Darby Kane DOES NOT disappoint! Pretty Little Wife was one of my absolute favorite reads last year and I have been loving this author ever since. When I saw this juicy new vigilante-style premise, I was immediately hooked.

When Jessa has an opportunity to join the elusive Sophie Foundation, a group of powerful women who take justice into their own hands, she jumps at the chance, But joining the group means there is not way out. But when her old friend Gabby - whose husband died a mysterious death - reaches out to her, she might not survive long enough to find out the truth.

This book has a JUICY plot. With complex characters, all the suspense and an incredibly faced paced plot, this was a quick read that kept me guessing with each chapter. I appreciated the juxtaposition between our two alternating POV as the characters learn they may be more similar than they seem.

This book left me thinking much more than your typical thriller and there are some serious ethical/moral dilemmas that will leave you will chills.

Darby Kane doesn’t disappoint the reader in her pastes book The Last Invention. Have you had a secret that you want no one to find out? You think that it is buried so deep that no one will ever reveal it. This is the premise of The Last Invention. You have Jessa Hall, a lawyer that has so many secrets that they are in the verge of ruining her law career. Until she is invited into The Foundation. The Foundation will make everything disappear and make her dreams of becoming partner at her law firm. The there is Gabby, whose ex husband Baines is found dead by suicide. Gabby knows this isn’t possible and with the help of a shamed reporter try to uncover these mysterious deaths of other prominent men in their state. A lot of twists and turns in this one. You will not be disappointed by the ending. It had me shocked by why and how The Foundation did what they did for justice. What if you had that kind of power? What would you do with it? Love it!

I’m all over the place with this author. I didn’t love her debut, enjoyed her sophomore novel and this ended up being a mediocre read for me. This had a lot of potential but to be honest it reminded me of another book called The Collective. Jessa and Gabby were so hard to root for the entire book that it felt like it dragged on. The ending might impress some but I found it pretty depressing. I did enjoy the narration if you decide to listen to the audiobook.

3.5! I really loved the premise and idea around this story but unfortunately the execution fell a bit flat. I can’t quite put a name to what was missing because I thought the pacing was well done and felt the suspense. Maybe I just wanted a bit more thrill? If you are new to this author read Pretty Little Wife instead!

I loved the premise of the book; women taking down powerful demeaning men. The book was kind of slow for my liking though. There was not enough action or connection to the characters and some was unnecessary to the storyline.

Darby Kane has done it again! This time domestic abuse and secrets and a secret society are at the center of it all and the feisty characters had me turning pages so fast! I couldn’t wait to find out what happened next!

History has a long list of powerful and monied men who are used to getting, and getting away with, anything they want. In this newest offering from Darby Kane, equally powerful and determined women have banded together to form the Sophie Foundation, and mete out justice as they see fit. After the mysterious death of Gabby Fielding’s ex husband, she and ex law school friend Jessa Hall, find themselves at opposite sides of the group. Jessa desperately wants to join, while Gabby is struggling to keep her family’s secrets private and protect her teenage daughter. Everything is relative to the foundation and they spare no one in pursuit of bad men. There is murder and devious plotting in this thriller, but the most heinous crimes to be found are committed psychologically.

Gabby finds her ex-husband dead and the police declare it was suicide. Gabby doesn't believe it and starts asking questions. The more she questions the more questions she has and the more bad things start happening to those around her. Jessa is a lawyer and she has an opportunity to join an exclusive group of powerful women but to do that she needs to figure out what she is willing to do to join the group. Jessa went to law school with Gabby but they had a falling out and don't trust each other,.but they need to figure out how to work together to survive. This will keep you reading past your bedtime.

I have read all of Darby Kane’s books and have enjoyed them all and this was no exception! This was a fantastic thriller! I loved the different points of view in this one. The writing is excellent and the short chapters made it fly by in no time (even though it is a longer book). I enjoyed the multiple POVs of Jessa, Gabby and the Foundation. I liked that it allowed me to get everyone’s viewpoints. It was very suspenseful and I was holding my breath during several parts. Kane created a twisted web, and all the details meet flawlessly. Although I did figure out who the "co-leader" was early, it still was a deeply satisfying thriller. Thank you to Darby Kane, Netgalley and William Morrow for my copy to review. I can’t wait to see what Darby Kane writes next!

I squealed when I got the approval for THE LAST INVITATION! Darby Kane is a go to author for me so thank you so much to @williammorrow & @darbykane for your newest psychological thriller 🖤

𝐌𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:
-loved that one of the 3 POVs was from a secret society called the Foundation
-short chapters are *chefs kiss*
-bc I’m a nerd I wanted a little bit more background info on the Foundation 🤓
-ending is left open which I normally don’t like, but it really worked in this instance

If you enjoyed reading THE COLLECTIVE, are intrigued by secret societies & mind games then you’ll definitely want to pick up THE LAST INVITATION!

I received an advanced readers copy of The Last Invitation by Darby Kane. It was my first Darby Kane book. I would give the book 3 stars. It was fine. It did not captivate me. It was quite easy to put down. I was not that intrigued by the premise of the secret womens organization killing badly behaved men. I thought that the first 75% of the story was predictable. I thought it was implausible that they could get away with that much murder and arouse the suspicions of anyone other than a reporter. I will admit that the last 25% of the book did catch me off guard. It contains twists that I did not see coming.

