Review of Final Notice

[Sam B Miller II]

[Following is an OnlineBookClub.org ARA Review of the book, Final Notice.]

---

2 out of 5 stars

---

Share This Review

---

Final Notice — Political Preaching


Final Notice is the story of how a technological breakthrough, the VT2 watch, affects the lives of its wearers. The VT2 monitors the overall health of the wearer. When its programming makes a determination there is no hope for recovery from some bodily condition, the gizmo issues a notice of impending death. The Final Notice gives the wearer anywhere from 10-30 days to get their affairs in order. The darned thing works but has unanticipated psychological effects. Some people receiving their Final Notice decide to carry out nefarious deeds because they have nothing to lose. After all, they are going to die anyway. Why not get revenge? Why not right some wrong? Why not eliminate someone who is a threat to society?


The tale could go in many directions. I’m sure there are people you might think should die for whatever reason. The fun part could be how people from different walks in life, education level, economic circumstances, ethnic background, age, etc. would carry out the dirty deeds. A smorgasbord of innovative techniques could be explored. Unfortunately, the author, Van Fleisher, went in a different direction.


One line from the book sums up the direction of the storyline: “The public was upset, the Democrats were upset, but no one from the GOP seemed to care at all.” I don’t like being preached at politically. Maybe I’m not middle of the road, but I’m sure not running off either side of the road into the ditch. The book cover caught my eye. A pistol held in firing position. The Blurb sealed the deal on buying the book. “What if you had ten days to live, what would you do?” I was only a short way into my reading when a theme appeared. If you enjoy Democrat talking points, you’re sure to enjoy the ENTIRE book. Frankly, at first I thought the story was a clever way to unmask the evil nature of human beings by stripping away the veneer of civilized behavior or intellectual superiority espoused by the well-educated when they learn their death is imminent. My high-brow first impressions were dashed. I considered DNF, but decided to keep reading in the hope the tale would improve.


It did not improve. In fact, the story was predictable. The author had no problem with names from CNN like Wolfe Blitzer; however, he changed Breitbart News to BrightFahrt News. In another blatant exercise in disguise-naming, the author created John McAdam, a Senator strangely similar to Senator John McCain. I could gone further but no spoilers.


I rate the book, Final Notice, as an overall 2 out of 5. I did not give a rating of 1 because writing is difficult and time consuming. The editing and punctuation were excellent. There were a few missed commas but nothing to detract from reading. I did not rate the book higher than 2 because it’s too politically motivated.