I’ll start out with a complaint. The book is not listed properly as Shadow Master, Book 4.
Surprisingly, Amazon let this review fly after several days in the penalty box… Usually my reviews are put up nearly instantly. This one… 3 days. But, what a way to come out of triple bypass heart surgery with this book. Thanks again Gibby! The drugs are great!!
Well, if this book isn’t the biggest bag of…. Hello, is this thing on? OK, if you are going to have a title of “Villains Defeat,” then there has to be a DEFEAT! I mean a total end of the series. Complete. Truthfully, I was all psyched up for the book series ending in someone’s complete ending. Yes, I would have accepted a near cliff-hanger ending without complaint. Not sure of what to call this one. I was going to rate this 3 stars just because all the references to C. T. Phipps and Jim Bernheimer. Then, I had to award a star for the gall of mentioning them. By the very end, with narrator, Jeffery Kafer debasing himself in front of R. C. Bray and the amazing Heather Acosta, I was forced to award the final bonus star. Yes, something I’ve waited for since “Villain’s Pride.” Yes, Gibson, yet another blasted 5 star rating you glorious storyteller, you.
So, the rule of thumb here is that The Shadow Master has this bag of… thumbs and penguins… or 4th wall breakage. Frankly, I’m wondering if in the next book, not only does Heather beat the crap out of Kafer, but Shadow Master comes and smacks him around as well. I wonder how award winning that would be. Still, probably never top R. C. Bray doing BBQ in his back yard. But, I digress.
Gibson hammers Jackson Blackwell into mush from every angle and Jinn are now my favorite villains… or were. Yes, the perky gal, Sophia and her heartless body let me down. She had all of eternity to administer the final blow. She had 4 books to set it all up. Maybe she should have waited until… naw, the series isn’t about Sophia, as much as I loved her. Gibson, this is my cry to the gods above and below to have you keep her around.
SPOILERS…..
This installment of the fabulous Jackson Blackwell aka The Shadow Master has him getting slashed from every direction imaginable and some I never would have imagined. The sad part is, there was some telegraphing going on that gave some key points away. Oh Morty is a sly dog. And it always pays to have some really nice business cards. The most important point was knowing early in that it was an inside job. I knew who the mastermind was, I just wasn’t sure who else was involved inside or being manipulated there. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised and most readers would be too. Until the final gunshot, I was thinking I was missing something. In the aftermath, I was missing a few things even as it was spelled out. There was a great amount of misleading info and deception, but what else can you expect from ‘villains.’
The heart of the book was Shadow Masters growth, at least that’s what he assures will happen. Frankly, to have a main character who fails is more relatable than one who always comes up on top… wait… well, what-ever position he prefers. The point is that there will be a next book with Mr. Jackson Blackwell. Maybe he will have a new ornament in his new office like a… candle stick? Here’s hoping.