"A life laid down is better than a life picked up."

The captivating story of Pockets' life intersecting with Joe's is a surprising, page-turner about love, hope, and sacrifice.
Charles Martin wrote yet another great story that paints a vivid picture of God's heart for his children. His love knows no bounds.

The audiobook was well done and very enjoyable to listen to. Thanks to Net Galley for the chance to listen!

I'm a fan of Charles Martin's novels, and this one did not disappoint. There are unexpected twists and turns, and plenty of suspense to keep the reader turning the pages, or in my case, not pausing the audiobook. Plus, there's a lot happening under the surface for these three dimensional characters. The audiobook does a great job portraying the characters and immersing the reader in the story.

Thank you to the publisher for providing a complimentary advance reader copy of the audiobook via NetGalley for review purposes.

Wow! I highly recommend this 5 star story! Well developed characters and an adventure with twists and turns. Charles Martin is an excellent storyteller.

On the surface this is a love story between two people that were not supposed to fall in love with each other. But this book is so much more - mystery, thriller, adventure, drama, crimes, courtroom drama and the rich and famous, But the love described in the story is a very special kind. What would you be willing to do for the love of your life?? This book is also about faith, love, sacrifice, and freedom.

The Last Exchange is a story about a woman, Maybe Joe Sue, that is a famous actress, has a huge heart and really wants to have a baby. Then there is her body guard, Pockets, a stoic man charged to protect her. He was also her confidant, safe keeper and moral compass. He even protected Joe from herself. Because isn't that what all of us need?

I listened to the audiobook and it was outstanding. The book was narrated by Joshua Manning, Charles Martin and MacLeod Andrews. They did an outstanding job and made the character come to life.

This is my first book by Charles Martin, but will not be my last. I have added all of his books to my TBR list.

Each Charles Martin novel seems to be my favorite. I am not fond of sappy romances and his never are sappy. In fact I would not classify The Last Exchange as a romance, but it is a character driven love story. It included a mystery, with such a clear picture of good vs evil, and those trapped in an evil drama. The characters became so clear in how far they would go to really demonstarte their love, or their evil intentions. I appreciate Charles Martin keeping unnecessary bad language in check, he also keeps it a clean story , even while it deals with the ugly reality of actions of evil hearts.It will be available Oct. 3
Thank you Charles Martin for writing such wonderful stories. If it could be a ten, I would give it 10 stars
The story does deal with the trauma of multiple miscarriages. The audio book was just as terrific as the eBook.
Thanks to #NetGalley, #ThomasNelson, #CharlesMartin

I’m not really sure how much to say about this book, but I do think it’s best to go in blind. It was so different than anything I’ve ever read and it ended up turning into a slower paced mystery/thriller. I do have to say the audiobook was done really well. I was really intrigued by the story, liked the characters and wanted to know what happened, but the ending turned into a bit of a soap opera. I think it’s good enough to recommend, but I didn’t love the ending. Have you read any Charles Martin books? He’s been on my TBR for a while and I’m curious to know how his other books are.

Thank you to NetGalley for the audiobook of The Last Exchange by Charles Martin!
Maybe Joe Sue is a movie star with several academy awards married to a fellow Hollywood star. They seem like they are the perfect couple, but looks can be deceiving. MacThomas Pockets, former Scottish Special Forces, is hired by a film director to consult on some scenes of an upcoming movie. Once the consulting is done, Joe Sue decides to hire him as a personal bodyguard. As Pockets and Joe Sue become closer, he starts to see the other side of her. The side with the traumatic childhood with pain that she tries to cover up with pills. The side that wants a child of her own so badly she'll do anything. Can she save herself, or does she need some help?
There's so much to this book and Charles Martin weaves this story in a beautiful and flawless way. The Last Exchange is a beautiful story of the lengths we are willing to go to for someone we love.

I highly recommend the audio version of The Last Exchange by Charles Martin. The Narrator is perfect for this book and he sucked me in from the start. I couldn't put it down because I kept wanting to know what was going to happen next.

MacThomas Pockets has finished his last tour with the Scottish Special Forces. His life ends up quite differently than he expected when he moves to LA to work as a bodyguard for movie star Maybe Joe Sue.

Maybe Joe Sue is a three time academy award winning actress married to Syd another actor. She came from a rough upbringing but has not let the fame change who she is at heart. She is kind, generous and loving and her greatest desire is to be a mother.

