Taylor Adams it one of my favorite authors and both No Exit and Hairpin Bridge were five star reads for me, so I was super excited to find out he had a new book coming out. I was so intrigued from the summary and loved the idea of someone taking revenge after leaving a one star review. This book was action packed and a WILD ride from start to finish. There were so many twists and just when you thought there couldn’t possibly be anymore, another one pops up. Emma was a fun MC and I kept rooting for her the whole way through.

After a few chapters the book jumps right into the action which I wish it would’ve waited a little bit longer and built the suspense up more. I also did guess some big twists which they did feel a little predicable. The second POV being the novel was unique and at times I enjoyed it and others it kinda threw me off.

Overall, I enjoyed this action packed, wild ride from Adams and will always pick up his books when released. This one just wasn’t my favorite but doesn’t mean it still wasn’t a fun, crazy read!

*audible gasp* would be the theme! You think it's over and it is NOT! Just keeps twisting and turning! I thought it was a fantastic roller coaster but I was ready to get off at the end.

Thank you to net galley for this ARC!

Wow! Taylor Adams has done it again. I absolutely loved No Exit, and this one was another winner. The whole book I thought I knew what was going on. Lots of surprising twists and an ending you won't believe. This is a must read for any thriller lovers.

Hold on for a wild ride with this one. Imagine if you gave a poor review to a book you just read. You would just move on and read another book, no big deal, right? Wrong! What is the author of that book started threatening you if you didn't take down your review? What if the author took it even further and began stalking you? Sound like a nightmare? For our main character, Emma, who is trying to escape from a troubled past, it really is a nightmare. Emma is house sitting while trying to move past the grief and loss of her troubled past. But now, trouble has shown up right on the doorstep of the secluded house where she is lodging. Can she trust the elderly neighbor man who she has caught glimpses of through the windows on occasion and plays scrabble with to pass the time? Does she really know him? Would he help her out if she was in real danger? This is a well-written, twisty thriller that is not for the faint of heart. Enjoyable and unpredictable.

Emma has retreated to a remote beach house and spends her days reading kindle books and avoiding her memories. She reads a terrible horror novel and proceeds to post a 1 star review about how awful it is and then quickly receives a response from the author asking her to remove her review. When she refuses, she starts to sense someone around the house.

This premise absolutely drew me in. However the story feels drawn out and over the top and when I realized I was only halfway through, decided to stop here.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance reading copy.

Okay, can I just let you guys know right off the bat that I devoured this book all in one sitting in about three and a half hours? This book is 352 pages, so that’s about 5 pages a minute, on average. I’m a speed reader. That’s been the case my entire life. But in this case I think it’s fair to say I absolutely devoured this book in the way I usually only reserve for books that utterly captivate me and drown out the world around me until the book is the only thing I know and see.

I love a good piece of meta fiction, and while The Last Word isn’t completely meta, the catalyst for the plot is definitely a sharp bit of meta that anyone who’s been contacted by a wounded or narcissistic author about what they feel is an unfair or nasty review they don’t deserve and demand you take it down (and/or stalk you online…maybe talk trash about you on social media) or know someone who has. Authors who, for some reason, don’t understand when you put your work out for public consumption it then becomes up to the public to decide its merits and deficits because art is subjective.

Just that part of the book alone was enough for me to be drawn in completely, along with Emma’s (our protagonist) spot-on analysis of an independent author’s truly horrible horror novel that she dares to give a one-star review on a certain bookseller’s website. Let’s just say he doesn’t appreciate her review and threatens to go further in revenge than just online stalking or social media trash talking and Emma is almost completely alone on an isolated strand of beach houses in northern Washington with only her beloved dog, Laika, and a single neighbor down the beach named Deek for company. Emma came to Washington with more emotional baggage than physical and with a goal in mind. She just isn’t there yet. In the meantime she plays Hangman with Deek via telescope, reads free and bargain deal books on her eReader en masse, drinks a lot of ginger tea, and plays with Laika on the beach.

It’s not long at all–only a day or so, maybe–before Emma starts to get that feeling all of us thriller readers know is coming: the feeling of being watched. Emma just feels like she’s being watched very closely.

From this point in the book, the plot starts to accelerate quickly, while the POV shifts between the narrative in third person omniscient and the narrative told like a story from the antagonist’s POV. This section of the book is riveting as it shows just how delusional and unbalanced our antagonist is while simultaneously showing the story from what some call the “God Perspective”. This is also another meta point to the plot, as the antagonist points out more than once that “the author is God”.

