I am a member of the American Library Association Reading List Award Committee. This title was suggested for the 2020 list. It was not nominated for the award. The complete list of winners and shortlisted titles is at <a href="https://rusaupdate.org/2020/01/2020-reading-list-years-best-in-genre-fiction-for-adult-readers/">

Another great book by Brad Parks. I love his writing style and like how this book was based on real life events. Overall, a quick and easy read. Thanks for the advanced copy.

Description
Award-winning author Brad Parks delivers a tense novel of thrills, twists, and deceit that grabs you and won’t let go until the final, satisfying page.

Tommy Jump is an out-of-work stage actor approached by the FBI with the role of a lifetime: Go undercover at a federal prison, impersonate a convicted felon, and befriend a fellow inmate, a disgraced banker named Mitchell Dupree, who knows the location of documents that can be used to bring down a ruthless drug cartel . . . if only he’d tell the FBI where they are. The women in Tommy’s life, his fiancée and mother, tell him he’s crazy to even consider taking the part. The cartel has quickly risen to become the largest supplier of crystal meth in America. And it hasn’t done it by playing nice. Still, Tommy’s acting career has stalled, and the FBI is offering a minimum of $150,000 for a six-month gig—whether he gets the documents or not. Using a false name and backstory, Tommy enters the low-security prison and begins the process of befriending Dupree. But Tommy soon realizes he’s underestimated the enormity of his task and the terrifying reach of the cartel. The FBI aren't the only ones looking for the documents, and if Tommy doesn’t play his role to perfection, it just may be his last act.

My Review

Interesting suspense story of an FBI informant. Some of the story was a bit too out there, but still well written with well defined characters. This is a standalone book by this author and I’m glad to have had the opportunity to read. I thoroughly enjoyed The Last Act.

I was provided this book free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion. I give this a 4 star ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Published by Dutton on March 12, 2019

Many works of fiction ask the reader to suspend disbelief for the sake of enjoying the story. Some ask more than others. The Last Act asks too much.

Having said that, I hasten to add that I liked the characters and enjoyed some of the story. I am tempted to recommend The Last Act for the introduction alone, which asks why the drug war has resulted in the lengthy incarceration of impoverished people for petty offenses while the money laundering offenses performed by Wachovia Bank, which enabled Mexican drug cartels to do business in the United States, resulted in no sentences at all. Another part of the books lambasts prosecutors who seek jail sentences for Medicaid fraud that is committed to obtain healthcare that would otherwise be unavailable. The book’s heart is in the right place.

Here’s the plot in a nutshell. Former child actor Tommy Jump is now 27, too big for child roles, too small to be a leading man. A high school buddy who is now in the FBI hires him to pose as a federal prisoner so he can cozy up to an incarcerated banker and learn where the banker has stashed documents that he’s hidden as insurance against reprisals by a cartel. The FBI agent tells him that the documents will let them bring down the cartel. Tommy’s wife is newly pregnant, he has no job, and the chance to earn a large chunk of cash seems too good to pass up. After all, it’s only six months in a federal prison. What could go wrong?

Before we get to what could go wrong, let’s examine what’s wrong with the premise. The reader will quickly suspect that things are not as they seem and will wonder why Tommy doesn’t realize that. But setting that aside, the scheme requires Tommy to go to court and plead guilty to a bank robbery that never happened. Nobody in the system — not the judge, not the Marshals (who would tend to know about bank robberies within their districts), not Pretrial Services — questions why nobody has ever heard of this bank robbery prior to Tommy’s confession. No grand jury testimony, no FBI reports, no victim, no evidence that any bank lost a penny. Our system is flawed, but federal judges do not send people to prison for bank robbery in the absence of evidence that a bank was actually robbed, notwithstanding the alleged bank robber’s confession. Granted, the story eventually explains why things are not as they appear, but the plot never explains how Tommy could be sent to prison in the absence of any evidence that a crime actually occurred.

