Famous Last Words – This book is the epitome of the thriller genre. McAllister has done a truly masterful work.
This book is intense, complex, and completely thrilling, while the relationships and personalities are believable, likable and will keep you guessing.
I have often explained that one of the reasons Mysteries and Thrillers are my favourite genres is because of the coziness factor. You might be wondering how murder, crime and suspense can be cozy, but it’s a real thing within these genres, and it draws me in.
Cam is nearing the end of her maternity leave with her first child and is about to go back to work as a stylish literary agent and has a cozy home with her gorgeous husband, Luke, in London… sigh. Pretty much a dream life in my world.
I absolutely love it when an author has a talent for descriptions so that you can feel the texture of the couch, or picture how a dress fits perfectly on a character. When I can see how the light falls in the living room, taste the wine and the goat cheese tart or hear the sound of her heels hit the cobbled laneway, I am hooked.
Gillian McAllister could teach a class on how to achieve this.
Now for the suspense…Luke goes missing on Cam’s first day back at work…and then WHAM! The book reads like a fast-paced movie, and all I could do was hang on.
I was gasping out loud and yelling warnings at the characters, and I thought I had this story figured out about halfway through, and not only was I wrong, but I was completely involved in the lives of these people and felt desperate to know the truth.
I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough and ended up staying up way past my bedtime to finish. I sometimes try to savour a book when I’m really enjoying it, but not this one – I had to know. If you’re looking for a vacation read, this is it.
If you need a reason not to rake the leaves this weekend, read this. If you need a book to binge with your easter chocolate, you’ve found it!
Courtney Allen is the manager of Four Points Books in Golden, BC. She is a voracious reader and generously writes book reviews for The Golden Star. You can discover more of her reviews using the following list:
Summary Description of Famous Last Words –
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
“This novel blindsided me with twists and surprises that had me gasping…and with a poignancy about relationships and love that one rarely finds in the genre. A brilliant, brilliant book.” —Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author
From the author of Reese’s Book Club Pick and New York Times bestseller Wrong Place Wrong Time comes an addictive thriller about a new mother’s world upended when her husband commits a terrifying crime. How well does she truly know the man she loves? And what danger does she face if her entire life has been built on a lie?
It is June 21st, the longest day of the year, and new mother Camilla’s life is about to change forever. After months of maternity leave, she will drop her infant daughter off at daycare for the first time and return to her job as a literary agent. Finally. But when she wakes, her husband Luke isn’t there, and in his place is a cryptic note.
Then it starts. Breaking news: there’s a hostage situation developing in London. The police arrive and tell her Luke is involved. But he isn’t a hostage. Her husband-doting father, eternal optimist, is the gunman.
What she does next is crucial. Only she knows what the note he left behind that morning says.
Famous Last Words is the story of a crime, a marriage, and more secrets than Camilla ever could have imagined. This novel cements Gillian McAllister’s reputation as “the best at putting her characters in impossible situations and making her readers not only contemplate but feel what it would be like to find themselves in those situations” (Emily Henry)
