A few chapters in and I already wanted to interview Amy Gentry. Let me set the stage. Quite literally...Dana Diaz, a standup comedian, is doing a set. It all flows, but to her, it feels stale. Maybe it's that her life is going nowhere since she moved to Austin. She had to get away from LA; the guy she loved, didn't like her back. And after she ended up in a limo with a famous comedian, who proceeded to assault her sexually, she knew it was time to get out.
When my life feels stale, I grab an extra piece of chocolate and watch one more episode of whatever show I'm obsessed with. Maybe I plan a trip...In fiction, the moment you think can use some pizzaz; you know you are in trouble. Enter the person that will rip your life apart. This is Amanda Dorn, a computer programmer, who with femme fatale precision inserts herself into Dana's life, seemingly intuiting what Dana needs to kick her future into high gear. Win the funniest person in Austin? Why not? Get revenge on that famous comedian? Hell yes!
And here we come the reason I can't wait to read the interviews; there is no doubt that the comedian mentioned is based on Louie C.K.; Dana was in awe of him, but he used it to rub one out while she had to sit there aghast.
Now Amanda had her own sets of troubled encounters, and she suggests a Strangers on the Train scenario where they will take care of each other assaulters. At first, the revenge is measured, but soon it escalates, and Dana is trapped, much to her own doing.
I read this book almost in one go, the first chapters were excellent, contemporary, fresh, and shall I say it...woke. But, once it gets the ball rolling, the similarities to current events brought me a bit ot of the narrative. It's tricky basing a revenge story gone bad on such a sensitive subject. It makes the lengths to where is willing to seem a bit outlandish. It can be uncomfortable to have #MeToo experiences used for the purpose of entertainment.
But all in all, Dana is highly relatable, comes alive, and Amy Gentry's style is gripping and lets the story flow smoothly towards its untimely end.

Last Woman Standing is a raw edge of your seat thriller. Read this book in one sitting and the twists keep coming at you . The author did an outstanding job with this story and an ending that will literally stay with you.

Tl;dr: Last Woman Standing is a furiously angry novel. In fact, its fury overwhelms the plot, but it certainly does make you think..

Last Woman Standing confronts not just the magnitude of harassment women face, but also the odd and tangled place women who refuse to be silent find themselves in.

In making the main character, Dana, a comedian, you might think this will be a thriller with dark humor.

It's not--which I think is the point--although I think it will displease some readers. Comedians often mine humor from dark places and Dana, who by the end has harnessed her rage into an up and coming career, has found that she's most successful when becoming "Betty," a woman who furiously strides through life, destroying anyone and anything that she comes across. And that--furious rage--is the heart of Last Woman Standing.

It starts in a familiar place: Dana, having left Los Angeles to return to Texas after an estrangement from her best friend and writing partner, Jason, that still has her questioning what happened and what she did wrong (even as she knows that she's a victim, she's unable/unwilling to think about that)--meets Amanda after a difficult set.

Amanda and Dana quickly become friends, and as Amanda reveals she's in Austin for revenge against the man who cost her entire career because of an unsuccessful sexual harassment suit (she also has an abusive ex), Dana finds herself drawn into Amanda's plans--first, they benefit her, then she helps Amanda, and then she starts to wonder exactly how far Amanda is willing to go for revenge--and more interestingly, how easy it is for her to be part of it, and how powerful it makes her feel to hurt men who've intimidated/harassed/assaulted women.

And that frightens Dana, just as Amanda reveals her ultimate target and frightens Dana even more.

Is Amanda crazy? Is Dana in danger? Who is she in danger from? Can she save herself?

Sort of, very much, the ultimate villian is (sadly) very obvious, and kind of.

It's that last question and answer that propels the story, unleashing a ferocity that consumes everything and produces a different Dana. One who is sharper, stronger, but so tired by what she sees that anger is all she's got to keep her going.

By the end, Amanda, who is so consumed by her plans for revenge that it carries a very heavy toll, is ultimately the most sympathetic character. Why? Dana herself puts it best:

"I needed her to tell the truth once more in court, where a dead woman was easier to believe than a live one every time."

