History Literature / LastOfTheBreed

* AcePilot: if it flies, Makatozi can fly it. If it doesn't fly, he still might be able to get it off the ground anyway. This is the whole reason the Russians abducted Joe Mack in the first place. He possesses an almost savant-level talent as a pilot, is qualified on every aircraft in the US inventory, and has extensive experience as a test pilot. Finding out what he knows would be an unprecedented intelligence coup for the Russians. Too bad [[YouHaveNoIdeaWhoYoureDealingWith they didn't know who they were messing with]].

* JurisdictionFriction: Zamatev is an ambitious mid-level officer in the {{UsefulNotes/GRU}}, [[RedsWithRockets Soviet Military Intelligence]], with his sights set high. He has made a lot of enemies during his rapid climb up the ranks, but the only ones he's really scared of are the [[UsefulNotes/MoscowCentre KGB]]. When an American prisoner hops the fence of his supposedly escape-proof gulag and goes for a walk in the Siberian wilds, he pulls every string he can find to keep the KGB out of the loop.

* TheEighties: The exact date is never made clear, but Mikhail Gorbachev is explicitly stated to be the head honcho of the Politburo.

* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: The last thing we see is Alekhin running into Joe Mack who has already disposed of the Russian soldiers accompanying the Yakut tracker. Joe Mack tells Alekhin that he's been waiting for him. Cut to the final BookEnd, [[spoiler: where Zamatev is berating the LoneSurvivor of Alekhin's Red Army detail. The kid is still scared absolutely shitless, and hands Zamatev a package from Joe Mack. Zamatev slowly realizes that it's wrapped in Alekhin's scalp]].

* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: When Alekhin thinks he's getting close to Makatozi, he considers murdering the Russian soldiers escorting him in order to face his target one-on-one. Subverted in that he not only considers them unworthy but also incapable, and expects them to get in his way. They have orders to bring the American in alive, while Alekhin intends to kill him.

* WorthyOpponent: Joe Mack and Alekhin see eachother this way. Alekhin often smugly warns Zamatev that he's wasting his time using the Soviet military to hunt the escaped American, and that Makatozi will simply kill any Russians dumb or unlucky enough to get too close to him. According to Alekhin, he's the only one who can defeat Joe Mack.

* JurisdictionFriction: Zamatev is an ambitious mid-level officer in the {{GRU}}, [[RedsWithRockets Soviet Military Intelligence]], with his sights set high. He has made a lot of enemies during his rapid climb up the ranks, but the only ones he's really scared of are the [[UsefulNotes/MoscowCentre KGB]]. When an American prisoner hops the fence of his supposedly escape-proof gulag and goes for a walk in the Siberian wilds, he pulls every string he can find to keep the KGB out of the loop.

Set sometime in the 1980s, the story follows Major Joseph Makatozi USAF, callsign Joe Mack, a fighter pilot of American Indian ancestry who is kidnapped by the Soviet {{GRU}} and imprisoned in a Siberian gulag. Joe Mack quickly escapes, but is thousands of miles inside enemy territory with no friends, no weapons, no way of contacting the outside world, and the entire Red Army hunting him. Joe Mack must revert to his Sioux roots to survive an odyssey across 2,000 miles of Siberian forests, mountains, and tundra in the hope of reaching the Bering Strait and crossing back to the US.

* JurisdictionFriction: Zamatev is an ambitious mid-level officer in the {{GRU}}, [[RedsWithRockets Soviet Military Intelligence]], with his sights set high. He has made a lot of enemies during his rapid climb up the ranks, but the only ones he's really scared of are the [[MoscowCentre KGB]]. When an American prisoner hops the fence of his supposedly escape-proof gulag and goes for a walk in the Siberian wilds, he pulls every string he can find to keep the KGB out of the loop.

* BadassBoast: One night, all alone with his campfire and his spear, Joe Mack [[OhCrap hears something moving]] in the darkness and [[BearsAreBadNews knows exactly what it is]]. Joe Mack yells, "Go away, old bear. Go home and tell your cubs that tonight you saw a Sioux warrior, and that he let you live because he has killed enough for one day." The bear leaves him alone.

* BookEnds

* TheEighties: The exact date is never made clear, but Mikhail Gorbachev is explicitly stated to be the head honcho of the Politburo.

* ItsPersonal: Zamatev intended to kidnap Major Makatozi, interrogate him, exploit everything he knows, then [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness discard him in the gulag's mass grave]]. This would be a huge intelligence breakthrough for the Soviet Union and Zamatev's ticket to General's stars. The problem is that, as a [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Sioux warrior]], this constitutes a ''huge'' insult to Joe Mack's honor that simply ''can't'' go unanswered. He intends to make his way back to America, resign from the Air Force, then come back to find Zamatev and kill him.
** Of course, he needs to get to America first. Across 1700 miles of Siberia. [[FromBadToWorse In winter]]. [[EverythingTryingToKillYou With the Red Army on his trail]]. And he'll need to deal with Alekhin at some point. [[ImplacableMan And not freeze or starve to death. Or get killed by a tiger...]]

* WorthyOpponent: Joe Mack and Alekhin see eachother this way. Alekhin often smugly warns Zamatev that he's wasting his time using the Soviet military to hunt the escaped American, and that Makatozi will simply kill any Russians dumb or unlucky enough to get too close to him. According to Alekhin, he's the only one who can defeat Joe Mack.