The characters are so well developed, and I am not quite sure how Charles Martin was able to weave so many different elements into one story. It is a story of broken souls finding healing. A story of addiction and infertility, A story that tackles so many of life's challenges. One minute it feels like a psychological thriller and the next a love story. You can read it at face value or read it and catch the underlying messages.

"We are all a mess. And no amount of money, and no amount of drugs, changes that. When you're broken, life is finding beauty in the mess. And then holding in for dear life."

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of the the Last Exchange

4 1/2 stars

Maybe Joe Sue grew up moving from foster home to foster home. When working as a waitress in a diner in Los Angeles, she’s as surprised as anyone when she’s discovered. She goes on to become a mega-movie star. But what she really wants is to become a mother, to have someone to live for, to take care of. Unfortunately, life disappoints, and Maybe Joe turns to drugs.

MacThomas Pockets crosses paths with Maybe Joe Sue when he’s recruited as a technical advisor. His background in the Scottish Special Forces gives him the knowledge the movie needs. When he’s asked to become Maybe Joe’s bodyguard, he agrees.

The relationship that forms between them is a great friendship. Could it be more? Both of them strive to keep things purely professional, but when Joe is kidnapped, all sorts of secrets start to leak out.

I listened to the audiobook version of The Last Exchange. It took me a few chapters to warm up to the characters, but once I did, I was all in. This book did not disappoint. The writing is great, and the narration worked well. My one small complaint is that I found using more than one narrator for the same character a bit jarring. I definitely liked one of them better than the other.

This is an interesting book with a slow burn romance at its core. I recommend it.

I received an advanced reader copy of this audiobook from the publisher through NetGalley. I thank all involved for their generosity, but it had no effect on this review. All opinions in this review reflect my true and honest reactions to reading this book.

“A life laid down is better than a life picked up.” What would you do for the ones you love? If you are a Charles Martin fan, then you will recognize connections to his previous titles.
“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends. John 15:13”

What a great story about love and sacrifice.

This was my first time reading Charles Martin's work, and what a treat it was! I can see now why his books are always so highly recommended. I don't usually read suspense stories, but this one held me captive until the very end, and Maybe Joe Sue and Pockets are such wonderful characters (with awesome names)! I went back and forth between reading the eBook and listening to the audiobook because I travel a lot for my job, and I have to say the narrator did an amazing job. His deep voice was mesmerizing, and I hope to find him on something again very soon. I would recommend the eBook and audiobook versions to everyone, and I can't wait to read more of Charles Martin's work in the future.

What a story. Charles Martin never ceases to disappoint. The book was a tad hard for me to follow in audiobook format and I would love to read the book format.

I received this audiobook as an ARC through NetGalley. This was a first time for me listening to a book by this author versus reading it in a paper copy. The narrator did an amazing job with it. Charles Martin is a skilled and unique storyteller who grabs you from the beginning of this book. Almost immediately you are emotionally invested in the characters. Several times as I listened to the book I thought the story was at its climax only to look down and realize I was no where near the end of the story. I managed to finish this book quicker than usual because the storyline hooked me and kept me engaged the whole way.

My only real complaint was the twist in the story…Martin is famous for the one two punch in many of his books. I’m not quite sure how I feel about the twist in this one. What I do know is it left me pondering it for days after finishing the book. So I suppose that was successful.

I really enjoyed this audio book. The narration was good and the different accents fit the characters. A great conclusion to the story!

As I was reading this book, I fell in love with Pockets! The lengths he would go through to protect Joe were amazing. This novel is full of twists and emotions.

Charles Martin became a favorite of mine when I read his Murphy Shepherd series. I had a bit of a hard time getting into The Last Exchange because I just really wanted Murphy back. But when I sat down to read and listen to this I fell in love with Joe and Pockets...for the depth of love Pockets had for Joe and how far he would go to protect the woman he loved.

Great story! And I'm looking forward to more books by Charles Martin!

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and listen to this audio book.
Publication date: 3 October 2023

I’m a reviewer for the Thomas Nelson/Zondervan First Editions Program. Usually, I get a link for eArcs on a monthly basis. Somehow, this month the title, “The Last Exchange”, by Charles Martin, was released to me by NetGalley in audio format. This was not an enjoyable “read” for me.

