The Final Gambit

The Final Gambit is the last installment in the Inheritance Games trilogy, the young adult mystery/thriller series from Jennifer Lynn Barnes. It continues the story of Avery Kylie Grambs, the teenage girl who is unexpectedly left a billion-dollar fortune by mysterious philanthropist Tobias Tattersall Hawthorne. The Final Gambit follows Avery’s attempts to rescue Tobias Hawthorne II, or “Toby,” Tobias’s adopted son. The Hawthorne family thought Toby died in a fire 20 years ago, but previous books in the series have revealed that Toby is alive. In The Final Gambit, Toby is kidnapped by a former rival of Tobias’s, and Avery must save him. In the course of her mission, she uncovers unsavory secrets about Tobias.

Jennifer Lynn Barnes is the author of several young adult novels. The Final Gambit is the third book in the Inheritance Games series (the first being The Inheritance Games and the second being The Hawthorne Legacy). This guide references the 2022 Little, Brown edition.

Content Warning: The source text includes depictions of sexual assault, statutory rape, and violence.

Plot Summary

Like all the books in the Inheritance Games series, The Final Gambit is told from the first-person point of view of Avery Kylie Grambs, the teenage girl who has mysteriously inherited a billion-dollar fortune from deceased Texas billionaire Tobias Tattersall Hawthorne. The Final Gambit opens as Avery—still living in Hawthorne House, as in the previous books—is preparing to turn 18. To fully claim the Hawthorne fortune, Avery must inhabit Hawthorne House for one full year; when The Final Gambit opens, she’s nearly fulfilled this stipulation. At this point, Avery is also in a committed romantic relationship with one of Tobias’s grandsons, Jameson.

At the end of The Hawthorne Legacy, the preceding book, Avery met Tobias’s adopted son, Tobias Hawthorne II, or “Toby.” Toby was long presumed dead by his family. In The Hawthorne Legacy, Avery learned that Toby was alive and in hiding—and that he had a secret daughter, Evelyn Shane, or “Eve.” Toby didn’t want Eve to be corrupted by the Hawthorne’s wealth and power, and thus kept her hidden from his family. In Avery’s exchange with Toby at the end of The Hawthorne Legacy, she learned about Eve. In this exchange, Toby also took something from Avery—a small coin-like metal disk with concentric rings engraved on it, which Avery found while searching for Toby. In the opening scenes of The Final Gambit, Avery is still curious about what this disk was.

The Final Gambit’s action takes off when Eve arrives at Hawthorne House looking for Avery. Eve tells Avery that Toby has been kidnapped. Shortly after, Avery starts receiving threatening notes and messages from Toby’s unknown captor, who refers to himself as “Luke.” In fact, Luke is Vincent Blake, a formal rival of Tobias’s. Tobias cheated Vincent out of a patent that made Tobias millions of dollars. However, this isn’t Vincent’s prime motivation—the real reason he’s kidnapped Toby relates to his son, William Blake.

Approximately 40 years ago, William Blake, who went by “Liam,” tried to infiltrate Hawthorne House. He wanted to find something that could bring down Tobias—revenge for Tobias cheating his father, Vincent, out of the patent. To gain access to the house, William used Mallory Laughlin, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Laughlin, the Hawthorne House housekeeper and groundskeeper. Mallory, only 16 at the time, was impregnated by William. When Mallory failed to help William get evidence against Tobias, William became physically violent with her. Tobias witnessed the incident and intervened, holding William back. While Tobias had William’s arms pinned behind his back, Mallory took a brick and hit him over the head with it, nearly killing him. Mr. Laughlin witnessed the incident. Tobias sent Mr. Laughlin and Mallory away; then, instead of getting William medical care, Tobias watched William die and hid his body on Hawthorne estate.

When William died, he had one of the “Blake family seals”—round coin-like disks with concentric circles engraved on them. Vincent had five of these seals made and uses them to manipulate his family. Upon Vincent’s death, whoever holds one of these five seals will inherit one-fifth of his fortune: $100 million. When William died, Tobias took his disk. Toby knew about Tobias’s involvement in William’s murder, and he took the disk when he ran away from home. This is the disk that Toby took from Avery at the end of The Hawthorne Legacy—which she regains control of in The Final Gambit.

Vincent wants to know the truth about what happened to his son. Vincent suspects that Tobias killed William, and he wants William’s remains returned to him. Vincent uses Eve and Toby to this end. In The Hawthorne Legacy, it was revealed that Toby isn’t a Hawthorne by blood; he was secretly adopted by Tobias and Tobias’s wife after Mallory Laughlin got pregnant. The Final Gambit clarifies this: Toby is the son of Mallory and William, which makes him, and Eve, Blakes by blood.

Having figured this out, Vincent convinces Eve to help him abduct Toby, promising her a place in the family and part of his fortune. He has her infiltrate Hawthorne House to figure out what happened to William. This is made easier by the fact that Eve looks strikingly similar to Emily Laughlin, Mallory’s deceased daughter and Toby’s half-sister. Thanks to this resemblance, Mallory trusts Eve, as does Grayson Hawthorne, another one of Tobias’s grandsons. Avery was torn between Grayson and Jameson until the end of The Hawthorne Legacy; both boys were also in love with Emily before her death.

Eve eventually reveals her identity, and Avery learns the truth of Tobias’s involvement in William’s death. Meanwhile, Vincent kidnaps Grayson, raising the stakes further. To free Grayson, Avery must win a chess match—a “tournament” that Vincent sets up, pitting Avery against Toby and Eve. Avery wins and can leave with Grayson. Toby stays with Vincent, ensuring that Vincent will honor his word.

The book ends as Avery concludes her one-year inhabitation of Hawthorne House. On the landmark occasion, Avery announces that she will donate 94% of the inheritance to charity. The book ends with Avery happily rid of the fortune and still with Jameson.