A very enjoyable novel. Some great characters, and lots of secrets to be revealed.
With its coastal beach hut setting I had to keep reminding myself that it was in fact set in the UK - it was quite American.

There was plenty to keep me wanting to know more, a great holiday read as I was able to keep reading for long periods at a time!

Some of the descriptive and setting made me want to find a beach hut that I can live in for the summer!

My first Lucy Clarke novel - but it definitely won't be my last.
Thank you to Netgalley for an early read.

Sarah and Isla have been friends since they were teenagers... even their sons were best friends and their families inseperable until 7 years ago when Islas son goes missing presumed drowned. Now 7 years later Sarahs son also goes missing.

The story is set on the sandbank where the girls first meet, where they both buy beach huts and spend many happy summers... and where Islas son vanished. But what actually happened on that terrible day and how did the ripples from the tragedy go on to affect Sarahs son so many years later.

The concept of this story is great - its an easy read helped by interesting, well developed characters. Its hard to say much mroe about it without giving away any spoilers!

The reason it loses a star from me is that it is a SLOW start. The first 2/3 of the book do a perfect job of setting the scene and building the characters BUT it just plods. The last 1/3 of the book then races through with event following revelation following twist at breath taking speed!

So much to love about this book - the beautiful prose, the setting, the story of the two boys and the way the family ties are woven throughout. It starts off at a more gentle pace but gathers momentum with every turn of the page and twists its way to the very end. Another great book from this author.

What a treat this book was I am really sorry I finished it. There are so many things to think about in this book it just keeps you turning the pages as you want to learn more. Lucy Clarke gets better and better. If you have not read this book yet it really needs to be next on the reading list

Seriously, do not start this book unless you can spare the next few hours. I started Last Seen one afternoon and didn't stop until I'd turned the last page. I'm not generally the quickest of readers, but at little under four hours later I'd sped my way through the 430 odd pages of this addictive and suspenseful book. Lucy Clarke's writing is so readable, page after page turned effortlessly and I was almost surprised when I realised I'd almost got to the end.

The book's told in alternating chapters from best friends Sarah and Isla, hinting at secrets, betrayal and fracturing relationships right from the very start. I wasn't sure who I should trust, and this suspense is kept up right to the very end, when several twists and turns are revealed one after the other.

Sarah is an interesting character. At first appearances she's the frantic parent of a missing teenager. Bewildered and frustrated at the declining relationship before her son's disappearance, she's appears naive and a little bit fragile. But scratch the surfaces and some chilling traits begin to show themselves. Isla on the other hand remains more of an enigma for much of the book, although she obviously holds a grudge against Sarah, the reader has no idea why until later in the book.

I did guess some of the twists in Last Seen, but that's not to say it was any the less enjoyable. I found it gripping, absorbing and unputdownable, and while I didn't particularly like any of the characters, thought the atmosphere of dysfunctional relationships, manipulation, secrets and resentment was delivered very well and kept my interest piqued until the very last page. This would make the perfect holiday read, and if you enjoy a thriller then make sure Last Seen is in your suitcase this summer!

Last Seen is a psychological thriller. It starts off with the drowning of Marley, (though you don’t know this at the time). Once we get into the main story it begins quite slowly, and I must admit I almost gave up. I found Sarah boring and rather old headed for her age.

Then the book reached a turning point, the pace quickened and the intense plot took over. The cast and situation are very believable, plus with the very descriptive scenery, it felt like I could of been reading a news article about a real event.

It is written from two viewpoints, Sarah and Isla’s, both past and present. I’m not a great lover of multiple viewpoint books, especially when I feel personally that the story would of worked just as well being written in the third person, but I stuck with it, and did enjoy it..

There are a lot of twists, and just when you think you might have the answer, Ms. Clarke throws in a curve ball, and you are back to square one. Everyone was a suspect, and I found it hard to decipher who was telling the truth, and who had something to hide.

I was gripped to the pages with the need to know where Jacob was, and what had happened to him. The book is quite dark in places and kept me guessing right up until the end.

One moment in time shattered the lives of the two best friends, a friendship that never managed to repair itself. Something lurking in the past was holding the key to the present, but what did happen on that fateful night seven years ago, and how was it connected to the present?

Oh my goodness. The sandbank and its secrets. Just read it.

This book is all about secrets and lies which, although they were started many years before, still have repercussions in the present day. On the anniversary of a tragic accident a boy goes missing. He is a son, a friend and a lover. It seems pretty obvious what has happened to this boy, but as is usual for a story like this, all is not how it first appears. In fact we find out very near the end that even what we believed to be the truth actually wasn't.

