Last Hope by Jessica Clare and Jen Frederick
Series: Hitman, #4
Romance Suspense
September 29, 2015
Berkley

Reviewed by Tori

Rafe Mendoza is a mercenary who uses his deadly skills and money to provide a safe haven for the poor, defenseless, and disenfranchised. When a fellow mercenary is kidnapped, Mendoza and his team are forced to retrieve a very sensitive list from an arms dealer in exchange for his life. Mendoza has his target in his sights…but she is nothing he expected.

Ava is beginning to think she has the worse luck in the world. When her best friend Rose is kidnapped, Ava is forced to mule top-secret information that is being auctioned to the highest bidder. If she doesn’t do exactly as they say, Rose will die. When the plane she is on crash lands in the Amazon, luck has it that Mendoza is on the same flight and soon they pair up for survival.

Mendoza needs the information Ava has and Ava needs his help so they strike a deal. If Ava and Rafe can work together, they may be able to save both their friends… but who’s going to save them?

I have enjoyed the Hitman series since the beginning with its dangerous and charming anti heroes and intelligent lively heroines who always seem to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The dark action packed suspenseful story lines always blend well with the lush romances, vivid intense descriptions, and engaging dialogue. As with all the Hitman books, the main characters are all connected to one another though a soft arc but all the books can be read as stand alone’s.

Last Hope brings to the forefront a secondary character that has been alluded to throughout the series-Rafe Mendoza. A Colombian native, Rafe grew up in abject poverty to a religiously fanatic mother who abused him. His childhood shaped him into the man he is now a mercenary with a huge heart. It’s this huge heart that helped him to create Tears of God; an island where he provides sanctuary for those in need. He has some issues, one of which is rather LARGE and becomes the focus of this story. And that is where my problems with the story started.

Last Hope was not what I expected.  While the story is well written; Clare and Frederick are talented writers and no matter the storyline, their voices and skills are a strong  force to be reckoned with, there was a silliness to the story, especially the romance, that seemed to come out of left field. This series is normally dark and gritty. Violence is the norm of the series that up until now revolved around the mysterious Bratva. Going into this installment I expected the same and more. The beginning starts out promising. Mendoza has been conducting surveillance on the woman who holds the key to the release of one of his team members who was kidnapped. He is attracted to her; so much so he has become very protective of her and is hard pressed not to blow the his mission.

Ava is a hand model who has the misfortune of being best friends with a runway model who hooked up with a very bad man. Ava is sent pictures of her best friend that hint at her being tortured. In order to save her friend, she is forced into muling information to various people.  Smart and funny, Ava has no second thoughts about jumping into the unknown to do everything she can to get her friend back alive, even at the expense of her own safety.

The beginning drops us down right into the middle of the action, then slowly backtracks, using narrative switches between Mendoza and Ava to show us what got them to this point and to give us insights to their personalities and backgrounds while setting up the basis for the plot.

The excitement of the series is evident with its witty dialogue, fast pacing, and strong character dynamics. The hints of violence and the possibility of the darkness that usually permeate this series looks to be on the horizon but then things change. The pentacle is reached when Ava and Mendoza are stranded together in the Amazon when their plane goes down. Here are two people in the middle of a jungle with barely any food, clothing, water, etc…and the focus zeroes in on Mendoza’s penis.

Yes, you read that right.

His penis.

Apparently his penis the biggest penis Ava has ever seen. We are talking baseball bat big. Maybe even wiffle bat big. In fact, it’s apparently so huge and imposing, Ava nicknames it Godzilla. She makes it her mission, in between trying not to die, to get intimate with it. Between the dialogue and over the top dramatics, I felt like I was reading the script for an 80’s romance action flick with a healthy dose of soft cheesy porn.

Unfortunately, this particular plot line becomes a major force in the book. More than half of the book focuses on Mendoza’s penis, his issues surrounding it, and Ava trying to help him overcome these issues. It was humorous at first but then the repetitive nature had me  wondering when we would get back to the story at hand. For me the book went downhill after that. My enjoyment of Ava and Mendoza (they had such fabulous chemistry and banter) couldn’t overcome my befuddlement over this aspect. Penisgate completely takes over. The original main conflict, the mystery and suspense surrounding the arms deal and it’s players, is downplayed into second place and presented almost as an afterthought with a few action scenes and explanations coming at us hard and fast towards the end. Even Ava’s insulation into Mendoza’s life permanently as a member of his Tears of God group has an air of unbelievability to it in the way she is maneuvered into staying.

While I have enjoyed every previous book in this series and will continue to read whatever else this writing duo produces, this particular installment didn’t do much for me.

RATING: D

Prior Hitman Series Reviews

Recent Reviews:
Heroes and Heartbreakers
Cocktails and Books

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