Final Crossing

Final Crossing
Carter Wilson
Published by Vantage Point
320 pages
Available on Amazon.com.
Thanks to NetGalley for the preview.
4 out of 5 cupcakes


Hold on to your bra straps and belt buckles, kids, because Final Crossing might just cause you to lose your brassieres and britches.

Jonas Osbourne is a retired Army Ranger, currently working for a revered Senator. The subject of political speculation himself, Jonas has no small measure of power in Washington, and other than being recently dumped by a girlfriend, his life is running along without much drama. But then he nearly gets run over by a Chevy Impala, and he learns that a man he served with in Somalia and thought was dead - and who tried to kill him, after beheading a baby and chopping the ear off of a little girl - not only is alive, but crucifying people. And that's when Jonas's life gets a little more rambunctious.

Rudiger Sonman (there is a reason for that last name, and you will understand it when you read the book) remembers Jonas from Somalia, and he remembers the crimes he committed. But he believes he is God's agent, sent to find The One. He crucifies and waits three days, believing each time that he found The One. Jonas, however, presents a problem, and Rudiger likes to eliminate problems.

Fortunately for Jonas, Anne Deneuve, an intuitive medium who works for the FBI, is around to help him. And by "help," I mean professional AND personally assist. Jonas is not an easy man to love; in fact, Anne herself calls him an ass on more than one occasion. Yet we can see that he is lovable, and we can see why Anne is drawn to him.

As Rudiger continues his hunt for The One, Jonas and Anne must try to outwit him. And that's where the action portion of the festivities comes into play. There is a LOT of action in this book, some of it gruesome but all of it nerve wracking and thrilling. Carter Wilson knows how to create tension in a scene, and he also knows when his readers need a little break. He peppers the book with witty throw-away lines - "He swerved behind a Fiat (who the hell drives a Fiat?) ..." - and draws a fantastic character in Jonas Osbourne, a man whose political life may not give him all that he needs.

Yet there was something connecting both events. Jonas realized in both of his near-death moments, they were the only times Jonas felt truly and utterly alive. It was something beyond the adrenaline rush. Beyond the fear. His mere survival buttressed his ego, telling him he survived for a reason. That, despite all his success in life, he was meant for something more.

Anne sees it, too. She asks him if he has changed since his accident, if perhaps he has a hero complex. Jonas isn't so sure. He doesn't really want to save people, yet he does feel as if he must. He believes - he knows - he must find Sonman.

This is an engrossing, entertaining thriller of a book, with a little smidge of romance thrown in. Carter Wilson writes snappy dialogue (although I hate that phrase - "snappy dialogue" - because it sounds like something you would say about His Girl Friday or The Gilmore Girls) and crafts a compelling mystery.

The bad news is that Jonas's story ends after 300 pages or so. The good news is that my Spidey Sense says there is a sequel to come.