I tried, I really did. I started reading this book multiple times and every single time I stumble. Don't like the writing style and constant change of perspective, it's way too confusing.

There is a good story here, but the writing is very uneven and hard to sink into - I'm not sure if it's intentional, but it felt a bit like a cliché of a whodunnit novel. The grittiness started to feel ironic, but again I don't know if that was the author's point. Strong writing, but I got lost in the plot.

Nick Toussaint gets in a car accident while driving drunk. Police find two dead bodies in his trunk, and, later, Nick confesses to the murders. It seems like an open and shut case, but police chief Martin Krug senses that something is off. Over time, he has to unravel the mysteries surrounding Nick---and Nick's girlfriend, Emily, who is clearly not what she seems.

I don't read many whodunit novels. But I decided to take a chance on this one, because it sounded interesting. I wish I had read some of the reviews before I did, though, because The Last Kid Left just isn't that good. The storyline is catchy at first but becomes boring over time. I didn't like the choppy writing style either. I know author Baldwin was trying to create something dark and gritty, but it felt forced and one-note. I found myself losing focus while reading, eventually skimming whole sections to get to the more engaging parts.

I still think there is a good story in here somewhere, but I could have done with fewer characters, a bit more levity, and a better ending. I'm sorry to say, this wasn't anything special.

Great premise, but a failed and flat execution. This is a perfect example of prose collapsing in on itself like a dying star, leaving nothing but the now-exhausted hope you'd had through the first few chapters. It once burned bright, but now we look at something that is long dead.

In the secluded town of Eagle Mount, New Jersey, Chief of Police Martin Krug answered a call. Tequila drinking, nineteen year old Nick Toussaint Jr. had crashed his truck. He confessed to the murders of the two dead bodies in the trunk. Taken into police custody, Nick wrote and signed a confession. Martin found Nick's story implausible, containing many inconsistencies. How could Nick,scrawny with a pronounced limp, have overpowered the victims stabbing Dr. Ashburn, strangling his wife and then lifting them into his truck?

The double homicide of Dr. Nathan Ashburn and his wife was committed in Claymore, New Hampshire, Nick's hometown. When Nick was extradited and placed into Claymore police custody by Sheriff Portis, Martin, newly retired from the Eagle Mount Police Department extended an offer of investigative assistance convinced that Nick was taking the fall for the real murderer. But why?

Sheriff Portis was the father of Nick's girlfriend, Emily. Once it was established that Nick had entered the home of Dr. and Mrs. Ashburn, Sheriff Portis forbade Emily from visiting Nick in jail. Emily maintained her opinion that whatever Nick did, he did for them and that the murders were her fault.

Emily Portis, sixteen years old, was a girl who disappeared into herself. She had dark thoughts. She was socially backward with only one true friend, Alexandra. Nick's love and affection for Emily was like a salve. She felt protected and cared for. After Nick's arrest, naive Emily made a costly mistake. She decided to take provocative selfies to send to Nick in jail, however, the selfies went viral. Nick and Emily now had the moniker "The Claymore Kids" and a media frenzy surrounded the case. Nick refused to help prove his innocence. Emily, misguided by friend Alex, turned her scrutinized life into monetary opportunities for photos and interviews. The reality was that Nick and Emily, two fragile, small town kids just wanted to run away together to San Francisco. Nick and Emily had a similar view of life. Life was all bullshit, it didn't matter. People either got screwed or screwed someone else over. Although damaged souls, their love was the one thing that was real to them.

"The Last Kid Left" by Rosecrans Baldwin contained a double homicide investigation, social media frenzy, rumor-mongering, pornography and pedophilia. Baldwin's overly ambitious attempt to connect all of these elements encouraged him to create too many, albeit unique, characters. The story, though well crafted, would have benefited from one hundred less pages.

Thank you Farrar, Straus and Giroux and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "The Last Kid Left".

Disclaimer: I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

After five days of trying, I could not get into this book. My rule is usually to give a book 100 pages before giving it a DNF, but I just could not get there with this book. I was not very enamored by the writing style and language. The shifting perspectives were erratic and confusing, and often hard to keep up with. I found all of the characters to be hard to related to and illogical. After the police officer finds Nick with his car smashed into the cowgirl statue with two bodies in the back, he doesn't think he's guilty? Where does that come from??

To be fair, I did not get very far into it. I made it until Nick is telling the story of why he limps. He explains two his two new friends about the snowmobile accident that happened when he was 16 and how it kept him basically immobile for almost a year. When asked about if he had gone to school, he tells the girls that he had a tutor and got his GRE. Now, for anyone like me who has studied for the GRE, you would know that this is a standardized test to get into graduate school. This is very different than a GED, which I believe is what the author was referring to. Things like this, and this wasn't the first case, keep me from being able to emerge myself into the story, so for that reason I give this a DNF.

This book is about a small town and three main characters. The premise is good, murder in a small town, with one of the main characters being the sheriff, Nick who confesses to a double murder and Emily, his girlfriend. Too many other characters are introduced at various times which muddles down the story. This is a book that will hold your interest in some areas, and had me skipping pages or flipping back to remember what a certain character did or said. A character will appear in the reading and disappear only to show up many pages after. I took away from this book that there is no rhyme or reason why at times people's words are spread when maybe they should not be. This was an ok read for me. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review.

I found the pace to be a little slow. There were no earth-shattering reveals, and sadly, there was no unexpected twist at the very end. Really well written, though.

A mawkish affair; a soft-hearted mishmash, masquerading as something tougher and more thrilling. All's well that ends well for the mixed up folk clustered in a small New Hampshire town, despite multiple loose ends and more plot threads than you could knit into a scarf. Was there a date rape? Did the gay lover really care for her partner? What about the porn circle? I'm not even sure who did the murders but nor did I care much either. Frankly, a disappointment cloaked in contemporary concerns. Who is the readership?

A great read because the characters are well drawn, and very flawed - all of them - and the mystery is drawn out throughout the book. A story about love, and being lost in time, and murderous impulses. I loved it, read it in a few days! Highly recommended!

In The Last Kid Left, 20 year old Nick gets into a car accident and when the officials arrive on the scene, two dead bodies are found in the car. Nick confesses to the murders, but things are not what they seem. Chaos ensues. This novel is chock full of plot and twists and turns, but perhaps too full. The best bits were when we meet Nick's 16 year old girlfriend, Emily. A crazy mystery that speaks to misinformation in the digital age.