* {{Badass}}: Joe Mack, Yakov, and Alekhin all qualify.
** Joe Mack is a gifted aviator and excellent athlete who almost made the US Olympic team in several events. He was also taught from childhood the old ways of his father's people. He can hunt, fish, trap, tan furs, track, hide, survive, and fight.
** Yakov cruises around the Siberian wilderness on foot with an AK across his back. He often helps the small communities of political prisoners who live in exile out there, and doesn't seem to like the Red Army very much. He (barely) speaks English and occasionally demonstrates to bad guys that he's just as dangerous with his bare hands as he is with the AK he always carries.
** Alekhin is a [[TheBigGuy mountain of a man]] [[ScarilyCompetentTracker who can track any man or beast across bare rock]], or just about. His fellow Yakut tribesmen are afraid of him, and people he doesn't like have a tendency to disappear in the wilderness. While he's not quite AxeCrazy, he's definitely at least a little bit psychotic.

* HeroOfAnotherStory: It's hinted that Yakov is this.

* BadassBoast: One night, all alone with his campfire and his spear, Joe Mack [[OhCrap hears something moving]] and [[BearsAreBadNews knows exactly what it is]]. Joe Mack yells, "Go away, old bear. Go home and tell your cubs that tonight you saw a Sioux warrior, and that he let you live because he has killed enough for one day." The bear leaves him alone.

* BadassBoast: One night, all alone with his campfire and his spear, Joe Mack hears something moving [[OhCrap knows exactly what it is]]. Joe Mack yells, "Go away, old bear. Go home and tell your cubs that tonight you saw a Sioux warrior, and that he let you live because he has killed enough for one day." The bear leaves him alone.

[[Quoteright: http://www.louislamour.com/images/covers/large/last_of_the_breed_9780553280425.jpg]]

Set sometime in the 1980s, the story follows Major Joseph Makatozi USAF, callsign Joe Mack, a fighter pilot of American Indian ancestry who is kidnapped by the Soviet GRU and imprisoned in a Siberian gulag. Joe Mack quickly escapes, but is thousands of miles inside enemy territory with no friends, no weapons, no way of contacting the outside world, and the entire Red Army hunting him. Joe Mack must revert to his Sioux roots to survive an odyssey across 2,000 miles of Siberian forests, mountains, and tundra in the hope of reaching the Bering Strait and crossing back to the US.

* JurisdictionFriction: Zamatev is an ambitious mid-level officer in the GRU, [[RedsWithRockets Soviet Military Intelligence]], with his sights set high. He has made a lot of enemies during his rapid climb up the ranks, but the only ones he's really scared of are the [[MoscowCentre KGB]]. When an American prisoner hops the fence of his supposedly escape-proof gulag and goes for a walk in the Siberian wilds, he pulls every string he can find to keep the KGB out of the loop.

* JurisdictionFriction: Zamatev is an ambitious mid-level officer in the GRU, [[RussiansWithRockets Soviet Military Intelligence]], with his sights set high. He has made a lot of enemies during his rapid climb up the ranks, but the only ones he's really scared of are the [[MoscowCentre KGB]]. When an American prisoner hops the fence of his supposedly escape-proof gulag and goes for a walk in the Siberian wilds, he pulls every string he can find to keep the KGB out of the loop.

* JurisdictionFriction: Zamatev is an ambitious mid-level officer in the GRU, Soviet Military Intelligence, with his sights set high. He has made a lot of enemies during his rapid climb up the ranks, but the only ones he's really scared of are the [[StateSec KGB]]. When an American prisoner hops the fence of his supposedly escape-proof gulag and goes for a walk in the Siberian wilds, he pulls every string he can find to keep the KGB out of the loop.

* FemmeFatale: Zamatev's mistress.
* JurisdictionFriction: Zamatev is an ambitious mid-level officer in the GRU, Soviet Military Intelligence, with his sights set high. He has made a lot of enemies during his rapid climb up the ranks, but the only ones he's really scared of are the KGB. When an American prisoner hops the fence of his supposedly escape-proof gulag and goes for a walk in the Siberian wilds, he pulls every string he can find to keep the KGB out of the loop.

* ItsPersonal: Zamatev intended to kidnap Major Makatozi, interrogate him, exploit everything he knows, then discard him in the gulag's mass grave. This would be a huge intelligence breakthrough for the Soviet Union and Zamatev's ticket to General's stars. The problem is that, as a [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Sioux warrior]], this constitutes a ''huge'' insult to Joe Mack's honor that simply ''can't'' go unanswered. He intends to make his way back to America, resign from the Air Force, then come back to find Zamatev and kill him.

* WorthyOpponent: Joe Mack and Alekhin see eachother this way. Alekhin frequently advises Zamatev that he's wasting his time using the Soviet military to hunt the escaped American, and that Makatozi will simply kill any Russians dumb or unlucky enough to get too close to him. According to Alekhin, he's the only one who can defeat Joe Mack.

* ItsPersonal: Zamatev intended to kidnap Major Makatozi, interrogate him, exploit everything he knows, then discard him in the gulag's mass grave. This would be a huge intelligence breakthrough for the Soviet Union and Zamatev's ticket to General's stars. The problem is that, as a Sioux warrior, this constitutes a ''huge'' insult to Joe Mack's honor that simply ''can't'' go unanswered. He intends to make his way back to America, resign from the Air Force, then come back to find Zamatev and kill him.

** Of course, he needs to get to America first. Across 1700 miles of Siberia. With the Red Army on his trail. And he'll need to deal with Alekhin at some point. And not freeze or starve to death. Or get killed by a tiger...