‘The Final Reckoning’ is a 2008 thriller novel by Sam Bourne
(pen name of journalist Jonathan Freedland). I’ve read a couple of Bourne’s
novels before, both of which were solid reads as very Dan Brown-esque, “conspiracy/secret
society” focused thrillers, so I picked up ‘The Final Reckoning’ upon recognising
the author in my library, but wasn’t expecting anything mind-blowing.
==---Plot---==
A suspected suicide bomber approaching the United Nations
building in New York is shot on sight, causing panic and lockdown in the area.
However the suspicious man, Gerald Moreton turns out to be an innocent, seventy
year-old Lithuanian Jew. Desperate to cover up the accidental shooting from the
press and general punblic, UN Under-Secretary General Henning Munchau sends his
friend, unscrupulous UN lawyer Tom Byrne, to Britain to keep the deceased’s
family quiet.
However Tom’s mission becomes more complicated when not only
does new evidence show the man to have been less than harmless in his intentions
for coming to New York, but he also unearths him as part of an underground
resistance of Jews who sought revenge against Nazis and Holocaust perpetrators and caused
thousands of “accidents”. But the more Tom and the deceased’s daughter,
Rebecca, try to learn about Gerald Moreton’s history, the further the two of
them head into danger as various parties worldwide try to keep hold of a secret
that has stayed under wraps for sixty years...
==---Opinion---==
I’ll admit, the first couple chapters of ‘The Final
Reckoning’ were a little slow as it focuses on the event that is the catalyst
for the whole story- the death of Gerald Moreton. However once main character
Tom is introduced the story got my attention much more and I was hooked for the
rest of the night getting to the bottom of the mystery.
I liked how different chapters focused on different groups
of characters around the world going through the turn of events: Tom and Rebecca;
the detective in charge of the case back in New York, Detective Jay Sherrill;
Henning Munchau back at the UN base; and the mysterious group that is trying to
prevent Rebecca and Tom from discovering too much. Some chapters even consist
of flashbacks to Gerald Moreton’s life as both a Holocaust survivor and then
trying to kill ex-Nazis around Europe. In my opinion these flashbacks were the
best written because they really bring this dead man to life with his
emotionally harrowing accounts of holocaust events, including the deaths of his
parents as a child and the slaughter of his sisters. At times these flashback
chapters made me feel for Gerald Moreton (aka Gershon Matzkin) more than any
other character in the story, and it made me, as well as the protagonists,
question if his underground slaughter of ex-Nazis who escaped a capital
punishment is as morally reprehensible as what he endured during World War II.
That said, the rest of the characters were very well-written
too. Tom Byrne begins as a slightly unlikeable protagonist, as a lawyer who
will work for any shady character and use all the tricks in the books to get
his clients off if the money’s right. In truth, Tom is in fact cynical of how
the UN runs and has come far from the idealist young lawyer who fought for
justice at the beginning of his career. Fortunately this particular case allows
him to open up his true feelings about what he expected to be as a lawyer and
what he ends up doing, and I empathize with him much more once this happens in
the story. Rebecca Moreton is Gerald’s daughter and at first begins as a very
calm and capable woman in the presence of others, partially because of her job
as a doctor. However there are many moments when her emotions suddenly get the
better of her and she becomes fiery and irrational, just showing how the sudden
death and other events within the story have affected her. The romance/sexual tension between Tom and Rebecca
is developed well and seems realistic given the conflicts between the
characters as their investigation reaches its climax. Yet there are a few
secrets that she hiding from Tom as well, though, and I was surprised to
realise these things as we approached the conclusion of the story. Supporting
characters are also well-rounded. Tom’s friend and superior Henning Munchau as
a guy who knows full well how the politics of the UN works but trusts his
friend to get to the bottom of the situation before it blows up in their faces.
I found detective Jay Sherrill quite likeable because, despite his WASP-y
nature and supposed smugness in dealing with the case, his elevated position
makes him quite insecure with regards to his lack of inexperience and it shows
as he makes his way in his investigation. My only problem is that despite his
importance he disappears in the last few chapters despite being quite a crucial character for the story's progress.
As a whole the story is well paced and has a couple of
twists and red herrings to make you unsure as to who or what the purpose of
Gerald/Gershon’s visit to New York, and the final chapter was very tense with
me unsure how everything was going to end, but fortunately it concludes
smoothly and (save for Sherrill’s aforementioned disappearance in the epilogue)
everything is tied up.
==---Overall---==
‘The Last Reckoning’ is an enjoyable read from Sam Bourne with
only tiny flaws. It’s based on real events (the research of which is recorded
in the Author’s Note and Acknowledgements) and these have been perfectly
intertwined to make a suspenseful, but also emotionally powerful, thriller. If
you like “intelligent” thriller novels then this will certainly whet your
appetite. You can buy it for £5.59 on Amazon (or 1p and p&p on the
Marketplace) which I think is a pretty good price.
