Written by Catherine Coulter & J.T. Ellison
SUMMARY:
First published as a 2013 hardcover, the 510-page paperback edition was released in 2014 by Jove Books for the Berkley Publishing Group. Spinning off Catherine Coulter’s ‘An FBI Thriller’ series, The Final Cut is the first ‘Brit in the FBI.’
On loan from the British royal family is the fabled Koh-i-Noor diamond to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art for a high-profile gala exhibit. The homicide of Scotland Yard’s project liaison, Elaine York, sends a grieving Detective Chief Inspector Nicholas Drummond overseas to work with the FBI Special Agents Savich, Sherlock, and Houston, among others.
Drummond’s temporary partner is FBI Special Agent Michaela “Mike” Caine. Still, the squad’s combined efforts can’t thwart the Koh-i-Noor’s subsequent theft during a gala reception by the enigmatic Kitsune, aka ‘The Fox,’ who has spent two years engineering this elaborate heist. Her nefarious client, Saleem Lanighan, seeks all three portions of the cursed diamond for a personal motive.
Pursuing the elusive Kitsune to Switzerland and later Paris, Drummond & Caine are moving targets for a white-haired assassin – aka ‘The Ghost,’ and other heavily-armed henchmen. In a cat-and-mouse game, the elusive Kitsune senses that Drummond and his FBI allies are closing in. Possession of the Koh-i-Noor ignites an inferno of high-stakes deception and murder, as an exhausted Drummond & Caine seek fitting justice for their fallen colleague.
REVIEW:
If it were a movie, The Final Cut would be cinematic dynamite. Hollywood could gloss over a litany of contrived plot twists that co-authors Coulter & Ellison overload this James Bond/Jason Bourne-style caper with. Foremost is their British super-cop, as he is too often compared by his colleagues to Bond. An amalgam of Daniel Craig and Pierce Brosnan, Drummond (distantly related to British nobility, no less) comes off impossibly perfect at age 31 to be an ex-spy, expert computer hacker, top-caliber marksman & hand-to-hand combatant, SWAT commando, etc.
Another absurdly convenient element re: the relentless Drummond is that the museum’s chief security pro is his own American uncle. Somehow, Drummond ideally fits The Final Cut, as FBI Special Agents Mike Caine, Ben Houston, Lacey Sherlock & Dillon Savich ensure that he shines above them. Other characters: Lanighan, the enigmatic Mulvaney, and especially enigmatic Kitsune make contributions enhancing the plot, though there isn’t much originality to them.
Combining a classy FBI procedural with Daniel Craig’s brand of hyperactive James Bond action, Coulter & Ellison make The Final Cut well worth the ride. Readers should just expect to shrug off some preposterous speed bumps on the way.
ADDITIONAL FEATURES:
There is a page-and-half of critical raves re: The Final Cut. Along with an ‘Author’s Note,’ the co-authors briefly describe the real Koh-i-Noor’s backstory. A twelve-page excerpt (from Chapters 1-2) preview Drummond & Caine’s next case: The Lost Key.
Ads for Coulter’s books include a full-page ad plug for Savich & Sherlock’s FBI thriller, Split Second. The back inside cover has brief author capsules.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 7½ Stars
