The Last Exile - (Wakeland) by Sam Wiebe (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

In this thrilling fifth addition to the Wakeland detective series, PI Dave Wakeland returns to the streets of Vancouver for his most dangerous case yet.

Maggie Zito is being held for murder. The volatile single mother is accused of killing the retired leader of the notorious Exiles motorcycle gang and his wife aboard their million-dollar houseboat. With a mystery witness putting Maggie at the scene, and the Exiles baying for her blood, it's unlikely she'll make it to the trial alive.

Desperate, Maggie's lawyer, Shuzhen Chen, calls in a favor to Dave Wakeland: Find evidence of Maggie's innocence and get her client out of custody.

Wakeland reluctantly returns to a changing city, full of unfamiliar dangers. To prove Maggie's innocence, he and Shuzhen must reckon with the Exiles crime syndicate and their bloodthirsty leader. The bikers are on the verge of a civil war, and an unseen foe is gunning for the top spot.

Dave and Shuzhen have to put aside their complicated past to learn the identity of the witness, and find out why Maggie was framed for this killing. To complicate matters, Wakeland's business partner is nowhere to be found. The security firm they started teeters on the verge of bankruptcy. Even if the case can be solved, and the business saved, can the partners ever trust each other?

Review Quotes

Previous Praise:

"The deeper Wakeland gets in his investigation, the faster you will want to burn through the pages. Wiebe is a master of ratcheting up the tension and there are many twists and turns in Sunset and Jericho...The ending of Sunset and Jericho will shock you to your core. It is Sam Wiebe at his finest." --Crime Fiction Lover, 5-star review

"Sunset and Jericho was my favorite Wakeland novel so far. It treats a hot button issue with such a cerebral and analytical manner, it brought me completely elsewhere and made it difficult to stop reading. It's the most confident and incisive Wakeland novel to date and anyone could get a kick out of it, whether or not they're familiar with the character." --Dead End Follies

"Sunset and Jericho brings us deeper into Wakeland's world, and while it's not necessarily a comfortable place to be, it's a place where you want him to be less troubled. Strong writing, character development, structure and pace. Well recommended reading." --Murder in Common

"Wakeland is to Vancouver what Scudder is to New York, and Hell and Gone cements Wiebe's place alongside Penny, Barclay, and Atwood." --Reed Farrel Coleman, New York Times bestselling author of Sleepless City and the Jesse Stone series

"Hell and Gone and Hell Yes!" --Ian Rankin, author of the Inspector Rebus novels

"Even Vancouver has a criminal underworld and this wonderful fast paced novel explores the contrast between the haves and have nots and has two protagonists matching wits against criminal--a highly recommended read." --The Strand Magazine

"The Wakeland novels are an incredible combination of social commentary and just the best of the crime genre."--Charles Demers, author of Primary Obsessions

"The best crime writer in Canada."--Nathan Ripley, author of Your Life is Mine

"Sam Wiebe writes larger than life, and in Hell and Gone he takes his Pl Dave Wakeland into hell and back. A tense, taut page turner full of surprises in the dark, dangerous corners of Vancouver." --Ian Hamilton, author of the internationally bestselling Ava Lee series

"...some of the most engrossing material I've read [this year]...the closest to what it would feel if you were in these situations yourself and no one else offers quite that." --Dead End Follies

"For genre fans there's heists and biker gangs and corruption within any and all reputable institutions. What ranks Wiebe at the top of his game, though, is his awareness that all this gritty, exciting, page turning fare thrives under the belief that some lives matter more than others. For both Wiebe and Wakeland there's an almost quixotic sense that any good they do pales in comparison to all the established bad in the world, but goddamn if both their trying isn't compelling stuff." --Andrew Hood, The Bookshelf

"Hell and Gone is Sam Wiebe's best writing to date and a great book." --Murder in Common

"Wakeland takes on two difficult cases in Wiebe's superlative sequel to 2017's Invisible Dead . . . The parallel investigations modulate into one cleverly tuned commentary on a society that forces its citizens to choose between doing the wrong thing for the right reason and doing the right thing for the wrong reason . . . Wiebe convincingly brings Raymond Chandler into the 21st century." --Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

"Sam Wiebe is going to become a modern master of noir." --Strand Magazine

"An exciting page-turner that all fans of noir will enjoy...Sam Wiebe introduces Vancouver to a US audience that might not be all that familiar with the city. A wonderful setting and likeable characters, lots of action and subtle humor will have readers calling for more stories featuring Dave Wakeland." --New York Journal of Books

"What a pleasure it is to encounter a new voice, a new kind of edginess, a contemporary formulation of detective fiction that has the heft and distinction of the genre's classics.... It's easy to see why Sam Wiebe, still early in his career, has already received accolades and awards." --Washington Independent Review of Books

"Witty, smart, detailed, and highly entertaining, Wiebe has a gift for place and character." --Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author

"...great narrative skill and some very cool dialogue." --Booklist

"The enigmatic, intriguing tough guy at its center and gritty local color." --Publishers Weekly