Reviewed by Vincent Dublado for Readers' Favorite

Is That Your Final Answer? Sometimes, Ya Just Gotta Believe! by Philip D. Gibbons is a story that is breathless, hopeful, exciting, and intense. Greg Rafferty is the main protagonist. He is not a loser. It just so happens that life seems to have played some cruel joke on him--much as most of us on this planet have experienced. He is close to considering suicide as a final option. He has a job at a regional bank, but it is hanging by a thread, and his boss is exhausting all means to snag the right deal. It isn’t just the job that raises his anxiety levels, as his long-term relationship with Courtney threatens to collapse. Then an idea of using his passion for trivia comes into play. However, joining the game show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? will hit him with realizations. It can become his ticket to easing his predicaments, but it can also prove to be a cold and dark place.

On a personal note, Is That Your Final Answer? is a story that strongly resonates. In my earlier years, I had my own share of game show experience having tried my luck in my country’s edition of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? and The Weakest Link. Philip D. Gibbons magnificently captures the feelings that a contestant goes through in the hot seat. It is clear here that it's not about what you know but how you deal with that butterfly feeling in your stomach that can make or break your game. I remember a local film director in my country who once said that game shows are better than political promises, as the former gives you a fighting chance while the latter gives you nothing at all. Is That Your Final Answer? is a story that cuts between an unfair world and the limelight that gives you at least five minutes of fame and, if you’re lucky, a considerable sum of money to help change your life. It’s a great story! One that you cannot exactly call escapist fiction if you have ever attempted to become the fastest finger in the hot seat.