Everyone loves mysteries. Everyone loves sports books. What about a book that combines both?
The Last Shot is the first in a series of sports thrillers written by John Feinstein. His writing is awesome and the books are entertaining and instructive about sports while also providing a lot of suspense and action.
Summary
At the beginning of the book we meet 14 year-old Stevie, a big fan of NCAA basketball. For him the pros are a waste of time; college basketball is what is really exciting.
He enters an essay contest for the Final Four and wins first prize! That means he and fourteen year old girl, Susan Carol, will be traveling out to cover the games!
The two are taken under the wings of reporters Bobby Khelleher and Tamara Mearns, who are very interesting characters. Even though Stevie is from the east and Susan Carol is from the south, they are eventually able to get along pretty well. The biggest problem is that Susan Carol likes Coach K, Duke’s legendary coach, while Stevie most certainly does not.
Although no one expects them to break any big stories or do any really serious reporting, Stevie and Susan Carol manage to stumble upon a huge scandal: Star player Chip Graber being blackmailed to throw the championship game against Duke.
The two know they need to do something…but what? Will Stevie and Susan Carol somehow manage to be resource and stop the bad guys, or will Chip be forced to throw the game?
Review
This is a great book that preludes many to come. This is only the first of six books in a variety of sports, each with just as many plot twists as another.
All of the characters in the book are so real I almost feel like they could come to real life. They all have their own endearing quirks, habits, and thoughts that keeps you laughing and wanting to read more.
Although I didn’t know much about basketball (and even less about college) when I first read this, Feinstein does a great job of making it exciting and explaining it in a way anyone can understand.
Boys with inclinations to sports will definitely love this book. It’s told third person limited from the perspective of Stevie, so girls probably won’t be able to identify as well.
The book also tells us a lot about journalism, and does this also in a very interesting way that makes us want to read. Even if it’s not your world, you’ll be wanting to learn more and more about it!
In addition, The Last Shot speaks to a common fantasy kids have; being a reporter at a national sporting event. There aren’t a lot of kids that don’t dream about that.
I’d recommend The Last Shot for boys around fifth to seventh grade. It’s not complex writing at all, but will keep you on your edge of your seat the whole time. The Last Shot is a definite slam dunk.
Click here to get The Last Shot by John Feinstein
Thanks so much for reading this review. To get more book reviews, along with podcast interviews and original short stories, just enter your email address below!