Jack Hammond’s brief affair with the girlfriend of a client led to his being dismissed from a prestigious law firm in Atlanta. He’s now working as a sole practitioner handling mainly criminal defense cases as a court-appointed attorney.

He learns that a college friend of his and former client Doug Townsend, who had a history of meth abuse, has died of a drug overdose. Jack agrees to check out his apartment. He is startled to find that Doug had an obsession with Michele Sonnier, an opera singer. Michele, an African American, is married to one of Atlanta’s foremost black businessmen, Charles Ralston, CEO of Horizn Pharmaceuticals.

Jack knows that Doug was terrified of needles so cannot believe that he would have committed suicide by injecting himself with a drug. He decides to makes some inquiries and begins by arranging a meeting with Michele, a stunning talent and stunning beauty. Even though Michele and her husband seem to represent the pinnacle of financial and social success, he learns that Michele has a secret past. Doug had agreed to help her find her daughter, given up for adoption when Michele was still a young teenager.

Like his friend, Jack is attracted to Michele and is quickly drawn into her search and into a romantic relationship with her. The search will lead him to the gradual suspicion that Horizn is engaging in some very evil misdeeds.

This book has a very complex plot that at times can be a bit confusing. It takes unexpected turns and twists and ends with the good guys triumphing in a surprise maneuver. There are several subplots that coexist including an amusing one about a court clerk who has a crush on Jack’s gorgeous secretary. (The question of why the gorgeous secretary continues to work for a guy who’s one tick short of being a shyster lawyer is never answered.)

The story is written from the perspective of Jack Hammond, the narrator. An advantage of the first-person point of view is the reader gets to know the narrator well. It can also suffer as a result. In The Last Goodbye it’s hard not to notice that the narrator has a problem – he needs to start letting his brain rather than another body part have a say in what women he’s attracted to. He’s a willing victim of his biology.

The familiar script in my body began to play, this hormone washing over my cells, neurons lighting up, a million years of evolution lining up my thoughts like little soldiers.

In other words, she’s a babe and he’s incapable of recognizing that any close contact between the two of them has Bad Idea written all over it.

On the other hand, because the reader is so familiar with the narrator’s thoughts, it’s apparent he’s a reasonably intelligent guy with a strong sense of loyalty.

The author’s first thriller, The Will, was an impressive debut. Author Arvin’s well-written sophomore effort, The Last Goodbye, is its equal. This is an author worth watching.

--Lesley Dunlap