The book is well written, albeit a little slow to begin with. I wanted to get past the initial searches for the boy missing in the present day and get to the nitty gritty and reality of the situation. There are a number of twists and turns throughout which I wasn't expecting, and the ending is really well done.

Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a copy.

It didn't take long for me to get engrossed in this book. It's a rather good psychological mystery.

Sarah and Isla met when they were teenagers and quickly became friends. They dreamed of buying neighbouring beach huts on Longstone Sandbank, and spending long summers there. And they did. They also fell pregnant around the same time and gave birth to sons within days of each other. As adults they got to spend summers in their neighbouring beach huts and their sons were best friends. It all sounds very idyllic but tragedy strikes on Jacob's 10th birthday. The boys went swimming in the sea and only one returned. Sarah's son Jacob was saved and survived, Isla's son drowned.

Then Jacob disappears on the night of his 17th birthday which is also the anniversary of Marley's death. Sarah is distraught when he doesn't come home especially since they had had an argument before he left the house to join his friends. His phone appears to be switched off too. Sarah's husband Nick has gone away on business and Sarah is alone when she realises Jacob hasn't been home.

As time passes you get a sense of her panic while trying to reassure herself that he'll be a friend's house, or there will be a simple explanation. But she still can't reach him on his phone either.

The tension builds fairly slowly at first but increases by the day. When the police are called and start asking questions there's a sense of information being withheld – not so much lies being told but more a sense of not being told the whole story.

It's a small community and suspicions abound. Some characters are not particularly likeable. There are hints of jealousies and secrets and lies. Does someone in the community know something but isn't telling?

The book is good. The story is told by Sarah and Isla in alternating chapters and day by day following from Jacob's disappearance. You get different viewpoints of past events and glimpses of the women's characters. You learn more about their teenage friendship and their relationships leading to the present day.

Could it be things aren't quite as idyllic as they may have appeared. Were they even ever perfect?

This is a perfect read for the holidays. You can just picture perfect summer days on the sandbank – playing on the beach, swimming in the sea, messing about in boats or even just watching them but be prepared for a few surprises. Just immerse yourself in it and enjoy.

This was the first time I've read Lucy Clark and I'll certainly be reading more of her books. Last Seen is a fantastically well written piece filled with twists and turns, the author is genius!
The characters are complex and gripping. While they have their issues that have the qualities that make you hope along with them. They are far from perfect, but are perfectly written.
Their world is well created and amazingly, descriptively written. The little seaside town will make yearn for the seaside, but will leave you wondering about those enjoying the sun around you.
The story is full of twists and will keep you guessing to the last page with revelations that will leave you gasping.
Grab this book for a holiday or sometime when you wont be interrupted because you wont be able to put this book down til the final page.

Oh my word, what a book! I was caught up from the very beginning which is unusual for me as I tend to struggle to cope with being able to distinguish each character in a two-hander like this as the pace is quite swift. I can't say that I actually liked either Sarah or Isla and this is probably down to the fact that Lucy Clarke paints them so well, neither is sugar coated in the way female characters, in what might be seen as a holiday read, often are.

I'd categorise it as a family drama and holiday read as the action all takes place on a sandbank on the English coast and involves the summertime residents of the beach huts there. The pace of the life , the sights, sounds and scents are so (seemingly) easily described that I actually felt I was there.

The drama rolls out quite slowly at first, planting small seeds of doubt in the reader's mind, and as the pace quickens there are so many twists and turns which are mostly unexpected and for me the Epilogue was devastating.

As a footnote I can add that being a mother who has lost her son the emotions portrayed were particularly eloquent and authentic.

My only beef with this fabulous novel is the choosing of the names Marley and Jacob which kept reminding me of Dickens' ghost, however, with hindsight even that may have been deliberate on the author's part.

What an amazing writer Lucy Clarke is! The descriptions of Sandbank and the beach huts was so perfect that I was immediately transported there. The characterisation was spot on with each person having a very distinctive voice. I loved the way we were given snippets of the Marley story, just enough to tantalise, then back to the current story, which all came together so beautifully towards the end. I also loved the ending which had tension and proper gasp out loud moments. Thoroughly deserves 5 stars. I'm off to see what else this very talented author has written.

With more twists, turns and double backs than I have ever come across in a book before. In the end there are so many different versions of events, you are still not convinced that the truth has ever come out.

A must read.

A fantastic premise - two boys go missing, 7 years apart - beach huts, the coastline, friendship and jealousy, all make this the perfect summer read. Sarah and Isla have been friends for ever but when their young sons go swimming and only one returns, the ramifications of that awful day run deep. On the surface, Sarah and Isla's friendship continues but when disaster strikes for a second time, long hidden secrets and betrayals bubble upwards threatening all they've clung onto for so long. Just when I was beginning to feel in need of a break from reading psychological thrillers, Lucy Clarke's writing drew me back in. With plenty original twists to keep me reading 'just one more chapter' I also loved the depth of relationships Clarke creates for her characters. Find some sunshine, pour a glass of wine and enjoy 'Last Seen'!

