A review of: “Last Girl Standing” by Marjory Kaptanoglu

Full disclosure – I was provided a copy of this book by the author; however, I have voluntarily chosen to write a review. All opinions are my own.

Don’t drink the water

Sierra Mendez just wants to live quietly in the small town of Los Patos, but when your mom is a bit of a freak who insists that the town’s water supply is being tampered with it’s difficult to escape notice. After the local water manager is discovered floating in the river behind their home, Sierra and her friends start noticing that the townspeople are starting to act, speak and do other things strangely. With once lively classmates morphing into docile and complacent shells of themselves and authority figures completely being replaced by life-like robots, Sierra suspects that something more sinister is afoot. With the situation worsening by the moment, Sierra and her friends embark on a cat and mouse chase with the unknown to discover the reasons behind the changes to Los Patos.  Time is running out when the group finds help in an unlikely place, but will Sierra be able to reverse the damage and restore her hometown to normal?

Last Girl Standing is the newest novel by author Marjory Kaptanoglu and is a bit of a departure from 2017’s The Dreadmarrow Thief, but it is in no way any less exciting. Set in the fictional town of Los Patos, California Sierra Mendez’s life goes from mundane to something out of a science fiction movie in less than a week. With the water turning everyone into complacent “Stepfordesque” lemmings only Sierra and a select few friends are unaffected. As the story rolls on, it becomes apparent that the entity behind turning Los Patos into a so-called socialist utopia has a much more sinister motive. To watch it unfold was an exciting, action-packed thrill ride that still has me remembering certain scenes with a chuckle. Overall, the feel of the story for me fell somewhere in between Westworld, meets Under the Dome, meets Terminator and once again Kaptanoglu uses her skill as a screenwriter to craft scenes so vivid that the reader will easily find themselves sucked into the story.  If you’re looking for a fun story that will have you up turning the pages into the early morning hours, Last Girl Standing would be a nice option.