The Last Party by A.R. Torre

Perla Wultz has it all. She was adopted by a wealthy couple when she was young and now that they are gone, she's inherited all their wealth. She's married to the man of her dreams and has a beautiful daughter who is about to turn twelve. They live in an affluent, gated Pasadena community and Perla has no trouble maintaining her perfect and accomplished persona.

Perla's daughter Sophie is oh so smart and she's keeping a diary. Sophie sees so much, she sees through so much. Her mother is a liar and she's teaching Sophie how to lie. There is an art to it and Perla is a wiz at telling lies, manipulating, and covering it all.

Twenty-three years ago, Leewood Folcrum, was convicted of killing two young girls at a birthday party. He admits he did it and even has a fan club of sorts. Women who want to be with him, men who want to know him, and now he's being hassled by a doctoral student who is interviewing Folcrum for his dissertation. But Folcrum is getting suspicious and doesn't trust this guy. At least he's good for fast food lunches, the payment Fulcrum exacts for allowing the student to meet with him. Fulcrum won't tell his secrets though. He's going to hold on to them for life.

Perla is obsessed with Folcrum and his crime. So very obsessed and she has plans. Those plans will blow up the life of her family, blow up the life of Folcrum. Perla needs to get ready for all the attention and media interviews, she's going to be sought after, so she needs to look her best. So much planning, so little time.

The story can be hard to follow at first. There are media posts, neighbor interviews, and we are not always sure whose POV we are seeing. I loved Sophie's viewpoint and wished for more of it. The story is very disturbing in so many ways and I wasn't always sure I wanted to look at what was being presented. This is no ordinary thriller, it's throwing the worst evils at us and some of them seem to be brushed over. But I could not put the book down and it certainly entertained.

Thank you to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for this ARC.

Warning ⚠️
Perla Wultz is one of the most despicable, vile, manipulative characters that you will ever meet!

Twenty-three years ago, Leewood Folcrum, (inmate 82145) was found holding his daughter in his arms, her throat slit-the two friends invited his daughter Jenny’s 12th birthday sleepover party, lying beside them-DEAD.

An inquisitive doctoral student, Dr. Timothy Valden has decided to interview Folcrum for his dissertation. He hopes to discover WHY he committed the crime and what REALLY happened the night of the “FOLCRUM PARTY”??

What will it take to get Folcrum to agree to an interview?
An “Arby’s Beef N Cheddar, upsized with curly fries and a root beer.

And, what will it take to convince Perla Wultz to mimic that famous crime and kill her own daughter, Sophie, on her 12th birthday?
EVEN LESS

In fact, it’s her own idea. She has saved a life before and knows it is thrilling to do so, but that the feeling pales in comparison to TAKING a life.

But, first she will have to set a plan in motion to frame someone else to take the fall.

This is a DARK DARK story filled with DECEPTION and SURPRISES! The tension is palpable as the days grow closer to Sophie’s 12th birthday party.

Will she survive?

The story unfolds through the alternating perspectives of Perla, the journal entries of 11 year old Sophie, and the interviews between Dr. Valden and Leewood Folcrum, with emails and commentary from neighbors peppered in.

The pace is fast and short chapters allow you to say “just one more” as you race to find out if Perla will succeed.

A.R. Torre is a pseudonym of Alessandra Torre- her dark alter ego writes psychological thrillers while Alessandra writes spicy romances-And this novel is definitely A.R. Torre’s MOST UNSETTLING yet.

It was “unputdownable”!

AVAILABLE August 20, 2024

Thank You to Thomas & Mercer for the gifted copy provided through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to offer a candid review!

This book has been getting talked about sooooooo much at ThePulse and for good reason!! It seems like once one person read it, it was like a wildfire through the group. I believe it is well known now to never sit out for an A.R. Torre book.
I started reading Saturday evening and did not want to put it down. It was so good. It immediately drew me in. What a wild ride this book was! There was so much to unpack with this story. It was like a never ending onion with all of the layers being pulled back. I love how the book flowed. The story was told in several different points of view, along with some quotes from a news article or podcast. The flashbacks also helped add to the suspense. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, another curve ball was thrown! And that ending?! OMG! This review is super hard to write without giving anything away. While this is a good, fast paced read, it is also pretty dark and not for everyone!

