Brooke was kidnapped 10 years ago, and has been trapped in a cabin all that time -but it's not what you think. She's been stuck playing a demented game. When new players arrive, what happens next?

I had a GREAT time reading it, I put aside all the other books, I kept coming back to it. And that's exactly what you want in a thriller, for it to grab you and keep your attention. I was never bored, I got surprised several times, I was super invested in seeing how it would play out! I am not a huge thriller reader but this one worked for me!
The pacing of the action here is impeccable.

Downsides is the other parts of the writing, like .the characterization and dialogue. It moves the plot forward, but sometimes in ways that I found a little hard to believe. Kind of like a Goosebumps novel. I kept thinking "this isn't at all how humans would behave but ok". Also the romance felt super super weird. Yet, the writing kept me turning the pages.

One other goosebumps thing to note, there is no graphic sexual violence in this book which I appreciated.

Think of it as a ridiculous but enjoyable popcorn thriller and enjoy.
Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for the chance to read this.

Brooke is kidnapped on her way home from work, and along with couple of other kidnapped victims, is forced to "act out" life of another woman. And thus the story begins.

The final scene is the planned final act of the life saga that has been in progress for the past decade, with other kidnapped victims. Some victims have come and gone, and its Brooke who has lived for a decade playing a part. As the final scene approaches, things change when a seemingly innocent vacationer gets entangled in this saga as well.

The first half of book is quite intriguing; everything is known, the motivations are predictable. But its still charming and interesting to see what the victims would do, if they were to overpower their captors. It is when an unnecessary romance is introduced - in middle of this situation, the plot gets a little set back. These moments turn up at most interesting moments, watering down the intensity.

It is always not necessary for the heroine to have a love interest. Its okay if she is a little messed up after being a captive for a decade and has unbridled rage in her ribcage. It takes attention away from things that are getting out of hand and where her focus needs to be. I get that its a very human reaction but here, I found it almost forced. However an argument can be made that Brooke is simply reciprocating to what was lacking in her life for decade - meaningful relationships and the yearning she had for her own family.

Thanks to Ticking Clock Press, LLC and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely, unbelievably phenomenal. I requested an ARC of this book because I was so intrigued by the premise, and yes, the cover. (Don't we all judge books by their covers, despite the old saying?) I was right to be intrigued- The Final Scene is a 5 star thriller with no lapse in suspense or action whatsoever. Brooke (our main character who has been living in an isolated cabin in the woods for a full decade) is a total spitfirey goddess of a woman. Her anger and devastation is completely believable, and I felt like I was trapped in that house with her and rooting for our escape. There is violence (nothing gratuitous), marital trouble, grief and despair, and even some romance. I was completely invested in this story from the first chapter, and I would gladly recommend it to anyone- even if your typical taste isn't thriller/suspense, the story holds up well enough to be completely worth the read.

The Final Scene had me captivated from the very first paragraph, I read this in one sitting because it was just that good apart from the romance aspect it has everything you’d want in a thriller. It had me on the edge of my seat, stressed and even crying towards the end.
I will 100% be recommending this to all of my thriller loving friends!

4.5 STARS ROUNDED UP ⭐️💫
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Thank you NetGalley and Ticking Clock Press, LLC for the opportunity to review this book.

The Final Scene started with a bang. It was thrilling, mysterious and a little scary....however, as the story continued, this went from a thriller to a romance and that's where it lost me. There was forced chemistry between two dull people.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review.

OMFG 😳 This book snatched my throat from page one and kept me in a chokehold until I finished it…in one sitting.

We are immediately thrown into Brooke’s tenth year of being held captive in a middle-of-nowhere-Oregon-cabin, where she is headlining the most fckd up role-playing improv ‘Vegas’ residency, like, ever 😬

The pace of this story is neck-breaking, short chapters 🤌🏼, POV swaps, nothing but show-not-tell 👏🏻, and converging storylines. Honestly, the entire book feels like one rising action after another until BAM! Climax!

Each character has a chef's kiss amount of drama that they bring to the table, on top of the, ya know, collared hostage situation they're in. There's even a lil sub-romance storyline that just feels so damn right.

Amazing book. So grateful I was approved.

"Wow, 'The Final Scene' took me on a literary rollercoaster like no other! I've never read a book quite like this. From the first page to the last, I was hooked. The story is so captivating that I couldn't put the book down. It's a thrilling journey filled with twists and turns that kept me guessing until the very end. Highly recommended for anyone looking for an unforgettable reading experience!

The Final scene by Steph Nelson is due to be published February 27th 2024 by Ticking Clock Press.

This book had be completely on edge the whole time and I had to know how it ended. My favorite characters were Derek and Brooke. There has got to be more to this I need to know if Derek and Brooke will get together and if she finds her daughter.

I absolutely loved this book and will definitely be reading more from this author !!!