This was a fantastic thriller! I loved the different points of view in this one. It was very suspenseful and I was holding my breath during several parts.

I absolutely loved Alison Gaylin's The Collective and was curious how this book, whose plot sounded similar, might compare. Not too well, unfortunately. It was a fast read, but not all that satisfying or well-written (there were also some editing errors, like misused words, that took me out of the story). Ultimately it relied a lot on saying "see, these people are really menacing!" instead of creating that sense, and it felt fairly flat.

Thank you William Morrow and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. IYKYK, my reviews are ALWAYS honest.

Writing: 3/5 | Plot: 5/5 | Ending: 4.5/5

THE PLOT

Rich abusers are dying all thanks to a group of baddies aka the Sophie Foundation. But shit hits the fan when an invitation is extended to Jessa, a woman willing to do anything to get ahead, due to her ties to Gabby—who's ex-husband may or may not be the latest victim of the Foundation.

THIS BOOK IS LIKE...

Ocean's 8 + Blacklist but women run the world.

MY OPINION

Darby Kane's Pretty Little Wife was a sneaky surprise that I loved so I was thrilled to receive an ARC of this upcoming release. Although I've been played (many) times recently by big name authors delivering crappola books, Kane came through. THIS is a Honda Civic reliable thriller packed with entertainment value and also some solid social commentary.

The premise? Juicy j. Yes, you obviously need to suspend your disbelief for this to work, but the Foundation is more of a literary device to push the overall message: is the justice system capable of protecting women? Or do we need to take justice into our own hands sometimes?
The pace? Lance Armstrong hopped up on drugs at the Tour de France.
The chapters? Short. Action-packed.
The characters? Bad bitches link up.
The ending? I may have guessed it early, but it didn't take away from how it was revealed. No "catching up with a friend over coffee" type of epilogue... it was "realistic" in a way.

My fave part of this book was the dialogue between Gabby and Jessa. It was sassy but intelligently so. The scene at the Sophie Foundation charity event was straight out of a movie—in a good way. You could feel the tension and picture exactly how the scene would unfold. Loved the showdown between Retta, who reminded me of a RBG who crossed over to the dark side. Also I literally LOL-ed when Jessa was running for her life and screamed "NOT TODAY!!" #mood

Lastly, the plot had me thinking: would I join the Sophie Foundation? Would you? It's an interesting concept (like the cabal in Blacklist but run by all women) and I'm sure many of us would love to step outside the lines to get a lil revenge on the worst of the worst. Allegedly.

A near perfect popcorn thriller. Not a literary masterpiece, but I was entertained throughout and there was minimal closed caption ass writing so that's a win.

PROS AND CONS

Pros: GREAT pace, baby bombshells and tons of action, minimal CC writing, the tapas of thriller tropes (tapas = good because you get a lil nom nom without being too full), loved the dialogue between all the female MCs especially Gabby and Jessa, good life lessons and thought-provoking scenarios

Cons: the writing quality was so-so if I'm being picky (which I always am)

I loved the premise of The Last Invitation. Jessa Hall jumps at the invitation to join the exclusive Sophie Foundation, lead by her law school mentor, Loretta. But behind the Foundation lies another secret group who do vigilante work against prominent men in the community, and serves justice to them by any means necessary, including murder. Of course, no one knows about the secret group and the high-powered women behind it who can fake evidence, make false accusations (anonymously, of course), and fake suicides.
Gabby's husband is one of those "suicides", but she knows there's something else going on, especially once a reporter gives her his files about all the men who have died under mysterious circumstances. Gabby turns to her law school frenemy Jessa and involves her in the takedown of the Foundation.
I really wanted to like this, but it fell flat for me. I didn't connect with anyone and felt character development could have been improved. I don't see how the Foundation would have wanted Jessa in their group (except for Retta's insistence). The co-leader "mystery" was seen a mile away.
Disappointing.

Pretty little wife is one of my top recommended books. Every year I wait to see the newest cover and synopsis for Darby’s book and every year I am super excited and cross everything that I receive an ARC. Third year running and I’ve been lucky every year. She is an amazing thriller writer who writes characters you love but also hate at the same time. Each book is intricately plotted with twists and turns, red herrings and all the things that make up a great thriller. The Last Invitation is officially neck and neck with Pretty Little Wife as one of my favorite books and will be highly recommend as a holiday gift this year.

There’s nothing like a book about a powerful secret club, whose members are the elite of society, especially when they are women. Add in a vigilante twist targeting powerful men who commit crimes against women, yet are always let off by the justice system, I mean haven’t we all dreamed about men getting the appropriate punishment for their crimes for once? Jesse Hall is struggling in what should be an amazing career and amazing life. An invitation into this club maybe everything that she’s needed, except does she realize how deep she’s getting in and that there’s no way out?

Teaming up with a frenemy Gabby who isn’t convinced her evil ex committed suicide, they decide to take the foundation down. But when history runs deep between them and the trust is no there, will they finish what they started or will one turn against the other. Or will the foundation take care of these loose ends?

Grab the edges of your fluffy pillow and have a seat onto your couch because once you open the book, there’s no stopping.

Highly recommend this to all thriller lovers.

Darby Kane, Darby Kane, Darby Kane!!! What a roll this author is on! Great, thrilling story and I want more lol!