Young Adult Review: Light of the Last

Chuck Black gives readers a thrilling, edge-of-your-seat page-turner in the final book in his Wars of the Realm Trilogy. Fans of the series - you really do need to read the first two books to appreciate and understand the third - will not be disappointed in "Light of the Last" - albeit they may wish Black would write another book in the series. The author certainly leaves things open for another trilogy. Here we find God's true plan for Drew Carter, who can see into the world of battling angels and demons. Forced to work for the CIA, Carter finds himself in the line of fire multiple times, eventually becoming a part of a plot that would befit a Tom Clancy novel. Romantic interest Sydney and tech friend Ben are drawn into the international threats, too, while we also get a piece of the story told from angel warrior Validus' perspective. Carter's own journey to salvation in Christ is quite powerful and inspiring.

Chuck Black's writing has improved, but is still held back by his usual flaws. The book's sentence structure is often elementary (albeit, with perfect grammar). Black tends to skip over long amounts of time with quick descriptions, and he opts to tell much of the story as it develops, rather than using flashback and inner-thought dialogue to keep the story going. As a result, even with the quick timeline, the book lasts more than 300 pages (in smaller print). Black also relies on a complete change in point of view (and historic setting) for just a few pages to relay key information about Carter's lineage. Even with this revelation, among others, we are left wondering if there could be more to Drew Carter's significance. We want more. Even with his simple writing style and occasional violation of basic style rules, Black continues to give readers a great story with engaging characters, from the last angel ever created to the most skeptic special agent.

*Disclaimer: I received this book for free in exchange for my honest review.