Colton’s Last Stand

‘Colton’s Last Stand‘ brings the multi-author ‘Coltons of Mustang Valley‘ mini-series to a conclusion that I expected – yet there were enough surprises and the unexpected tossed in as well that made this a series ending well worth waiting for.

First off, I’m always amazed how multiple authors can take an over-riding arc of a story idea and then create a world, characters (good and evil) that readers want to follow, to find out what happened, each with their own unique voice yet consistent in the important things that should not be changed in a series of this size. That, in my opinion, takes talent. I may not have “loved” every single story, and some may have been a struggle to finish (I lost that battle with two), yet overall, this was a pretty amazing world to enter into for twelve stories. That alone deserves some credit, and especially credit goes to Karen Whiddon for pulling all of those threads into one final story that makes sense, gives emotional satisfaction to what’s gone on before, and adds even more to the series.

Because ‘Colton’s Last Stand‘ is the final, concluding story in this series I’m being even more careful about what I say.

I liked Jake, I wasn’t sure if I really would considering the woman who raised him but it seems that he was able to see through her a long time ago, long enough to have not had any contact for more than a decade. Now his mother (who Jake cannot stand) wants to see him again with a tale of woe… again one he’s not sure he really believes because, remember, he knows his mother. But he makes the effort with the thought of a quick trip in and even faster exit. It didn’t work out quite as he intended.

Fiona has been planning the takedown of Micheline Anderson for some time now, she’s in place, undercover story solid, right up until Micheline’s son Jake shows up. It’s obvious he doesn’t want to be there, but when Fiona is tossed in his path as some sort of bait it’s also obvious that Micheline’s plans are about to come to a conclusion – and Fiona’s months of work (along with a lot of other officials) could finally pay off if Jake would just stop trying to rescue her from his mother’s brainwashing.

The action is fast-paced, answers are given with new questions arising. I loved Jake and Fiona together and individually. The emotional connection between them is obvious and I definitely enjoyed watching how that would play out. I can’t comfortably say much more as to how everything pulled together without giving away spoilers – so, I’ll simply conclude with this thought: I loved how everything was wrapped up, how the loose threads pulled together to form a pattern that made sense. And how evil (in several forms) finally got their due. I enjoyed ‘Colton’s Last Stand‘, it was an excellent way to finish up the “Coltons of Mustang Valley” series.

I own a Kindle edition of this title.