I absolutely loved this! It is totally spine tingling and will keep you guessing till the end! And even when you think you have it figured out you will be wrong. Do NOT miss this!!

This book is freaking everything. I could not put it down. The amount of twists was insane and I could not figure out what was going to happen next. I absolutely loved to hate Perla.

“Too bad the ability to thaw ice wasn’t going to save him.”

Um what did I just read?!? When I say I devoured this book I mean I DEVOURED THIS BOOK!!! The complexity of this book is absolutely mind blowing. I was immediately invested from the beginning and kept wanting more. Then the end literally had my jaw on the ground! This is easily in the top 5 best reads of 2024.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review. This book was an amazing twisty ride! I loved that it kept me guessing, although I did guess a few things right towards the end. This was my second A. R. Torre book and I plan to read all of the others. 5 stars!

Woah. Add this one to your TBR now 🔥

My thoughts at only 14% in- holy sh*t, this is twisted! And I loved it! 👏🏻 I totally understand the hype and why the @thrillerbookloversthepulse group chat was blowing up over this book. It grabbed my attention from the very beginning and kept me hooked and guessing the entire time. I love Torre’s writing style and the way she tells a story- it’s entirely bingeable, but too good to rush through!

Perla has the perfect life. Loving husband and daughter, plus all the money they need. But it’s clear there’s something “off” about Perla and she isn’t content with living this dream life. She develops an obsession with a criminal imprisoned for the murders of young girls that took place over 20 years ago. Meanwhile, this murderer is being interviewed by a doctoral student who may finally get him to admit the truth about what happened that awful night. Through multiple points of view, the connections between these characters are explored and lead to a mind blowing twist.

Perla is such an unlikeable MC, the author does an amazing job at making you love to hate her. Comparing a cleft palate repair to her desire for a nose job and mole removal- “Were their facial deformities really any different from mine?” 😆

I was so excited to read this book because I’ve read three of Torre’s other books and loved them all. This most definitely takes the prize for my favorite of hers so far. I previously read A Fatal Affair and Every Last Secret (4 ⭐️), and The Good Lie (5 ⭐️).

Thank you so much to Amazon Publishing, NetGalley, and AR Torre for letting me read and review this book before it publishes in August!

A.R. Torre is an auto read author for me and her newest title “The last party” was twisty/thrilling and did not disappoint. The story surrounds a murder of young teen girls that took place 23 years ago. It’s multiple POV’s with different storylines that all somehow merge along the way. I did guess one of the major plot twists but it didn’t take away the enjoyment of putting all the puzzle pieces together. The FMC Perla’s POV gave me chills and was so creepy and kept me on the edge of my seat.

I've really enjoyed A.R. Torre's previous books, but I felt like this book should have come with a trigger warning. I had to stop reading--I'm sorry, I adore thrillers, and I adore this author's other titles, but I don't want to be inside the head of a woman who is clearly planning on murdering her child.

Thank you @netgalley for the Advanced Reader Copy of The Last Party by A.R. Torre. This is a thriller, and it goes back to a murder of two young girls that happened many years earlier at a birthday party. Perla now lives in a fancy Pasadena area, but she can’t forget about the murders, and the man who confessed and is in prison now. There are secrets and maybe things are not as they seem? It’s a fast moving mystery. #thelastparty #artorre #netgalley #advancedreadercopy #mystery #bookstagram #booklover #reader #bookblog #lovetoread #fictionreader #bookreview #bookrecommendation #readersofinstagram #bookloversofinstagram #takeapagefrommybook #readallthebooks #booksbooksbooks #booksofinstagram #bookwormproblems #bookaholic #booknerd #whattoread #readingtime #bookaddict #ilovetoread #ilovebooks #needtoread #readallday

This is my first-ever book by A.R. Torre, and I can tell you right now that there's a Torre-based bender in my near future. HOLY CATS. THIS WAS WILD!