While the plot of Last Woman Standing can't hold up to what it's saying, Ms. Gentry has created two very memorable characters in Dana and Amanda. The abuses each womam has suffered, and the way they both change from it--in Amanda's case, to be eaten alive by a system that can't/won't deal with a woman's rage out of anger at it or fear of it (I vote for both, but lean more towards fear)--and in Dana's case, to embrace the anger and channel the exhaustion that comes from realizing that being a woman means always facing:

"...the endlessly reflected faces of abuse...Once you see that struggle, you can't unsee it. You can profit by it or get crushed by it, but you can't escape it."

Told you--furiously (and I would add gloriously) angry.

This book started out rather slow for me. It has a good concept, I just wish there could have been more going on in the beginning. I did like this book but, like I said, I wish it'd would've sucked me in sooner. It was almost like I was waiting for it to get good.

In Last Woman Standing by Amy Gentry, Dana Diaz is a stand up comedian in Austin, TX. Not exactly the comedy capital of the world. She gave the LA comedy scene a try with her best friend from childhood, Jason, but it did not pan out. One night after a really bad comedy performance, she meets Amanda. They sort of hit it off as friends. Amanda confides in Dana about men who have done her wrong and how it would be great to ruin them. What happens after this is crazy! I don't want to give too much away about the plot. The beginning of the book was slow for me. The middle was awesome and the end was meh. All in all this was an original thriller and I would recommend it.

This book (and review) contains discussion of sexual assault.

Amy Gentry follows up Good as Gone with a tightly paced and morally murky thriller that combines the sweet, ancient pleasure a revenge story brings with the modern pain of the #metoo movement.

Dana Diaz is a rising stand-up comic at an important gig – the next rung on her battle to climb her way up the ladder of Austin, Texas’ club scene.  Her next goal is to compete in the Funniest Person in Austin contest, a goal she’s unlikely to achieve due to a crowded field.  Austin is Dana’s fresh start after years in Los Angeles and a pitch meeting turned into a disaster that’s estranged her from her best friend Jason, a rising fellow comic with whom she’s been friends since high school.  She’s been trying hard to reinvent herself, but she’s bombing until one woman in the audience starts to laugh after Dana cuts a sexist heckler off at the knees.  Amanda Dorn saves Dana’s night, and in gratitude Dana buys her a drink.

Amanda, it turns out, is a software engineer, and she understands only too well what it’s like to deal with indifference and cold, sexist and racist hostility.  Amanda won a sexual harassment suit but the industry has blackballed her, so she went to LA to try acting, ending up back in Austin after breaking up with an emotionally abusive boyfriend.  This bonds the two women, and a friendship springs up.  Dana reveals that she was recently drugged and sexually assaulted by Aaron Neely, a comic she had admired, after the nightmarishly unsuccessful pitch meeting; when she learns from Dana that Neely will be judging the quarter-finals of the comedy contest, a fed-up Amanda uses her tech expertise to capture Neely at an extremely vulnerable moment and film it.  But now that they’re blackmailing Neely with the footage, Amanda thinks that Dana should do her an equable favor – and she asks that Dana take out Doug Branchik, her sexually harassing supervisor, by making it look like he’s cheating on his wife. After dealing successfully with both Neely and Branchik, the list of people the women want to take revenge upon gets longer and longer. There’s the men who harassed Amanda online, and Fash, Dana’s sexist rival for Funniest Person in Austin.  Soon, the women are engaged in a game of paranoia and revenge, satisfaction and fear, but eventually it’s not good enough to humiliate the people taunting them and things escalate – to assault and murder.   Dana wants out, but Amanda has one more name on her list – and so does Dana – and she suggests they do the unthinkable; she’ll murder the man who raped Dana as a teenager, and Dana will murder Amanda’s emotionally abusive ex.  Can Dana escape the tangled web of paranoia and lies she’s woven?  And is playing with Amanda playing with fire, or is she really the best friend Dana’s ever had?

Last Woman Standing is one hell of a ride. Partially a Strangers on a Train pastiche, partially a modern thriller with all the trimmings, it calls out both sexually abusive creeps and those who take advantage of the healing of others to create chaos.  It’s enthralling, and even though it’s laced with tropes you’re used to seeing, it feels very fresh and current.

