End Game: Irrational Acts, Tragic Consequences
Author
Theodore Jerome Cohen
Publisher
AuthorHouse
4 Review Copies Left
End Game: Irrational Acts, Tragic Consequences, is Book III of the Antarctic Murders Trilogy. In many ways, it brings to an end three things: the sagas of Captain Roberto Muñoz of the Lientur, the hunt for the millions of dollars in U.S. and British cash, negotiable securities, gold coins, and jewelry stolen from the Banco Central de Chile following the Chilean Earthquake of May, 1960, and the murders that followed the robbery. Book I: Frozen in Time: Murder at the Bottom of the World, introduced American scientists Ted Stone and Grant Morris, who, while performing geological and geophysical field work with the assistance of Captain Roberto Muñoz of the Chilean auxiliary tug Lientur, were caught up in the hunt for the robbers and the spoils from the robbery, and murder. Unfinished Business: Pursuit of an Antarctic Killer, introduced Captain Mateo Valderas and Lieutenant-Commander Antonio Del Río of the Chilean Navy's Office of Internal Affairs. Initially assigned to solve a murder in Arica, they soon found themselves facing perhaps the most vicious, cunning thief and murderer they ever encountered. The return of American scientists Ted Stone and Grant Morris to Santiago for the purpose of helping personnel of the University of Chile prepare for the 20th Chilean Expedition to the Antarctic, beginning in December 1965, jeopardizes the lives of both scientists. What 'irrational acts' will elicit the 'tragic consequences' that finally bring everything to an end? For the answer, read Book III: End Game: Irrational Acts, Tragic Consequences.
Reviews
Naval Internal Affairs officers Mateo Valderas and Lt. Commander Antonio Del Rio are determined to get to the bottom of the Chilean Bank heist and the Antarctic Expedition murders of a few years before. They are convinced that Capt. Robert Munoz is the key to solving both cases. Munoz had come from humble means and risen quickly through the ranks. He was very close to Commander Barbudos, one of the men lost on the Antarctic Expedition. As Valderas conducted interviews with expedition’s medical officer and Ted Stone, one of the American scientists on the expedition, he began to realize that some facts didn’t add up. Stone states that when he and Barbudos were trapped in the ice crevasse, Barbudos revealed that he was undercover as part of an Internal Affairs investigation of the two officers later found dead. When Stone reveals that he will h returning to Chile soon to help with another expedition, Valderas realizes that his life could be in danger once back in Chile. The case comes to a head when Munoz realizes that Stone has information that could end his plan to escape with the proceeds from the bank theft. He decides that Stone must be eliminated. Valderas must discover what Munoz’s next move is and stop him before it’s too late.
End Game: Irrational Acts, Tragic Consequences by Theodore J. Cohen is the concluding novel of the Antarctic Murders trilogy. I had waited anxiously for this novel to come out and it didn’t disappoint. Cohen has created in Valderas and Del Rio a pair of investigators worthy of comparison to Holmes and Watson, with Munoz as their Moriarty. The plot moves swiftly without lagging and is definitely a page-turner. End Game continues the twists and turns of its two predecessors. I highly recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys a thriller that breaks the mold and I give it 5 stars.
Reviewed on 01/10/2011 by ReviewTheBook.com Member Jud Hanson
