niet bewezen worden en ten einde raad ontvoert Elena Lorena. Dit gebeurt juist op het moment dat Elena in haar zoektocht naar Georges, haar afgestane zoon, een spoor heeft dat naar Montreal leidt. Zo slaat ze twee vliegen in één klap: als ze er in slaagt Montreal te bereiken met Lorena, is het meisje voorlopig veilig en kan zijzelf naar haar zoon op zoek gaan.
Maar bijkomend probleem is dat de nu 29jarige Georges voor een maffiafamilie werkt, en alhoewel de baas, Jean Paul Lacaille, zijn oude leven de rug wil terugkeren en de naam van de familie zuiveren, is zijn broer Roman het daar niet mee eens en probeert alles, maar dan ook echt alles, om zelf de macht in handen te krijgen om terug winsten te kunnen maken in de illegaliteit.
Zal hij slagen in zijn opzet? Zullen er slachtoffers vallen? Zal Elena Georges op tijd kunnen vinden? En zal ze Lorena kunnen helpen ontsnappen aan haar stiefvader? Spanning ten top!

[Traci Lafollette · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hard to follow and extremely slow. Took forever to finish almost gave up and probably should have.

[Darren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this as a e book from net galley. I enjoyed reading it. It had a good story to it. I liked the variety of characters in it. It is my second book read by this author. I hope to read more books by this author.

[Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rommelig en niet overtuigend.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a really good story, with lots of twists. Sadly though its rated pg 30. Also, there was too much of Almost-died-and-got-saved-at-the-last-minute. Still, I enjoyed the story.

[Molly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Could have been half the length. Good story but too meandering and the end tied up too neatly.

[Water Moon · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is a waste of time; possibly the worst book I’ve read in a while. There’s some really good Canadian fiction out there and this just isn’t up to par. After I started it, I read and finished over 10 books in-between. The two plots that make up the book fit together like two separate novels. They just didn’t work. There’s also a huge cast of characters right off the bat, making it confusing and hard to follow. Very few writers do this well – George R. R. Martin is a rare exception. So many grammatical errors, annoyingly tiny font and attempts at gangster slang that are just pitiful and embarrassing. Then you’ve got the creepy, voyeuristic and crass writing when the author is talking about women. Using words like “vulva” when you’re describing a worker in a strip club just weirds me out. Sounds so clinical. Awkwardly felt like the writer was living out some vicarious fantasy. Heavy topics in the book were also written very insensitively and not with care at all. A reminder that just because a book is long and wordy does not mean it’s good. Warning: book content includes child abuse.

[Amk256 King · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this book from net gallery in return for an honest review.

The story of families and long lost regrets.

I’m not sure how to review this book. I didn’t dislike the story but it was long, and slow and complicated. I’m not one to give up on a book but I almost did several times. It just didn’t connect until so long into the book. It had pages and pages where quite frankly I got bored and disinterested. The story about Lorena kept my interest but the rest of it I couldn’t really care about. It was just too much info for one book for me. And the names of people were just weird. It got on my nerves just reading the names. I couldn’t tell you what happened at the start or why because I just didn’t care. I just wanted to finish it and move on. I’m sure that some people would enjoy it but it wasn’t for me. I don’t think I’d read more by this author from reading this book but I also feel that there’s a good story teller in there which is a shame. Perhaps a shorter book and the chapters were way too long!

[Alf Goodall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Difficult to read due to the very small print Not sure that Elena's secret is so terribly bad that she could not have shared it with at least her husband who eventually finds out, along with many others. Found the setting interesting as have lived in and visited Montreal. Unfortunately I tend to get started on another book before doing a review by which time I have forgotten much of the detail. Regardless found it to be an interesting story.

[Carrie Challoner · Rating 3 out of 5]

It wasn't one of the best books read. I was confused who was who as the author used different names of characters. Like there was a Character called Georges and then it was Donatien, but I liked the joining at the end of the story and I hated Roman who tries to kill Georges so that was gripping and you know it is somewhat good when a character irritates you, as the reader.

[Anne Vaughan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took a while to get into it had to keep putting in down and going back to it.

[Marni · Rating 3 out of 5]

This long book (with very tiny print) started out with two seemingly separate stories. One in England and the other in Canada - which finally come together in a murder mystery.

[winifred banks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exciting breath taking tale

Two intriguing stories that keep you on edge until the surprising connection is finally revealed.
An absolutely awesome reading experience.

[Kathy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried, I really did. But this book was boring and way too slow. I gave up and didn't finish it.

[The · Rating 3 out of 5]

Canadian Crime


I quite enjoyed this though it almost seems like it would have been best if this had been written as two separate books.

The Elena storyline could be quite slow going at times and some of the scenes and internal monologue did get quite repetitive. It was quite well done and it did have some emotional impact though It also took me away from the other storyline

I preferred the Canadian crime elements. It was pretty well written with some interesting characters.

The book picks up a lot towards the end and it was a tense and well worked finish.
The writing is generally competent and effective.

[Northern Light · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book took a long time to get going and I nearly gave up on it but I am very glad that I didn't. Once it going it was an amazing adventure encompassing many different facets. From a crime family trying to go straight and not always succeeding to an aid worker kidnapping a child and going on the run. The last few chapters will take you on a roller-coaster of emotions as you try to decide who is telling the truth.

[Aileen]

Minuscule print meant I gave up on the 2nd page.

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

The two strands of the story take a long time to come together, but the suspense is there.