And the notion that Tommy can’t get himself out of this mess just by hiring a halfway competent lawyer is preposterous. An affidavit from the bank manager explaining that the bank wasn't robbed would persuade even the most hardened judge to ask why the government sent Tommy to jail.

Anyway, Tommy goes off to prison, and of course the plan goes awry. Fortunately, he quickly learns how he can come and go at will. I think it is doubtful that an 8-year sentence for bank robbery would immediately be served in a minimum-security prison or that security would be quite as lax as the novel imagines, but I gave up on the premise long before Tommy got to prison. The ending also depends on the unlikely coincidence of a particular person being in the right place at the right time. It's all too much to swallow.

I liked Tommy. I liked his cellmate. I liked the banker. I didn’t accept the premise, but I liked the humanity with which the story is told. I admired the fluid prose and appreciated that the story moves quickly. Readers who are less troubled by the plot’s impossibility will find reasons to enjoy The Last Act. Readers who expect verisimilitude from storytellers will be disappointed.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

This is the third stand-alone book that I have read by Brad Parks, and I have to say that I was not disappointed!

The Last Act is a unique story line I haven’t seen before. The FBI approaches an out of work actor Tommy Jump, and invites him to play a role of a lifetime, to be an informant for the FBI for some easy money. It hooked me from the beginning. I do admit after the beginning it was a little slow for me up until one-third the book. Maybe I’m just impatient lol, and there was a lot of back-story. But after reading the entire book I felt that was necessary to fill the reader in with character development. By half way through it moved quickly, and I was hooked! So much so and didn’t want to stop reading so I purchased the audible book on release date so when I couldn’t read I could listen. I do that a lot.
The story was well written, unique/entertaining and filled with all kinds of twists and turns I didn’t see coming. Just the kind of book I love to get lost in.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good suspense/mystery thriller. I also highly recommend his other stand-alone novels that I’ve read. Parks is one of my go to authors for a good suspense/mystery thriller genre book now. “Say Nothing” is one of my all time favorite audible books! I’ll definitely have to go back and read his Carter Ross series to see if I like those.
*A very special thank you to Penguin Group Dutton via NetGalley for the advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review*

I enjoyed this one. I liked that it was loosely based off of real life events. The characters were written really well, especially Tommy. He was such a believable character in the situation he was in. I also really enjoyed the alternating point of views in telling the story.

An Actor Goes to Prison to Get Evidence for the FBI

Tommy Jump is an ex-child actor whose career is deteriorating. He’s type cast in his famous role and can’t seem to break out of it. Tommy’s problems don’t end with his career. He has a pregnant fiancée, and he wants to take care of his family.

When Tommy meets an old friend now in the FBI, he’s surprised to get an offer for a different kind of acting job. The FBI wants him to enter prison under an assumed name and become friends with Mitchell Dupree, a banker who is in prison for laundering funds for a drug cartel, New Colima. Headed by El Vio, this is one of the deadliest drug cartels in Mexico, a primary supplier of crystal meth is the US.

Tommy, in spite of the worries of his mother and girlfriend, takes the job. When he enters the minimum security prison ready to befriend Dupree, he is faced with much more than he bargained for. Drug cartels don’t fool around. They want the papers Dupree knows about as much as the FBI.

If you like thrillers, this is a good one. Tommy is a believable character. His reaction to prison including the fear and stress draw you in. Although the book opens slowly, once Tommy enters the prison, the action is non-stop. It’s hard to put the book down.

I received this book from Net Galley for this review.

