Book Review: The Last Track by Sam Hilliard

I like to read books that are fast paced and keep me on my toes. I enjoy mystery and suspense, stories that keep me guessing until the very end.

The Last Track by Sam Hilliard is that kind of book. I didn't want to put it down. Each scene pulled me into the next as the characters entered conflict after conflict.

Have you ever read the last few pages of a book before you read the rest and then regretted it later? I admit I was tempted to do that with this one because as I read the first few chapters, there were so many suspects in my mind that I was getting impatient to know "whodunit". However, I'm so glad I didn't. It would have spoiled the whole experience for me. Instead, I went on reading, content to try and figure it out as I went along. And as I came to the last chapters, I found that I had figured some of it right, but there were still some surprises at the end. This was good writing.

The main character of The Last Track is Mike who, with great accuracy, can track people who are missing. The local police ask him to find a boy who has witnessed a murder and has run into the nearby woods. Mike sets off with one of the officers and finds himself the target of the ones who are behind the murder. There's also Mike's ex-wife, Jessica, and his son, Andy, who have their own share of troubles as a result of Mike's involvement in the case. As Mike gets closer to finding the boy, the murderers scheme to get rid of him and anyone else who threatens to reveal their identity.

I thought the story was entertaining. The characters were believable and the theme quite unique (I don't remember reading a book of fiction about tracking before). There seemed to be just enough detail about the art of tracking to keep my interest without making the author look like a know-it-all.

This is a great debut novel. I'm looking forward to more by this author.

(I received this book from Pump Up Your Book! for review purposes. I received no monetary compensation for this review. All opinions expressed are completely my own.)