In Print: The Last Victim by Kevin O'Brien

A coworker handed me The Last Victim by Kevin O'Brien which sounded interesting, so I gave it a shot.

People who had a vow of silence over a childhood prank gone wrong start dying under questionable circumstances. Bridget Corrigan has to keep her wits about her, while trusting no one while she fights to survive while trying to get her twin brother, Brad, elected as Senator for Oregon. 

The bulk of the book follows a tight senatorial race. The clearly liberal Brad Corrigan is in a battle against the evil fascist conservative, Jim Foley. However, the focus is on Brad's twin sister Brigg. She's a force that breathed new vigor into the campaign and has given her brother a fighting chance to win. 

The story starts with the twists and turns as friends of the Corrigans start dying mysteriously. Collectively they all held a dirty secret from High School days. They may have inadvertently committed murder. Now it seems like someone who knows about it is seeking revenge.

The way the book is written the author keeps tricking you into thinking the paid killers are after Bridget. After the THIRD time he does this, it got pretty old. The author doesn't unveil the conspiracy until the middle of the book, which was more annoying than it was building suspense.

I don't know why, but I immediately disliked most of the characters in this book which makes it a chore to endure. The stereotypical artistic madman murderer, Clay was just annoying. His cohort was just a stereotypical tough guy. Hell, everyone is a stereotype in this book and very cartoonish. After putting up with all that, you saw the ending coming a mile away. Yawn. A disappointing book. It had potential that went unrealized. From what I've read in other reviews, this is O'Brien's worst book. I should hope so. 

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