After Lexi's husband, Cam, died she has refused to go back to Pinecrest Estate in the Florida Keys. She has had too many bad memories of her husband and of herself as an extra in a horror film. Lexi's daughter Quinn decides to sneak away to see her grandfather, Rick Plummer, the famous director of Breathless in the Keys at Pinecrest Estate during a hurricane of all times. As Lexi searches for Quinn, things begin to remind her of the horror film she was in long ago.

This was fun book. The different timelines kept the book interesting and made it a quick and easy read. If you are a fan of horror books you are sure to like ALWAYS THE FIRST TO DIE. This was my first book by R.J. Jacobs and I'm interested to read what he comes up with next.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This review will be posted to my Instagram Blog (@coffee.break.book.reviews) in the near future.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC to review!
Rating (on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being excellent)
Quality of writing: 4
Pace: 3
Plot development: 3
Characters: 3
Enjoyability: 3
Ease of Reading: 3

Overall rating: 3 out of 5

I was excited to read an early copy of this because I heard good things! This book was like a book within a book as it looked back to the past in flashbacks. It takes a look at the horror movie genre and what happens when it plays out in real life.

Great story with many twists and turns. I thought I knew who was behind things and I was wrong. Easy to read. Look forward to reading more by this author.

Can you imagine to be trapped in a horror movie takes place in a mansion haunted by ghosts for playing the same role in real life in the middle of the Category four hurricane hits Florida Keys ?

Poor Lexi was the actress of famous and notorious slasher movie “Breathless” ( don’t confuse it with Richard Gere’s movie) at the age 18 where she met her future husband Cam, second AD, college boy, famous director Rick Plummer’s geeky, charming son.

That movie took place in Pinecrest Estate: where celebrities like Capote, Hemingway, Tennessee Williams and gangsters once had hanged out before getting headed to Havana, owned by a cult and sold to Rick Plummer at a cheapest price for the accumulating rumors around islanders called this place “cursed”

During the movie production, many unexplained things happened like broken riggings, the frayed cord that sparked and nearly started a fire, the malfunctioning special effects! But that was just the beginning. The actress who was about to play Lexi’s role quits because she thinks her belongings start to get lost mysteriously. There’s an eerie atmosphere around the house makes her scared.

Another leading actress insists she saw the ghost of a little boy.

And after murder occurred at the last day of the set, leading star Marla gets hysterical, slowly losing her mind.

After two decades later, Cam got missing and presumed death after suspicious circumstances. He visited Pinecrest to focus on his horror book that explains how to survive in the middle of chaotic horror movie.

His wife, new widow Lexi drives through Florida Keys in the middle of hurricane to bring their daughter Quinn home. Quinn lied her about going to Disney Orlando trip. She went to Pinecrest not only to visit her granddad Rick but she also planned to play at the sequel of Breathless.

Lexi already get estranged with her father in law, blaming him on the death of Cam, reluctantly going to the place she never planned to set a foot in.

As soon as she reaches the house, she understands things start to happen in the same sequence of the movie. Could somebody play a game with her to reenact the movie scenes of Breathless and force her to face her past?

The place is flooded, the phones are not working, there’s no electricity and there’s a serial killer out there to finish what he started two decades ago! Will Lexi be the first girl to die just like she did at the movie or will she achieve to be FINAL GIRL by facing the murderer?

Overall: quick, exciting, smart, heart throbbing reading with lots of intelligent horror movie references. I especially recommend to horror geeks like me.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for sharing this amazing digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.

“Always the First to Die” is a thriller/mystery by RJ Jacobs. While I’m not a fan of horror movies, I do know a number of the tropes so the book within the book title by Cam made me laugh (yes, please!). Anyway, to the book - this is told in two timelines - Lexi’s as an 18 year old and then Lexi’s again 25 years later (aka “present day”). Having lived through a number of hurricanes, I found those scenes very familiar - from the destruction to power issues (and traffic issues). All of the characters are flawed, but with Lexi I could empathize with wanting to protect a teenage daughter, but also using her own wits to try to figure things out. I did feel like the last quarter of so of the book was a bit of a rush (though I did like the red herring(s) tossed out building up tension), but because it was rushed for me it seemed a bit too hurried. However, I did like the inclusion of a Florida law - which explained the action a person took (I was wondering).

Good book! I really enjoyed reading this one! This book had suspense, intrigue, murder, mystery, and a few crazy twists! I will definitely recommend reading this book as it was well worth reading! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

I had a blast reading Always the First to Die, and I was always excited to return to the non-stop action in its Florida Keys setting. Reading it was an addicting experience because I just had to know what was coming next.

Despite trying to maintain her distance from the iconic Pinecrest Estate, Lexi had little choice but to return in order to pick up her teenaged daughter, Quinn, and bring her home. Lexi is plagued with memories of being cast in a horror film as a teenager, meeting her husband who has since disappeared in that very location, and confronting her father-in-law and famous horror film director, Rick Plummer. To top it all off, the area was hit by a Category 4 hurricane, and the lack of power, cell service, and minimal police presence must also be dealt with.

I struggled to properly summarize the book because there's so much going on in the best way possible. I loved seeing where all the pieces of the this mystery would lead and how they'd come together. Also - the last 30% of this book - wow! Talk about a twisty, action-packed ending. In other thriller books I've read, I often find that the plot can sizzle out towards the back half, but in Always the First to Die, the story kept building into a satisfying and surprising conclusion.

The characters in the book also really shined. Another pet peeve of mine is when characters lack dimension and could be copy and pasted into just about any book, but Lexi, Quinn, Rick, and everyone else we meet along the way felt very realistic. They're flawed like anyone would be, but they're not constantly making the types of decisions that would make you groan in frustration. It seems like a small detail, but it's refreshing to read!

This book will keep you guessing and turning the pages, and it would be perfect to pick up if you find yourself in a reading slump. It would also be fun to read during the fall and close to Halloween. Even though I haven't seen a ton of horror movies, it exudes that unsettling, anticipatory feeling that makes the genre so exciting. Highly recommended!

Lexi cannot bear to return to Pinecrest Estate. the home she shared with her husband in the Florida Keys. His death and the memories of their courtship, she as an actress in his slasher film, and the subsequent turmoil after a cast member met an all too real grisly end, are just too much to bear. Still, the choice is taken out of her hands when her daughter hares off to visit her grandfather on the island in the wake of a category 4 hurricane. The island’s infrastructure is in ruins and a killer making his way across the island makes Lexi confront her past before she and her daughter have no future. A delicious homage to the slasher films of the past with a setting rife with menace

Always the First to Die by RJ Jacobs

RJ Jacobs does it again!

I am not a fan of horror films—at all. But I ripped through RJ Jacobs’ first two novels and pounced on the opportunity to read his third thriller. Like the previous books, this one had me glued to the edge of my seat.

Lexi witnesses a horrific death on the movie set during her teenage acting debut. She vows never to return to the Florida Keys, especially the rundown estate where she filmed the famous horror movie. The area holds too many awful memories for her.

Lexi’s daughter, seeking answers of her own, visits the region and her grandfather, a legendary horror film director. When Lexi follows after her in the midst of a hurricane, life begins to resemble the horror film of long ago.

A page-turner!