The contrast between the antagonist, with his conspiracy theory dog whistles and definite incel personality and Emma, with her loyal dog and huge heart, make for a fascinating show-down. One is filled with bravado, narcissism, and power he didn’t earn but only manufactured for himself from delusions and what he probably read on social media sites. The other may have a huge heart, but it’s a wounded one housed in a vulnerable body with a depressed mind, all of which stems from very real emotional trauma and pain. Emma doesn’t start off believing she can survive this ordeal, but she has hidden strength and enough resilience to know she doesn’t want someone like our antagonist to be the one to take her (or her dog!) down.

Yes, this book may be a bit predictable in spots, but it’s enough of a surprise where it counts that I was happy as a clam. It’s rare that I get surprised by thrillers, but this book definitely got me going, and I enjoyed every bit of it. I couldn’t stop reading and the time just flew by. I definitely think you should put this on your TBR. Heck, just go and read it now. It’s clever, quick, and an absolutely fantastic read.

I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: 5 Star Read/Conspiracy Thriller/Psychological Thriller/Suspense Thriller/Thriller/Crime Thriller/Murder Thriller

3.5 stars
No 1 star review from me, but I definitely feel like I'm in the minority with this one. I enjoyed it, but I didn't love it. I did give it an extra half a star because SPOILER ALERT ⚠️..... the dog did NOT die
Emma is housesitting with her dog at an old beach front house. She spends days reading E-books from amazon and playing hangman via whiteboard through a telescope with her neighbor, Deek, who she has never met in person. Deek gives Emma a recommendation to read Murder Mountain, a poorly written horror novel that she gives a 1 star review. After posting her review, Emma immediately receives a threatening response from the author demanding she takes her review down. After refusing, Emma starts to feel like she is being watched and strange things start to happen in the house.
Thank you Netgalley and William Morrow publishing for the ARC.

The Last Word is a creepy and funny book that reads like a slasher film. I loved the unique writing style and how we got multiple POVs on the third person. There were some surprising twists along the way. A fast read that was hard to put down!

“In a story, the author is God.
Or the devil”


Wow.
What the F did I read.


Taylor Adams, now I’m afraid of giving low star ratings lol


It’s very rare to find books that are this gripping.
Like, completely unputdownable, quick chapters, unreliable narrators, plot twist on top of plot twist, the whole thing! I LOVE IT!


When you start this book, make sure you have time to read it in one sitting!


First of all, this book is perfect for book reviewers.


Our MC is a lonely avid reader, and she reads more than one book a day on her Kindle.


She's house sitting a gigantic house in the middle of nowhere, and she literally does nothing but walk her dog, and read. And “talk” to her weird old neighbor - they communicate through white boards on the window.


She reads a terrible horror book on her Kindle and posts a brutally honest review on Amazon. The author asks her to delete the review because it’ll be bad for him. She says “nope, I’ll leave it because it was so bad and people shouldn't waste their time reading it”, and he says “OK then”.


From that day on, Emma’s life literally turns into a nightmare. The author wants to show Emma that horror books aren’t as predictable as her review suggested.


When I tell you this book has a thousand plot twists, I am not kidding.


I think this became my favorite book by Taylor Adams. I know, I know! No Exit is fantastic, and so far it was my favorite book by the author, but The Last Word might’ve taken its place!


5 stars

If you are going to leave a one-star review...be prepared to suffer the consequences! That's how this book begins, and it takes more twisty turns than a backwoods mountain road. There was a time or two that I rolled my eyes and considered putting it down but I'm glad I finished. I hung on for the ride and enjoyed being slung in a different direction with each unique and unpredictable plot twist. My advice...buckle up Buttercup and prepare yourself for a creepy thrilling adventure! My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a galley of this book for review. All opinions are my own.

Thank you William Morrow for the review copy of The Last Word via NetGalley! I LOVED this wild ride of a suspense thriller, the cat and mouse themes really worked for me and as a big book fan and reviewer, this really worked for me. I was completely sucked into the plot, the suspense, and stayed up late, which is rare (toddler mom, I need sleep!); this was the perfect escape reality thriller that I did not know I needed.
This is perfect for fans of this author and for readers who enjoyed books such as Lie to Me and David Ellis' Look Closer (a surprise thriller win for me last year!).

It was going really well until the last third of the book when it started to draaaaaaaag and I was rolling my eyes at a few of the scenes like, "ok, now really? " some cheesy 🧀 scenes for sure. The first half of the book tho 👌🏼 had me going. It was so heart pounding like straight outta a scary movie type thrill ride I was constantly getting spooked scene after scene.

