"It is the beginning of the fourth quarter for me, actuarially. Time is running out, I'm way behind, and I've got to score. Now." Middle-aged Philadelphia Private Investigator Phil Allman is writing a detective novel. And he is determined to have it published by a major house. No matter what it takes. Rachel Arison is Senior Vice President of Fiction at Bryce Douglas. And was a high school classmate of Phil's. When he compels her to publish his book by taking her hostage, she acquiesces in part because she has an agenda of her own. Their uneasy arrangement takes several surprising turns along the way. The Last Shot is a suspenseful and often funny elegy about the challenges of getting older while trying to make a dream come true before it is too late. It is also a book within a book; Phil's novel is a chronicle of his abduction of Rachel and its aftermath. The Last Shot is the ninth in the series of Phil Allman mysteries; unlike the protagonists of many mystery novels, Phil is certainly no hero, but you can't help but root for him.