Brad Parks delivered a cinematic, action filled story I couldn't put down.Tommy Jump is offered an acting deal he feels he can't pass up. The FBI want him to go undercover in a low security prison to make contact with Mitchell Dupree, a banker who has been convicted of laundering millions for the New Colima cartel and who supposedly still has one ace in the hole that could take that cartel down. Problem is: he's not about to give it to the FBI. I have to say, I really liked Tommy right from the start. He seemed feisty, level headed and intelligent but at the same time, he was letting the idea of all that money cloud his judgment because he forgot how these things usually go...if a deal like this one seems too good to be true...it probably is.Parks sets up the opening scenes and Tommy's arrival in prison brilliantly. I'm super picky when it comes to details in thrillers. I like things to be fast paced and tension filled but I also want it realistic with all the i's dotted and t's crossed and this story was all that and more. With short chapters, a breakneck pace, and dialogue that was so spot on that I could picture this perfectly in my head as a movie, I finished this in a day. I really hope the film rights for this have been snatched up!

I have read most of Brad's books - so I know what I'm going to get when I open one. With that being said, this surpassed my highest expectations!! His books read so easy -- his chapters are absolutely perfect! He is one of my favorite thriller writers and I will continue to read anything he writes.

The Last Act is like that A&E series Lockup - except the 'insider' is an actor hired by the FBI to be an inside man working out the details of a Mexican drug cartel. So - it's a little bit of Narcos as well.

Tommy needs this job - he's been looking for his next big break since childhood. He takes this job, knowing that it will help his family far into the future, but because he will also be helping the FBI.

Okay, so. This book is...out of control exciting. The writing is so vivid and exciting, that I couldn't put this down. It was like watching a tension filled movie. I could see someone like Ethan Hawke (does that age me?) as the lead.

I can't get TOO much into detail, it's just that good.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The Last Act is a great stand-alone novel by Brad Parks, who is well-known for his Carter Ross series. His books are suspenseful, well-written and very enjoyable.

Tommy Jump is an out-of-work actor looking for a new gig. When he’s approached by an old childhood friend, now an FBI agent, who presents him with an offer that includes compensation beyond his wildest imagination Tommy jumps at the chance (no pun intended). What could go wrong? All he has to do is impersonate a prisoner for six months, become friends with a convicted felon and find out where he has hidden important documents that could incriminate a drug cartel kingpin.

The story is straight-forward and pretty simple. At least for awhile. Then it becomes more complicated, even more suspenseful and the plot twists begin. All of the characters are interesting and the story is told from several points of view. I particularly liked Tommy’s mother. She’s someone I’d definitely want in my corner. And, his fiancé, Amanda, is also a pivotal figure who evolves throughout the chaos and becomes a strong and dependable woman.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Last Act. Brad Parks continues to be one of my favorite authors and I highly recommend all of his books.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

I found this to be a very good book from start to finish. The author has you with Tommy Jump a struggling actor on Broadway who is beginning to think his time is done and he should move on to assistant director or anything that will pay the bills. He is then offered a role to go undercover into a Federal Prison for $150,000. Thinking about it he arrives home and talks it over his fiancé when he finds out that she is pregnant. That seals the deal. What happens next is him actually getting sentenced in a Federal court to robbing a bank that never took place and being sentenced to eight years. One good thing or two I guess is that he did not go in under his real name, and he is sent to a minimum security prison. From there he is to find his mark and hopefully gain his trust in order to get the information that they need. Now from here the story really takes off and you go between Tommy’s fiancé, to Dupree’s wife who is the mark in prison, to the cartel and then to what is going on in prison with Tommy and the other inmates. What made this book for me was how the author made different scenes in the prison real. One, for example, was the cell searches his description of how it was done and the way it was done was spot on. How do I know this I just know, and what he describes and the effect is accurate. This was just one but there are others and for me, this is what made the book an enjoyable read, and the pages easy to turn. The characters were all good and just overall a very good book.

The Last Act is the first book in the series of same name by Brad Parks.

But first...there is a prequel titled The Whistleblower that helps set the stage for a suspenseful thriller. Mitch Dupree landed his dream job: bank compliance director. It is his job to abide by Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations with a Cover Your Ass (CYA) mentality. After all, banks are the first line of defense against illicit transactions. He notices suspicious activity and what may possibly be money laundering transactions made by a drug cartel. He is faced with an ethical issue: turn a blind eye and protect the family atmosphere at work or blow the whistle.

