Heather’s Bookshelf: The Last Minder
Author: Fish Phillips
Released: 10/20/20
Genre: Time Travel/Science Fiction
“This world needs someone with nothing to gain. Someone to stand because they’re too damn stubborn to die. The world needs an old protector. It needs me to get moving or get dying.”
“The Last Minder” introduces Benny along his journey through life. He’s a child with nightmares, a war hero, and a lonely aging man throughout his life. But while these descriptions may seem commonplace, the circumstances surrounding them are anything but.
Benny’s life is set on its complicated course after a visit from Majjan, an alien from the future. Majjan has never found someone like Benny before and his interaction with him changes both of them forever. Benny develops super powers including incredible strength, quick healing abilities, and enhanced perception. His skills come in handy when he finds himself on the beaches of Normandy during WWII. Unfortunately, his actions haunt him for the rest of his life.
Majjan returns to again visit Benny when he is an older man. He pulls him into the distant future to fulfill a mission that he has been working toward his entire life. Benny is thrown into a world with androids and automated flying cars. The situation is further complicated by Benny’s inability to remember his past. Will he remember his past so that he can save the future?
Trigger Warning: Violence, wartime death
Overall, the story was an interesting combination of a futuristic world, alien encounters, and the perseverance of the human race. Benny’s character is by far the most intriguing from both a storyline and development standpoint. He is a broken man who is tormented by his past and then later lost by his inability to remember what happened to him before. It’s ironic and tragic and through his story, an even bigger story unfolds about the future and the human race. I really enjoyed the parts of the story that included Benny. Unfortunately, the other storylines (especially in the beginning of the book) felt a little heavy handed and not as well developed. It took me a little to get into the story, but I ended up enjoying the last third of the novel. I felt that the ending wrapped everything up nicely while also letting Benny shine.
I received a copy of this story in exchange of a fair and honest review.
OVERALL REVIEW:
A trip through time with an intriguing protagonist and interesting scifi elements. Unfortunately, not all storylines are as well developed as Benny’s.
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