Dana is a marvelous heroine, and quite easy to sympathize with. Hers is a journey toward independence from reliance on others, on easy stereotypes - and even the truth.  This is a story about how Dana learns to claim herself from the maw of unoriginality, fear and banal revenge… by learning how to lie.  The story wisely stays anchored in her PoV, and not a drop of plot fat is wasted in the telling. Dana’s head is always cluttered with pitch ideas, remnants of her haunting failure; when it becomes uncluttered, then you know you’re in for it.

Amanda, on the other hand, is an open book scribbled over with deceptive phrases.  She is sometimes too smug to relate to, too overly confident, too in control of what’s happening,  and occasionally seems too omniscient to be human.  She doesn’t often feel as clever as the narrative needs her to be.

The key to the book is Dana’s relationship with Amanda, and Amanda’s relationship with Dana – and how that fits into Dana’s relationship with… Dana.  It’s twisted and complicated and quite fascinating; a hall of mirrors of a narrative.  Even when Dana creates Betty, a blonde, big-mouthed alter ego to get ahead, it’s a mirror of the mask she’s already put on to hide her double life of revenge with Amanda.  Even in Dana’s other major relationship in the book, the one she has with her career, the dance of doubles continue.

The #metoo movement and the ugly revelations it’s brought to light hang over the narrative like smog over San Francisco Bay, along with the facile racism of Hollywood and the casual sexism of nerd culture.  It’s impossible to avoid drawing a connecting line between Neely’s crimes and those of the various real-life celebrities who have come under fire recently; and it’s impossible to look at Amanda’s story and not feel the elephantine echoes of Silicone Valley’s sexist malaise.

There are a few small flaws, like a couple of too on-the-nose moments, such as calling Dana’s rival ‘Fash’, and a death that happens late in the book, which strains the bonds of irony and falls right into self-parody.  Nothing will make you feel older than a flashback to Jason talking about watching Late Night with David Letterman and having to stop to Google jokes from his 1980s monologues, but it also dates the book.

None of this detracts from this intense, absorbing and darkly funny exploration of paranoia and revenge.  Last Woman Standing is a winner – just don’t read it too close to bedtime.

Buy it at: Amazon/Apple Books/Barnes & Noble/Kobo
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This novel is like a wrestling match. In the first chapter it doesn't just pull you in, it grabs you by the throat and throws you to the mat! As you read on you are tossed around the ring as you strive to keep up with all the twists and turns. When you near the final countdown and are thinking you have it figured out, a knockout punch is waiting. Psychological thriller set in a unique venue. The name of Amy Gentry will be listed with the likes of Clive Barker.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy of Last Woman Standing by Amy Gentry. I unfortunately didn't finish this book, which is odd for me. I rarely don't finish what I'm reading, so it was quite a letdown. I still can't pinpoint why I couldn't get into this book, it just didn't do it for me. I have heard great things about Gentry's work, so that made me extra disappointed! I'm still thankful that I was given a chance to read this copy, but unfortunately it was not for me!

My review has been posted directly to goodreads. Please refer to the link below to see my review of this book on goodreads.com.

A very timely thriller about two women’s quest for revenge on the men who have assaulted or wronged them. While I am all for female empowerment, this one missed the mark for me. I felt like it was such an important topic with the #MeToo movement, but I had a very hard time connecting with the characters. I actually guessed the twist about 40% in. I didn’t love it, but I also didn’t hate it; it was just ok for me.

Thanks to Amy Gentry, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, Amy Gentry and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for this ARC.

I loved "Good As Gone", so I was super excited to read "Last Woman Standing". I enjoyed this book, and read it in a few days. It had a twist I didn't see coming. I was hooked by the time I was about 25% into this story. A definite must read.

What an excellent blend of humor and suspense and it completely WORKED! I loved this book and haven't read one like this in, well...ever I guess? Tremendous read!

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly, this was not my cup of tea. I did not find myself identifying with the main characters. I liked that Dana was a stand up comedian, because I haven't read a book with that perspective before but her comedy fell flat for me. I didn't buy in to how quickly Dana & Amanda bonded and started plotting together. "Strangers on a Train" by Patricia Highsmith used the premise of strangers meeting and plotting revenge for each other but Highsmith did it much better in my opinion.

