The Last Scenario by Marcos Gabriel

The Last Scenario

Author: Marcos Gabriel
Publisher: BelleBooks/Bell Bridge Books
Date of Publication: May 24, 2014
ISBN: 1611944767 - e-book, 978-1611944761 - paperback
How I Read: NetGalley
Description (from NetGalley):

I’m just a high school biology teacher in southern California. I wrote a paper on bio-toxins in college. Nine months ago the government asked me to be the ‘ordinary citizen’ on a seven-member panel. For three days we brainstormed potential homegrown terrorist scenarios. That was all.

 

I thought.

 

“We’re the only two left,” John Ryder said, no emotion in his voice. “The others have been assassinated. If you want to live, you’ll have to come with me.”

 

Terrorists have adopted one of the team's scenarios, and if they’re successful, it could claim a half-million lives. Samantha Waters and ex-Navy SEAL John Ryder are caught in the middle of a dark conspiracy that reaches to the highest levels of power. They have to rely on each other to survive—and to somehow stop the nightmare scenario they imagined before it becomes a terrifying reality.

 

At first, I wasn't sure about this book. I'm not the biggest fan in the world of the first-person voice, and I found the writing a little clunky at the beginning (and even later on). And then ... the plot started moving, people started dying, and I couldn't stop reading this book.
 
There's a little budding romance between John and Sam, though that's very low-key and there's no HEA (romance-wise) that comes out of this book, though it looks like Sam wants there to be, tracking John down after the fact. But other than that, it's straight-up thriller with a very different idea for a plot.
 
Oh sure, you hear all about terrorist attacks, even our own government plotting against us, but to have the scenario that played out in this book (that Sam and John were both involved in creating the terrorist plot) was definitely a different take. I was thrilled to discovery how the people were chosen to take part in the scenario-planning exercises, and the possibility that something along these lines (the botulism plot, not necessarily the fact that our government, or at least a small portion of it) could happen in real life certainly gave me little chills.
 
I can't say enough positive things about this book. If not for the somewhat sloggy/murky beginning as we sorted through the initial events, I would definitely give this book 5 gargoyles. However, because of that, I'll give it 4.5 and call it good (okay, awesome).
 
Thanks so much for letting me read this book!
 
Book provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

 
Book also reviewed at Tory Michaels' World.