Perla lives in a very fancy house in a very fancy neighborhood with her husband (Grant) and almost-12-year-old daughter (Sophie). On the surface, she seems like just another super-rich white lady with a nice car and too much time to spend micromanaging her life and appearance, but Perla also has a secret obsession with a murderer.

The structure of this was cool and really well done -- the story was told through multiple POVs and there were pull quotes from news coverage and neighbor interviews and whatnot at the start of each chapter as kind of a teaser for what was coming next. And I LOVED how she scattered the twists and reveals throughout the story, so there was never a boring moment. As the reader it was super fun to know *something* was going on that maybe some of the other characters didn't know about (yet) and to watch it all connect and get crazy.

This was everything I want from a thriller, and I would have happily read this in one sitting [alas, I had to leave my book and DO stuff ((EYEROLL))]. I'm so happy the @thrillerbookloversthepulse crew brought this book to my attention and I got to read it early!!! Read this!

* thanks to Amazon Publishing / Thomas & Mercer for the NetGalley review copy. The Last Party publishes August 20, 2024.

#thepulse #pulsepoint #thrillerbookloversthepulse

Thanks to #NetGalley and #Thomas&Mercer for the book #TheLastParty by #ARTorre. Wow, this book is incredible. It had me guessing the whole time and I still didn’t figure it out. Twelve years ago there was fatal stabbing of a girls 12th birthday sleepover. The father was convicted and put in prison. Was he the right person? This is a must read!!!

I think this is AR Torre’s best thriller yet. You may guess the big twist early, but that won’t keep you from burning the midnight oil and staying up alllllll night to finish this.

The main character, Perla Wultz, is a cold hearted calculating narcissist whose motives and plans are seemingly incomprehensible. She is married to Grant, the ever doting and loving husband and father to their very intelligent daughter Sophie.

A 20 year old multiple murder of children that was committed by a death row inmate Leewood Fulcrum seems to keep Perla’s attention to the point of obsession.

I loved the little interviews, articles, podcasts and other comments start each chapter planting seeds to keep you guessing and second guessing what you’ve just read.

Full of dark devious characters this twisty thriller is a must read !

#TheLastParty:⁣
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Thank you @thrillerbookloversthepulse @amazonpublishing for my gifted copy of this wild ride!!⁣
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A.R. Torre is one of those authors that just will not disappoint you. This book was unhinged in the best day, darker than dark, and was very satisfying.⁣
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The darkness of the book reminded me of Sharp Objects. We got the brutal killings of children (three at the infamous Folcrum Party) and a wild and twisty ending. Now⁣
I’m not going to give anything away, which is very hard, but as a thriller lover, the twists made sense and I caught on to them. Do I think others will be jaw on the floor bamboozled? 100% ⁣
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It’s pretty pedal to the floor action once we start. The middle has lots of planning, because, ok, fair, but the ending is twist after twist. Perla is a narcissist (She literally airs around not denying she’s not a doctor to save someone’s life in like the 2nd page and is like oh.. me?) Sophie was cool and I loved her chapters. Wish I got more of her perspectives because a child’s perspective is always more than we give them credit for.⁣
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Overall, a wild ride, another hit from A.R. Torre, and another author buy author. I think this book is definitely one I’ll never forget, and can’t stop raving about it to friends. ⁣
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The Last Party does not come out until August 8th, but I promise you, it’s worth the wait!!⁣
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Predict text: The Last Party…⁣
The last party will be the last one to win the election.

This one was a crazy ride from start to finish. The little character statements at the beginning really makes you want to keep reading to find out what actually happens and what everyone is talking about. I did figure out what the connection was between the murder 23 years ago and the characters in the story, but it didn't take anything away from the reading experience. This was a fun and twisty thriller and I'm excited to read more from this author.

