Last Shot

A Final Four Mystery

By: John Feinstein

Narrated by: John Feinstein

Danny Jordan is one of two lucky winners of the US Basketball Writer's Association's contest for aspiring journalists. His prize? A trip to New Orleans and a coveted press pass for the Final Four. It's a basketball junkie's dream come true!

But the games going on behind the scenes between the coaches, the players, the media, the money-men, and the fans turn out to be even more fiercely competitive than those on the court. Danny and his fellow winner, Brigid-Ann Robinson, are nosing around the Superdome ad overhear what sounds like a threat to throw the championship game. Now they have just 48 hours to figure out who is blackmailing one of MSU's star players . . . and why.

©2005 John Feinstein (P)2005 Random House, Inc. Listening Library, an imprint of the Random House Audio Publishing Group

Critic reviews

“Last Shot is a brisk novel set in the madness of the NCAA’s Final Four. Exceptionally knowledgeable about the college basketball world, Feinstein has a fine time lampooning broadcaster Dick Vitale and the bureaucrats who populate the NCAA itself. The blackmailing plot that unfolds over the course of Final Four weekend threatens a student-athlete who isn’t a student, implicates an ethics professor with no ethics, and otherwise introduces to young readers the sleaze beneath the glitter of college basketball’s biggest show. Remarkably, Feinstein pokes holes in the illusions without diminishing the excitement of the games themselves as seen through the eyes of two eighth-grade reporters. He writes as if he’s having a fine time at the keyboard, and the result will entertain not only young readers, but the oldsters looking over their shoulders as well.”—Boston Globe

“Score! That’s exactly what author John Feinstein does with this mystery.”—Dallas Morning News

“You’ll feel as if you have a courtside seat at the SuperDome. Last Shot is Feinstein’s first entry into fiction for young people, and it’s an impressive one. The story is intriguing, the dialogue snappy and the finale exciting.”—Bookpage

An amazing book!

I would recommend this book to anyone, even if you think you will not like it you should still give it a try. The book starts a little slow in the first chapter but after that doesn’t stop being good.

Good listen for basketball junkies-young and old

I enjoyed this audiobook, probably because, like the author, I'm a basketball junkie myself. He does a good job of integrating real people and a real event (the Final Four) with the fictional characters and the mysterious plot that the 2 young writers discover. His perspective from the point of view of an adolescent boy must be somewhat autobiographical because it seemed very real to me. I thought the author did a good job of narrating, better than most other authors I have heard.

It *was* written for kids

I heard John interviewed right after this book came out. The book was written for his son who was about 12 at the time. I had great pleasure sending it to my 12 year old niece, an avid basketball player. The girl in the story is portrayed as smart and clever - a great role model for my niece. I bought the audio book, and even as a 37 year old, am enjoying the behind-the-scenes aspects of the story.

Book club hit

We read this for my sons book club ages 12-13. They all really liked it.

Incredible!!!!!!!!!

Incredible book narrated by Feinstein himself! Great story. Maybe too immature for adults but great for me!

Not just for basketball fans

Even though I have no interest in basketball, this was still a great book because it was a really suspenseful mystery with blackmail and two teenage detectives.

Enjoyable for kids and basketball fans

Yes, this was directed at young teenagers, but it has enough of the interesting details for avid college basketball fans. Some of the "inside" descriptions are a nice touch. The names are different than the publisher's summary though.

person

amazing book keep up the good work I would recommend to read this book again

Great story, mediocre narration

This book made a long car ride with my two sons, ages 8 and 10, a lot of fun. They loved that the main characters were kids and they really got into all the backstage information on the final four. The story is about the two young sports journalists who are at the final four because they won a contest and they overhear one of the star players being presured to throw a game. In order to enjoy this book, you have to accept the flimsey resons why the kids look into this themselves without asking any of the gorwn-ups for help. If you can make that leap of belief, the rest if the story is enjoyable. Somebody else should have narrated the book, though. John Feinstein is a great writer but a bad narrator.

Not for adults

This book was a very amateur attempt at fiction.

It could only be aimed at eighth grade and should carry a warning
for adults to avoid.

He probably just wrote it for the money.