4.5 stars! This was a great, quick read. The characters were vibrant, the situation dire, and the way it all came together in the end was really satisfying. Some very minor criticisms - the “intimate” scene was a little overdone, and the very end was a little rushed. I wish there had been a bit more there. Otherwise I was really happy with this story.

I found this book to be interesting. Its plot is not something I have come across specifically before in other books I’ve read which was refreshing. I read this in pretty much one sitting. It’s a quick read and even though the book is meant to have characters who repeat actions over and over it doesn’t become monotonous. I think if you’re looking for something original and that has thriller vibes you should check this one out.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the advanced copy.

It was definitely a wild ride. I loved the idea of a closed/locked room thriller. Keeping the victims captive was very fascinating. I think I just wanted more back story on Grace and Mitch. It started out strong and sucked me in, very creepy but as the story went on it just got a little blah. It had very good moments throughout but wasn't consistent. It took me a few days to read this where I could usually devour a thriller in a day.

3⭐️

Also I believe there is a typo where a character is called the wrong name. Page 45. Third paragraph from the bottom. "Brooke squints through the rain to see better." I believe this should say Mina.

I could not put this book down. I read it in about 6 hours straight. Very gripping and heartfelt. Will definitely recommend !

To review this book it's a real challenge.

I liked the concept ( holding victims for such a long time for recreating scenes ) but here the issues start.
Why on earth are they really doing that? We just got some glimpses and it wasn't nearly enough to even try to understand why they do something like that.

The characters were also a handful, quite hard to reason with them at times.

And everything got tied together in a nice little bow with too many coincidences.

I loved that there was the possibility to the Epilogue but even there I was expecting more.

Thank you Netgalley!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with an ARC to review!

3.25/3.5??? stars! Rounded up!

Okay, as I put in my little update while reading this, the premise of this was right up my weird little alley and I jumped at the chance to read it.

When I read what Brooke and the others were being made to do, I did let out a big cackle. She has been held captive in a cabin that is unlocked but hey, there's a bomb around her neck that will go off if she dares to go out too far, and being made to play a part in an re-enactment of Grace's childhood. Grace is the woman behind all of this. Why is she doing this exactly? There is a slight explanation but also not fully why she's put all of this energy and time into watching people re-act her life.

I got annoyed with Brooke with how she was just DONE with Derek the moment he woke up. Of course this dude is going to ask questions about where tf he is and why is he here, but Brooke just seemed to overly annoyed at him being confused and asking questions like, jeeez I get you've been here for 10 years doing this against your will but why get annoyed at someone who was in the same position as you?

It didn't have enough dark moments for me because I was expecting some really messed up stuff from the premise saying twisted instructions.

But, gotta admit it kept my attention!

What a wild ride! The Final Scene is a fast paced, “locked room” thriller. But the room isn’t locked, it’s just surrounded by a perimeter that will kill you.

Brooke has spent 10 years in captivity. She is a “cast member” in a sick game (more like a play from hell), and has seen many cast members come and go. Unfortunately when they go, they are no longer alive.

This story is so layered, and it was fun to see all of the pieces come together at the shocking final scene. Steph Nelson told a horrifying story about strength, perseverance, loss, and the will to survive. She has gained a new fan, in me.

Thank you to Ticking Clock Press, LLC for allowing me to read this in exchange for my honest review.

A very unique, fast-paced thriller/horror! The author is very creative!
The plot is full of twists and turns and the suspense is the heart of the story. I was on my toes the whole time. The ending, however, felt rushed. It wasn’t flushed out, it was quite abrupt. There was no epilogue and I needed more closure with these fabulous characters.
Nevertheless, a highly recommended dark thriller!

gorgeously unique thriller thats really well done. thanks so much for the arc, and i would recommend this one

Really enjoyed the novel and the premise was exciting. Several people kept captive at any one time having to act out their captors memories. It's strangely compelling and I couldn't put it down. My only criticism would be that the novel did not need a love story squeezed in with Brooke and Derek.
Will definitely read more books by this author

Not really sure how to feel about this one. It is certainly fast-paced and hard to put down, but I'm not sure I really enjoyed it. I think my biggest critique is that the characters felt so rushed - I didn't particularly "care" about any of them as the plot just dove right in. I think this can be done well, but I think this fell a bit short. Entertaining, but a bit disappointing.

𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒕𝒖𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒍, 𝒂 𝒉𝒖𝒈𝒆, 𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒎 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒂 𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒓. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔, 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒕. 𝑰'𝒎 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒆.

This book started out so strong! The tension, the build-up was so palpable, but then that intensity fizzled out. The premise was interesting. A woman has been held in captivity for a decade, along with some other people, who are constantly acting out scenes from one of their captor's lives, to her strict instructions. Getting everything right is important. One slip-up could mean death.

I would have liked a little more back story on the captor and less romance among the captives, as that seemed a little strange to me. Overall, it was a good read, and I'm sure this one will appeal to thriller fans who love kidnapping tropes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ticking Clock Press for the early copy. This title will publish February 27, 2024.