"While there were still exasperating puzzles, one thing was clear: this was more than espionage, more than politics. Millions, maybe tens of millions, of lives were at stake."

Working for the NSA as an intelligence operative has taken a major toll on Jordan Kirkwood and his family over the years. He's toying with the idea of ending his career, but a new, deeply critical threat to the nation's security might end Jordan's life first in The Last Operative, a novel by Jerry B. Jenkins.

This book is as much about the hero's trouble with his mental and emotional state, his past, and his family life as it is a novel of suspense and danger. Overall, I appreciated the balance between those two general sides of the story. It seemed the issue of vengeance was raised without reaching a real resolution, but I might have missed something there.

Still, I did wonder why the climax of Kirkwood's NSA mission seemed to arrive and end as soon as it did. One of two things often happens when a novel reaches an early climax: either it idles around in what remaining material the story has left, or it introduces new material that it may not have enough time to develop well (or to leave the reader much time to care about the new stuff) before the book is over.

Either way, the climax usually signals to my senses that it's time for the story to start wrapping up. So when a book carries on much longer, my interest begins to wane. This novel does introduce a new dilemma after the climax, and then it ends in a somewhat awkward spot, like, "Well, the story's gotta stop sometime, so we'll stop it here."

Nevertheless, I found this to be an enjoyable Christian suspense read, and I certainly plan on checking out more from this author.
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I received a complimentary copy of this book, for which I've given an honest review, through a rewards program from the publisher. I received no monetary compensation. ( )

Was not what I expected. Was okay. Not nearly as thrilling or action packed as I hoped. Was more like a love story with the action thrown in on the side. ( )

This review first appeared on my blog: http://jewelknits.blogspot.com/2010/11/last-operative-by-jerry-b-jenkins-book.ht...

According to the author's note, this book is a thorough re-telling of his first stand-alone novel, "The Operative", rewritten and updated for today's audience. He also poses a question to the reader about the dialogue, which is not weighed down with "he said" this and "she said" that. To answer the question: yes, the dialogue worked. I never had a problem differentiating who was speaking.

Jordan is an NSA operative, suddenly called to Germany for an assignment that could have been handled by anyone else. One of the higher-ups, Stu, surprises him by requesting a secret meeting, where he is told of the presence of a nuclear threat within the United States and the strict certainty that someone high within the NSA is involved.

Jordan is puzzling over this when he goes to meet his wife at Heathrow airport where they are supposed to embark on a long-overdue vacation. Suddenly gunfire erupts as the passengers are disembarking, and it becomes clear that someone wanted Jordan dead. A day later, Stu IS dead, the victim of an apparent suicide. Now it is up to Jordan and his mentor, Chuck, to find out how to stop nuclear missiles from entering the United States, who is behind it, and who in the NSA is involved. After years of faithful work and service, Jordan suddenly finds everything he's done being questioned and his allegiance to the NSA is on shaky ground.

I WANTED to like this book. There's faith, and family, and a seemingly good spy story. But I didn't feel what I was supposed to feel, which is involved with the characters. It felt like a sketch that still needed to be shaded in. There WAS a point shortly after page 200 where the action becomes more intense and fully-fleshed, then it was back to the surface sketches. I found it unbelievable that more than 20 years after a youthful indiscretion, Jordan would still be guilt-ridden about it. I also found it less than believable that he would have ended this youthful relationship in the fashion that he did if he truly loved that person. Even the anger that his son feels towards him doesn't read as real. There's a twist when we find out who is the inside guy at NSA, but there are enough hints early on that most of us will have already figured it out.

All in all, it was an OK read, but nothing to re-read, at least not for me.

QUOTES:

For the first time, Jordan resented his own training. He envied others their grief and fear. Such open honest, human, unchecked emotions.

"Chuck, I feel like I'm leaning over a gas tank with a cigarette in my lips."

"Comforting. Two decades apart, a few hours to mend fences, and we exit as kamikazes." ( )

What an adventure! I agree with Jerry that this is an amazing book cover, it says so much. "The Last Operative" is a novel that keeps you going from page to page and chapter to chapter. It is one of those long lasting adventures where when you think something big and full of adrenaline just happened and that you and recuperate, something even bigger happens. To me at first the book ends abruptly, but in retrospect looking at it, it fits right in. Because if you blink, something else is going to happen!

Knowing that "The Last Operative" is a retelling of Jerry's first standalone novel is hard to fully grasp, because this book is so literal and set with today's political avenues, but then I guess history does repeat itself.

Jordan Kirkwood is a great character, if you know me at you, you probably know that I have a very fond love of the television show and books "Alias" and many other things espionage. Jordan is an NSA (National Security Agency) CIA-like (Central Intelligence Agency) operative and currently one of a kind. He is in for quite the unexpected adventure even in his line of work and his future and past as well as his faith are all at stake. Jump on in and enjoy the story, but be prepared to put a little time aside to read the whole thing, because you won't want to stop.

*Thanks to Tyndale House Publishers for providing a copy for review.* ( )