This is my first book by this author and it absolutely blew me away. It was a dark twisty thriller and I loved every single minute. Buckle up for a wild ride with this one.

Leewood Fulcrum serves a lifetime prison sentence after being convicted of murders at his 12 year old daughter's birthday party over twenty years ago. This crime was horrific and still comes up from time to time on podcasts and the like.

Currently Perla Wultz lives with her husband, Grant, and daughter, Sophie, not far fro the prison where Fulcrum is held. Their house is a mansion, bought from her inheritance, and they live well.
Perla's life looks envious to many, but we don't always know what goes on behind closed doors.
We learn that soon enough and what happens will have you gasping.

I feel like this is one of those reviews where you cannot give too much information. Just know this book is definitely one of the best I've read this year and I HIGHLY recommend it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for an eARC, and to Thriller Book Lovers The Pulse and AR Torre for allowing me the honor to be a part of this tour for this amazing thriller.

What the heck did I just read? My word what a book.

You know of my love of books with podcasts (still having never listened to one 😂). There are multiple narrators. One is dying in jail. There are interjections from either the podcast or just random people on some future event. Things unspool slowly. Meaning I knew something happened yet I didn’t know what and the podcast and interjections slowly shed light in the event.

This kept me guessing. As I read I wasn’t sure if nothing was as it seems or everything was exactly how it seems. Instead of an unreliable narrator there was an unreliable book.

It’s dark. It’s unpredictable. There is some pure evil. Not just an unlikable character but a hated character. But that I really liked hating and needed to know more about.

Stop reading about this one and add it to your tbr.

I am a solid A R Torre fan. I think I’ve read almost everything she’s published under that name and also her other pen name Alessandra Torre so was a no brainer that I’d reach for The Last Party too.

The story follows mother of one Perla in her beautiful house with her carefully constructed perfect life. It also follows Leewood Folcrum - a convicted murderer. Seemingly two opposite stories which makes you wonder how they could be entwined. Perla appears obsessed with Leewood but it’s not immediately clear why and where that comes from. She sets out to plan a similar murder to that which Leewood was charged with and the story follows the lead up to that event. It is twisted and Perla’s inner thoughts, plotting and gaslighting of other characters was wild.

I did not see the twists in this one coming. I was a little bit let down with the ending but the lead up to it with Perla’s planning and the slow reveal of the true identities of all the different players was clever.

This is not my favourite of Torre’s thrillers but I did love the similarity between this and Moonshot, a baseball thriller, with the addition of interview and newspaper transcripts throughout the book at the start of chapters. I love Moonshot - it’s one of my favourite’s that she’s written - so if you’ve not tried it you should give it a go.

‼️Warning! Outlier review!‼️

A.R. Torre is an absolute favorite author of mine. Any book she writes (under any of her pseudonyms) is automatically added to the top of my tbr list. This book was no different...

That is until I started reading…😫

Perla is living a quiet, unassuming life with her husband and daughter. But Perla has big plans! She’s about to put into motion something people will be talking about for years!

Leewood is serving a sentence for multiple murders. Over the years no one has ever come to visit.
Until a graduate student begins making frequent trips to the prison, hoping to hear from Leewood himself. What exactly happened all those years ago?

That’s it for the premise. Any more and it’s a slippery slope into spoilers.
I can say, this is one of her darker themed thrillers.

Ok… so what went wrong for me?
🫤I found the format a bit confusing. The transition of who was narrating was a bit choppy and I’d had to hit reverse and reread pages to make sure I had the right perspective.
🫤Unfortunately I guessed most of the twists, so nothing came as a huge surprise for me.

There are loads of fabulous five star reviews for this book (virtually every review) so I can confidently say it's a case of...

It’s me🙋🏻‍♀️ not the book!

Make sure to read all the rave reviews and I hope you love it as much as everyone else did.

Will this stop me or make me hesitate before picking up her next? Not a chance! I can’t wait to see what she working on!

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer