The idea for the story has haunted Stephen Woodfin for years. He understood the religious implications and complexities of the plot while earning a Master of Divinity degree for at the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina. But all he had was an idea. After becoming a practicing lawyer on a national stage, the idea began to take form and shape, and he was able to sit down and create the characters, plot, and structure for Last One Chosen.

His labor was justified when Last One Chosen was selected as a Top 5 Finalist for Best Indie Book of 2012 in the thriller category. Yet the depth of the story goes far deeper than being a mere thriller. It will haunt readers as it haunted him over the years. The awards are sponsored by Jeff Bennington and the Kindle Book Review.

Here is the dream review he would look to see written about the novel.

Throughout history, strange shamans have come on the scene, men and women who have special lenses that allow them to see through the dark glass surrounding the essence of things.

Think of Moses, Abraham, Mohamed, Jesus, the Buddha.  The stories of these seers are layered over with centuries of traditions and myths so that their humanness has been all but lost in the larger than life images we associate with them.

But what if such a person appeared among us today?  Would he or she be a conqueror or foot soldier?  A brilliant thinker or a person who works with his hands?  Would he be straight or gay, male or female? Would we recognize him for what he truly was, or would we relegate him to the trash heap of society and brand him an outcast or a criminal?  Would we listen to what he had to say or turn a deaf ear to him?

These questions have often occupied the minds of writers.  Dostoevsky tried his hand at it in The Idiot.  Some think Hemingway did the same thing in The Old Man and the Sea.  Moby Dick was about much more than a great white whale.

In LAST ONE CHOSEN, Stephen Woodfin has made his attempt to portray such a character. Joshua Issacharoff, a heating and air conditioning repairman who lives in a rural town in East Texas, is also a brilliant scientist, working in obscurity.  But he is much more than that. He is a person of impeccable moral character who holds the secret to the most powerful WMD the world has known.  His unwillingness to allow that weapon to fall into the wrong hands sets him on a collision course with the brute power of government.

At stake is the existence of the world as we know it and the sanctity of his own soul. Issacharoff soon finds that if he hopes to keep his secret, the government will make his life hell. If he still refuses to talk, the power mongers will demonize him and try their best to kill him.

To his aid comes a rag-tag team of lawyers, losers, ordinary and extraordinary people who know Issacharoff’s true character.

The harder his friends fight to save him, the harder the forces of evil bear down on them. No one is safe when the king sets his forces against the people.

As the underdogs fight for justice, things take a grim turn.  Against enormous odds, they take the battle to Issacharoff’s accusers. The story builds to its climax as the trial of the United States v. Joshua Issacharoff convenes in the federal courthouse in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

But the issues at hand transcend the American legal system. At the end of the day, justice melds with redemption, victory with death.

What then does it mean to be the last one chosen?

To purchase a copy of the novel, click here: Last One Chosen