Last Seen is a clever psychological thriller examining many levels of relationships and what happens when something goes wrong.

I’ve been a big fan of Lucy Clarke’s writing ever since I first read The Sea Sisters so I was thrilled when I was offered the chance to read and review her new novel, Last Seen for the blog tour! I have to say that Last Seen absolutely lived up to all of my expectations and I loved reading it!

Last Seen is predominantly a look at female friendship and how one decision can unwittingly set a relationship on a different course, one that you really don’t want to end up on. Sarah and Isla have been friends since they were younger, and Sarah has supported Isla through some of the hardest moments of her life. But then Isla decides to go travelling and what happens back home changes everything in a seemingly subtle way but as they appear to move on that one thing looms large throughout the book.

The reason I fell in love with The Sea Sisters was because of the way Lucy Clarke writes the relationship between women and Last Seen made me emotional for these two friends in the same way. Neither one of these women is perfect and neither is always likeable but they always felt like real people to me. I could see their flaws, and their issues and I liked them all the more for it. The detail is wonderful too – I smiled to myself when Sarah describes how someone from her past smelt of Dewberry shampoo. I must be a similar age to Sarah because I remember Dewberry so very well!

Sarah and Isla end up pregnant at the same time when they’re both still young and they look forward to bringing their boys up together. Sadly, things don’t work out like that when one summer, the year they turn ten, the boys go missing at sea and only one is found alive. This sets in motion a chain of revelations, guilt and jealousy that will affect these people forever.

This book so twisty, I genuinely couldn’t work out what was going to happen in the end. I had many suspicions as I was reading but all turned out to be wrong. It’s very rare for me to not be able to work out the ending of a thriller but this one got me and I loved it all the more for that. The end when it comes makes perfect sense and it sends you reeling but it’s so good!

This book is beautiful and twisty and utterly engrossing! I couldn’t put it down – I literally read it in one sitting. I highly recommend that you grab a copy of Last Seen for your summer reading, you definitely won’t regret it!

I was sent a copy of the book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

A really gripping read that I couldn't put down until the final page.
A devastatingly dramatic psychological thriller/family drama that is full of twists and unearthed secrets. Lucy always builds a beautiful story based on honest, flawed characters and poetic scenery and this book is no exception. Set in a community of beach hut owners on the coast the story centres around what happens when a teenage boy goes missing on his birthday that is no ordinary day. Exploring many themes including heartbreak, grief, unrequited love, toxic friendships, guilt, deception and jealousy this book cleverly details many aspects of human relationships, and how our actions can have long reaching and devastating consequences.
From being a fan of her photos on Instagram I know she herself has a beach hut (that she writes from) and enjoys family life on the coast so from this you can easily picture the details in this book and see her inspiration and passion for the coastline.

Last Seen is a clever, gripping novel which kept me guessing throughout.

The characters are, at times, quite annoying – both Sarah, whose perspective we read most of the novel as, and her best friend Isla, have their irritating habits. As the novel continues we learn neither are perfect, which I quite liked – I am a fan of reading about flawed characters and often find these are far more realistic and convincing than those character who are clearly just ‘good’ or ‘bad’.

I won’t say too much about the story as I don’t want to ruin it or alert readers to any potential surprises but I will say that I didn’t guess the ending at all, which is always fun, and loved the twisty nature of the characters, as Sarah wonders who is being truthful and who may be hiding something. Some parts are a little slower, and focus on the relationship between Sarah, Isla and Nick and their sons too, and I felt this made up more of the book rather than 'thriller'-style action or suspense. However there was a definite underlying sense of danger and of the unknown, as we the readers have no idea where Jacob’s actually gone, and if he’s even still alive.

Last Seen is definitely not a ‘thriller’ as such; it's more of an exploration into family dynamics and the way one mistake – like not paying enough attention to kids at the beach - can change everything.

I really enjoyed this book and was kept intrigued right until the end. Lots of twists and turns, lies, betrayals, friendships breaking down. Isla and Sarah share the story telling in both the past and present making it more interesting to see both sides.

A very very well done twisty turny tale that actually had me guessing. The premise on the face of it is not that original but Clarke has transformed that through the weight of her story telling and the characters into the perfect beach/travel book because it's so plot driven. I liked that the story was told from the viewpoint of both moms- Sara and Isla. The secrets here aren't really huge ones but they are critical to how things happened. It's hard to write a review of this sort of book without spoilers so suffice it to say thanks to Netgalley for the ARC and highly recommend for an engaging read.