It took me quite a while to find a speed at which to listen to the book. For me, the regular recorded speed was so slow that I kept falling asleep. 1.5 was comfortable but I was impatient, 1.75 was better but the Scottish character was hard to understand, at times, and 2.0 was just too frenetic. I bounced between 1.5/1.75 depending on the storyline and my activities. OK, on to the actual story…

“The Last Exchange” is full of contemporary themes: opioid abuse, ivf, sexual abuse, divorce, self sacrifice, love and more all wrapped up in a mystery. Martin includes mild thriller vibes and highly predictable romantic arcs.

True to his style, Martin’s writing is G-PG rated. Much of the story is told in the 3rd person, which I found pompous and annoying. Lots of short chapters is another friction point, especially when the timeline switches often. It’s fine for TikTok but I think it detracts from developing characters and plots.

I’d really like to know if it’s the audio format that exacerbated the negatives for me so I will secure a physical copy and compare the reading experiences📚

How far would you to save someone you love? That's not as easy a question to answer as you might think, and Charles Martin takes us on a wild ride just to find out...

For instance, would you do something illegal to save someone you love? Would you do something they wouldn't want you to if would save them? Would you risk your own life, livelihood or reputation?

MacThomas Pockets was a simple farmboy, a preacher's kid, who was in the right place at the wrong time. And that led him to a life he'd never planned on; one in the Queen's service.

Another chance meeting years later led to him working as a bodyguard temporarily for Maybe Joe Sue, and up-and-coming movie star who seemed bound and determined to flame out just as spectacularly as her meteoric rise to fame had been. But as far as Pockets is concerned, it's not going to happen on his watch.

The story is presented in past and present timelines that then merge together to reveal answers to the secrets that have been hidden for so long. It was truly a well-crafted story with characters I cared about.

Well done, Charlies Martin! And thank you HarperCollins and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

Such a good book. Loved the story. Have read lots of his books , they are all very good
Great story line and characters.. loved it ….he does such a great job of pulling you into the story.

Wow. Charles Martin is one of those authors who've been on my radar for quite a while - I have several of his books wishlisted based on good word of mouth. But somehow something always moves ahead of his books on my TBR list. That ends now - with this book, his books have jumped way up on that ridiculously long TBR.
First, just to get it out of the way, I know lots of readers immediately write off any book that's classified as "religious" or "inspirational" or "Christian". And clearly this is one of those books - it's right there in the publisher's name.
But don't avoid this one thinking this is an in-your-face Christian fiction book. The themes are clearly here and will, indeed, be inspirational for Christian readers. But they're embedded in the story, rather than being blatantly spelled out so that no one misses the connections. Anyone can read and enjoy this story for what it is on the surface, a a story about a man and a woman who come from very different pasts, living very different lives in the present, who are brought together and forge a friendship despite those differences. It's about the lengths that unconditional love will go to to help and protect the loved one, and sacrificial love that's willing to put the loved one's needs ahead of your own. It's also a mystery/crime novel that unwinds as the book moves along; we know there's been a kidnapping/hostage situation from the beginning, but the exact nature of the crime and the efforts to resolve it add another element to the story.
Pockets and Joe, the main characters, are almost larger than life. Yet they feel very real and I became invested in their stories, and their story. Martin has an accessible yet lovely way with words. The narrators of this audio version did a wonderful job of delivering those words. I'll definitely be back for more of Charles Martin.
Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins Christian Publishing for providing a copy for an unbiased review.

The Last Exchange by Charles Martin, Pub Date 10/3/23

I will be the first to admit, I had prematurely thought this was going to be a rip-off of the movie, The Bodyguard with Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston. Boy, was I wrong. Scottish MacThomas Pockets — a man who knows his job and takes it very seriously, will win many hearts. And it’s probably a good thing as I suspect this will be a series.

I have read a few from this author and have had mixed results with my reviews. I loved the original premise of this one and could see it as a movie (although mostly based on its “Hollywood-ized” ending in the novel. Joe Sue is the Hollywood Scarlett that he’s been charged to watch over. She has 2 personas. — one behind the camera and Instagram and one that’s of a traumatized, pill-popping addict trying to hide her pain. Motherhood is at the heart of this book which is what hooked me to the story. It felt like a mix of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and The Friendship Zone. So much heart - but also a fun chase and outcome that I did not expect in this tale. She made him promise something to her - and he stuck to that promise no matter how sticky things got. He was dedicated to her until the end. I really fell in love with this one!

Thanks to #NetGalley and #ThomasNelson Books for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!