Being new to sharing my thoughts on the books I’m reading, let me just say, this makes me rethink that decision and wondering if I should take up a new hobby. What a wild ride!

The Last Word is everything you might think it would be- fast paced, heart pounding, with an atmospheric and spooky setting and totally binge worthy.

This was my first time reading something from Taylor Adams, and I look forward to reading his previous works. Thank you to the author, NetGalley, William Morrow and Custom House Books for the advanced copy.

This is once again a fun campy type thriller. I’m typical Taylor Adams Fashion it’s full of twists and high suspense. For readers that have been fans of his previous work this one is for you.

THIS IS WHAT YOU CALL A POWERHOUSE THRILLER!

☑ Checks ALL the boxes for me. 📢 Top 3 Thrillers of 2023! THE LAST WORD is a must-read for every author and book lover.

Bestselling author, Taylor Adams, returns following Hairpin Bridge and No Exit (5 stars) with a knockout adrenaline-fueled psychological thriller like no other— THE LAST WORD. Best thriller I have read all year. Currently at #125, and it is not the end of April yet.

Who will get the last word in this uber twisty riveting cat-and-mouse game when a book reviewer rates a book with a one-star review, and the unhinged author seeks revenge?

Emma Carpenter, a school teacher, is house-sitting (3 months), cutting off all social media at a remote Strand Beach, Washington, location. It is just Emma and her golden retriever, Laika. A storm is coming (more than the weather). Isolation: winter and the snow is harsh.

Emma spends time walking her dog on the beach and binge-reading self-published 99-cent thrillers on her e-reader she downloads from Amazon.

She reads one based on her neighbor's recommendation (as a joke), Murder Mountain, by H.G. Kane, with the subtitle: The Scariest Book You'll Ever Read.

When finishing, the website asks for a review. Emma would like to give it a zero, but not an option, so she selects 1 STAR with a brief review. It will be the first and only review. Will the author read it? She presses SEND. It posts.

Then two hours later, she gets a reply from the author asking her to take down her review. Then he demands it or else. Kane's messages become menacing and eviler each time she refuses.

She tells herself not to respond, but this email gets more sinister each time. She is stubborn and will not remove the rating even though he demands it. He does not scare her.

She was not reading for pleasure but to escape. Someone is in her house. Standing in her bedroom.

However, very little frightens her since the worst thing happened to her months ago, but she fears what she becomes when she's alone and where her mind will go if she lets it. She has a backpack full of rocks waiting to see what she will do with it. Something has gone down in her life, but readers do not get the details until much later. Emma may discover she wants to survive, and boy she has to fight.

Anything is better than being alone with her thoughts. Or so she thinks until her life turns into a nightmare of HORROR.

Until now, the only people Emma communicates with since she arrived are the retired author neighbor, Deek, through a telescope and a whiteboard, and texting the owner, Jules Phelps from Portland, owner of the house she meets only once when she shows up. Other than him, there is no one else close by. The neighbor writes on the chalkboard his name is Deek. He seems pretty smart with his word games.

Reg flag: H.G. Kane has no author photo. No Facebook. No IG or Twitter. His website domain seems to have expired. The only evidence that this digital ghost exists is from where she started on Amazon and the stupid bio that evidently is self-written—a Gmail address. Gag, Emma thinks.

After digging into the crazy author's work, she discovers sixteen other gruesome and horror tales of murder. Are these books purely fiction? Or will Emma be in his next novel as the victim?

His most popular book, Murder Lake, has an average of two and a half stars. Murder Valley - one and a half stars, and on it goes. The victims never seem to win. His newest one she reviewed and read now has some good reviews, probably posted by his mom.

This guy is creepy and scary and ultimately shows up at her door. A total madman. Maybe she can get help through the telescope from the neighbor for help. Maybe since he was a famous author, he could lure the guy away from him and talk him down before he kills her. She has no gun or weapon.

However, can she trust him? Jaw-dropping surprises! Who is the prey, and who is the predator? It is a full-on battle with no power and no help. Emma must gather the strength to fight for her life and her dog.

A powerhouse author and a powerhouse book! With one clever plot twist after another, and just when you think you have it figured out, BAM, another twist. Multi-layered, action-packed, full of tension and suspense, blended with dark humor, you will be rooting for Emma and Laika to the satisfying conclusion. I am a huge Golden fan (I miss my Golden Duke with 15 glorious years).

I LOVED THIS BOOK!!! So good. It hooked me from the first page to the Epilogue. A book within a book. Oh, also an unreliable narrator. I do not want to say too much due to spoilers, but man, this is twisty and scary; thinking this could happen in real life!