Tried to give this book a chance, it just wasn't happening. Did enjoy the character of Dana Diaz, but the story was just slow going and not very exciting.

Last Woman Standing starts as though it's an updated version of Strangers on a Train, but it turns out to be just a jumping off point for a novel about one woman's attempt to get much-desired revenge. The main character is Dana Diaz, a struggling stand-up comic in Austin, Texas. We meet Dana as she's having a bad night at a comedy club. Coming off her set, she meets the one audience member who actually seemed to appreciate her set, a woman named Amanda. Amanda has just relocated from LA and is an actress/disgraced computer programmer. The two women bond quickly over many, many drinks. When they meet again after another of Dana's sets, Dana shares with Amanda a story about a man in the industry who had sexually harassed her and is now judging a comedy competition she's currently in. Amanda quickly assures she'll "take care" of him. She does, but now wants Dana to return the favor. Things spiral out of control from there.

This is obviously a very timely novel in terms of female empowerment, but I honestly didn't love it. The last 10% of the book, in particular, lost me. I found Dana really passive. First she lets Amanda control her, and in escaping her, she falls back in with her childhood friend and former comedy writing partner, who also controls her. The ending was violent and rushed, and I didn't like the way things ended up for either Dana or Amanda. I found it completely unsatisfying. I think Amy Gentry is a talented writer, but Last Woman Standing is just not a stand-out performance. Three stars.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I loved Good As Gone so I was so excited to get to read Amy Gentry's new book. I love her writing style and how she portrays her characters.

Dana Diaz is a hispanic tiny woman trying to make it in the men's world of stand-up comedy. After fleeing sexual harassment in Los Angeles, Dana moves to Austin to try to get her comedy career going. After bombing another show, Dana meets Amanda, who also fled from Los Angeles, to get away from an abusive boyfriend. Their friendship quickly escalates and they develop a hit list of the men who have harmed them. Little does Dana know, one of Amanda's names is Dana's lifelong best friend and ex-writing partner, When Dana tries to separate herself from Amanda and the things they did together, the story gets darker and twisted.

Definitely not as good as Good As Gone but still a great suspense thriller with a killer ending.

Thank you so much to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book for my honest review.

This novel was amazing!! Wow.. this was my first time reading an Amy Gentry novel and I am so impressed. The way she writes is outstanding. Every page captures your attention and engrosses you into the story line. I loved it!

I think the overall premise of the book was interesting, but was not executed well. It seemed liked the chapters went around in circles and never really got where they needed to go. I liked the character of Dana, however there were a lot of things that were too outlandish to be believable. This book fell flat for me. Thanks for the ARC, Netgalley.

***Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of LAST WOMAN STANDING by Amy Gentry in exchange for my honest review.***

3 STARS

Amy Gentry’s debut AS GOOD AS GONE was a five star read, so I was excited to have the opportunity to review LAST WOMAN STANDING, a modern retelling of STRANGERS ON A TRAIN.

I had a difficult time connecting to narrator Dana. The story opens during her standup routine, which I didn’t find funny. Other than Joan Rivers and political comedians, standup isn’t my thing. I prefer satire. Then she met Amanda in the audience, a woman who gave off such troubled vibe I would have gone running. I don’t necessarily need to identify with characters to champion their journey or to enjoy books, but I do need to feel more than apathy.

LAST WOMAN STANDING is a good story with an important message, particularly in the #MeToo movement. If we count childhood, I’ll bet most people who have been wronged have had revenge fantasies, so on some level Dana and Amanda are partially relatable. The trusting a stranger and acting on those fantasies is the stuff of thrillers and will find an audience clamoring for more.

One of my favorite aspects of Gentry’s writing is that she finishes stories. I liked the wrap up of LAST WOMAN STANDING.

Suspense and thriller lovers, LAST WOMAN STANDING is worth checking out.

Very very topical! I liked that it took what could have been a cliched story and made it fresh. Having the main character be a stand up comedian was a nice touch, that is something you do not see often.