Struggling actor Tommy Jump is offered the role of a lifetime: $150,000 for a 6-month gig. But it comes from an unlikely employer: the FBI. Feds arrested Mitch Dupree, a bank compliance director, who for the past four years appeared to be laundering money for one of the deadliest drug cartels. Dupree has documents that could lead to way more arrests and personally take down the cartel's leader. It is Tommy's job to enter the prison and act like an inmate. More specifically, he needs to get close to Dupree in hopes of revealing the documents whereabouts. It is a dangerous job and may be Tommy's last act.

A snow day couldn't have come at a better time. It allowed me to spend the day wearing pajamas while reading this new 400+ page book uninterrupted. And oh, did I ever need a lazy day for this gripping tale of deceit! What made it more engaging, is that it's loosely inspired by a true story. Wachovia Bank failed to apply anti-money laundering laws on $378,000,000,000 (BILLION) worth of transfers to and from Mexican currency exchange houses. This directly tied the Mexican drug cartels to the U.S. banking system. It was the largest violation ever uncovered in our country. So much for the war on drugs. 🙄

This new novel is proof why Brad Parks is an international bestselling author. While I enjoyed the well-paced novel and the likable main character, Tommy Jump, I would totally be okay with this being a standalone. There were no major loose ends so it feels complete. How about a movie adaptation instead?

Happy Early Pub Day, Brad Parks! The Last Act will be available Tuesday, March 12.

LiteraryMarie

The Last Act by Brad Parks is a standalone novel, and my first book by Brad Parker. This was an excellent suspense thriller that kept me reading from start to finish.

Tommy Jump is an actor, who loves his job, but with his fiancée pregnant, he knows he has to get a regular job to make ends meet. Feeling down after performing his last show, Tommy runs into an old friend. His friend is now an FBI agent, and offers Tommy a 6 month job that will make him more than $150.000. All Tommy has to do is take on a fake persona, go to jail and make friends with a banker, who is hiding documents that will incriminate a Mexican drug cartel boss. Needless to say, Tommy accepts the job and prepares himself and his fiancée for the 6 month acting gig.

When Tommy enters the jail, he makes sure to make friends, getting himself closer to the banker. He also gets his FBI friends to give him contraband from the outside to use to bribe prison mates in helping him get what he needs.

What follows is an interesting, as well as suspenseful story that is told in multiple pov’s (Tommy, his fiancée, the drug lord, and assistant to the drug lord). While Tommy is working to discovering where the documents are, we get glimpses how dangerous and evil the drug boss is, as he thinks nothing of killing anyone on the spot. We also get a close up of the assistant, who is determined to find the documents, before his boss kills him. It is a very exciting story line, and very well written by Parks.

The Last Act is fast paced, suspenseful, and intense; which keeps us glued to the book until the very end. I do not want to give too much information, as there are so many twists and surprises all through the book. Tommy was a great character, who evolves as the story continues; especially with the many twists along the way that change everything. The Last Act was a gripping story that was so well written by Parks. If you enjoy suspense thrillers, I suggest you read this book.

This book is loosely based on a real life banking scandal between Wachovia Bank and a drug cartel.
Tommy Jump is a child actor who never made the big time and is at loose ends after his final performance when he is approached by a childhood friend he has not seen in years who now works for the FBI. Tommy is presented with an offer to earn up to 150k and continue the career he loves. The catch? He will be pretending to be a prisoner in a minimum security prison, befriend another innate and obtain information the FBI needs.
The story is told from varying viewpoints and is very engaging. The reader can sense there is a problem but there are red herrings i really enjoyed.
I would recommend reading a short story called "The Whistleblower" before this book as an introduction.
I highly recommend this book.
Brad Parks is one of the best writers in the mystery field. This is a stand alone and does not feature his recurring character , Carter Page.