From obsession, revenge, stalking, horror, mystery, suspense, crime, literary, and psychological. Genre-bending!

INTERVIEW: Taylor is one of my favorite authors, and I cannot wait for my #AuthorElevatorSeries Q&A with Taylor, where we go behind the scenes of the book and this amazing author on pub day! I loved NO EXIT, but trust me; THE LAST WORD is just as good or even better!

I will read anything Taylor writes! Cannot wait to see what comes next.

Many thanks to #WilliamMorrow for a hardcover copy and #NetGalley for an eARC for review and interview purposes. I also purchased the audiobook and cannot wait to listen to the narrators: Carlotta Brentan and Jim Meskimeno. No Exit was one of my favorite audiobooks.

PS. Check out my website blog review if you want to know about my Amazon review experience.

Blog Review Posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: April 25, 2023
My Rating 5 🌟STARS +++
Top Books of 2023
April 2023 Must-Read Books

The Last Word by Taylor Adams is a highly recommended thriller about repercussions over a one star book review.

Trying to forget a terrible event from five months earlier, Emma Carpenter and her golden retriever Laika, are staying in an old home on Strand Beach off the Washington coast. She is spending her time reading inexpensive e-books and occasionally taking walks. There is some contact from a distant with the old man next door, Deek. It is Deek who suggests she reads Murder Mountain, a serial killer novel by H.G. Kane. This turns out to be a horrendous book which Emma gives a one star review, after which the author quickly asks her to take to review down. The two counter back and forth, with Emma refusing to take down the bad review. This is followed by what seems to be the author targeting her as his next murder victim and inspiration for a new novel.

It is best to jump into this fictional world with few expectations and keep reading past the beginning, even when you are silently thinking, "Really, Really?" It gets better. All your predictions and expectations are going to fall around your feet like confetti. The structure of The Last Word totally switches up all expectations.

The pace begins quick and careens to a breakneck speed. Facts change and actions are swift in this deadly game of cat and mouse. But who is who? Yes, it is tense, dangerous, and suspenseful, but there is also some real entertainment and, dare I say it, fun in this fight for her life, or his life.

Wildly entertaining, over-the-top at times, ridiculous, and heart-stopping. Throw all expectations out the window while reading and simply enjoy the roller coast.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of William Morrow.
The review will be published on Barnes & Noble, Google Books, BookBrowse, Edelweiss, and Amazon.

Maybe I’ll just keep future one star ratings to myself now.

I had so much fun reading this! Gripped from the beginning as the reader is introduced to MC Emma with a back and forth exchange with an author over her one star review. And even though I started the book laughing, I can’t deny that this book had really creepy moments. Adams not only pokes fun at common horror and thriller tropes, he manages to layer them in and deliver a successful scare. A few trigger warnings (necessary spoiler, for me at least: no pet animal death) so definitely check them out if you’re a sensitive reader. Thriller fans are going to definitely enjoy this one.

What happens when you leave a one star review and the author comes for revenge? This was a gritty, wild ride. While using all of the horror movie tropes, Emma Carpenter has to figure out who her real enemy is...and escape. Her dog was a delightful addition (spoiler alert--nothing bad ends up happening to the dog).. This is my first book from Taylor Adams and I am up for more. Recommended.

I LOVED No Exit and was so excited to read this, it did not disappoint! I loved the premise of this so much.

I was pretty certain I knew how it would turn out (I was right) but I was second guessing myself the whole time and still enjoyed it even though I wasn’t wrong.

It’s a little far fetched but in a fun way. Big fan.

Thank you so much to William Morrow for this highly anticipated eARC. I’ve read Taylor Adams before and was so excited to get approved for this book.

Our main character, Emma, leaves an admittedly hilarious one-star review for an ebook she just finished. While she is house sitting at an isolated beach town. During the off season. What could go wrong? The horror that comes next had my heart racing.

When I was 1/3 of a way into this book, I was wondering where else it could go.. it seemed that the plot was predictably laid out and the reader knew who was good and bad, victim and prey. Boy, was I wrong.

Everything that happens next is twist after twist of who you can trust and who you can’t. Whose recollections are accurate and whose are fabricated. This book took me on ride I wasn’t expecting and I really enjoyed it. Multiple POV worked so well in this story because until the end, you didn’t know who was writing what 🤯

Personally, this story had my heart racing. And everything my lizard brain was chanting about what the characters should to do to survive- they did. It was realistic and terrifying. I very much loved the ending- it was not at all what I expected but it did make me tear up.

The Last Word publishes on April 25th!