While her superiors fully appreciate Tara’s need to provide a more secure future for her daughter, they have one last assignment for her that only she is capable of fulfilling. Somewhat reluctantly she agrees. It appears that a major player in the Iranian government has indicated that he is seeking asylum. Leaving Iran will not be appreciated by the Iranian government, but Tara possesses the skills necessary for secreting him out of the country.

Tara assesses the situation and proposes a plan. The plan requires precise timing, as well as a fair amount of mental acuity and physical prowess. If the opposition learns anything which alerts them to the scheme, many lives besides Tara’s and the asylum seeker are at risk. The hardest part is knowing who the opposition is. They have their own undercover operators at work. Knowing what to do is one thing, but who to trust is entirely another.

The Last Run has the intense flavor of a top notch spy novel complete with the language specific to the occupation. Those folks who have not read many spy novels may be a bit overwhelmed by the multitude of acronyms and idioms peculiar to spies. The author assumes an informed readership leaving the novice to puzzle out the meaning of buzz words and organizations identified only by significant letters in their titles.

The author also assumes prior knowledge on the political situation in Iran, Iraq and some neighboring countries. While no advanced degrees in this area are required to understand the background of the story, readers who have paid no attention to what is going on in that part of the world should read the first half of this novel with care.

After Tara and her colleagues have developed and begun their plan to extract the asylum seeker, the pace of the action escalates. Though Tara is presented as a woman in great physical shape and mental stability, she does surprise me with the amount of physical abuse she is able to tolerate and still function. Although she clearly does not possess super powers, she comes very close. I am willing to accept a certain amount of outstanding physical ability, but I prefer protagonists that are closer to real humans than not.

Lest I imply that Mr. Rucka has penned a novel that is merely a battle between the good guys and the bad guys, he does slip in a few surprises along the way. The reader is quickly drawn into the race to rescue the asylum seeker and safely transport said individual out of Iran, there are a few codes that need to be deciphered and obstacles that need to be circumvented.

The Last Run is a well written novel that moves very quickly after the initial pieces are put in place. There is a fair of blood and gore so those with sensitive stomachs may want to skip over the more descriptive passages. It is not war novel, but is obviously affected by recent times in that area of the world.

--Andy Plonka