Gillian's writing style always leaves you in suspense.
I’m captivated by this thriller that also weaves in elements of romance.
What do you do when you're a new mother returning to work after maternity leave, only to discover that your husband is a suspected hostage taker? How do you begin to rebuild your life when he suddenly vanishes?
Join Cam on her journey as she clings to hope and refuses to accept the worst about the love of her life.

This book had me captivated from the very beginning. There were times in the middle of the book that it lagged for me, but then it picked right back up and I was back into the story all over again. This was such a good read that I look forward to sharing with others.

Oh wow! This book is a wild, breathtaking rollercoaster of twists and turns that keeps you on the edge of your seat. New mom Camilla’s world spirals into chaos on the longest day of the year when she discovers a cryptic note from her husband, Luke. Suddenly, instead of being the loving father and husband she thought she knew, Luke is revealed to be involved in a hostage situation in London—but shockingly, not as a hostage, but as the gunman. 😱

As breaking news floods in, Camilla is thrust into a whirlwind of chaos and danger. She must decipher the mysterious note and confront deep, dark secrets that threaten to shatter her reality. With each heart-pounding twist and hair-raising turn, she’s pushed to her limits, questioning everything she thought she knew about her husband and herself.

I devoured this book in a breathless 24-hour binge! From start to finish, I was completely obsessed and captivated by Camilla’s harrowing journey. If you're looking for a riveting and suspenseful read, Famous Last Words is an absolute must! 📚✨

This had a great premise. New mother Cam is going back to work as a literary agent after maternity leave, and on the first morning she’s going to take her daughter Polly to daycare, she can’t find her husband and sees an ambiguous note left for her. She has a sinking feeling despite pretending to be upbeat, and then finds there’s a hostage situation going on. Her husband Luke isn’t being held hostage. He’s the one keeping three others hostage, and he ultimately ends up escaping.

I enjoyed getting to know the character of Cam and particularly liked learning about hostage negotiator Niall. Seven years and a divorce later, he’s still obsessed with this case. Niall has also sought therapy, which is very endearing. As both Cam and Niall try to move on with their lives, they can’t because the ghost of what happened with Luke keeps nagging at both of them.

As I said, I enjoyed the characters, and even the side characters like Cam’s sister Libby infuse some realism with her fertility struggle. The plot started out fast-paced with the hostage situation, and it did slow down when time jumped to seven years later. I did figure out where one of the plot strands was going (related to Luke’s occupation) pretty early on, but that didn’t take away my enjoyment of the novel.

My 4 star rating is really that I thought this was a solid thriller, but I doubt it will rise to my favorites of the year.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.

FAMOUS LAST WORDS publishes February 25, 2025.

Thank you to NetGalley for early access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

Content warnings: hostage situation, murder, infertility, stalking, organized crime

What would you do if you woke one morning to find that your husband has become a criminal? This nightmare is reality for Camilla Deschamps, finding only a cryptic note left behind and being informed by the police that he has taken 3 hostages at gunpoint. Meanwhile, Niall, the hostage negotiator in charge of Camilla’s husband’s case, cannot lay the case to rest until he finds the answers that may never come.

What can I say about this book… for starters, both “main” characters (the one’s whose POV we were in) were insufferable, and I don’t think that was intentional. I also sadly saw every one of the “twists” coming from a mile away. Additionally, while the book’s storyline moved fairly quickly, it still managed to come off boring which is a complaint I had with the 1st half of the other McAllister book I’ve read, Wrong Place Wrong Time. The difference is, that one got better as it went on and by the end, I was fully attached to the characters and ended up giving it 4 stars. With this book, it seemed almost like McAllister was going for literary fiction within the thriller genre, but those are two styles that I feel do not mix at all. I found myself caring so incredibly little about Camilla’s sister’s problems and Niall’s divorce. I really just wanted to like this book so badly, but it just absolutely was not for me. In complete honesty, I should have DNF’d, but out of respect to the author and publisher for allowing my an early copy, I stuck it out until the end in order to give a complete review.

Sorry to say, but I’m going with 1/5 stars.

Omg! If I didn’t have kids and obligations and all that jazz- I would have finished this in one sitting. It just oozed with suspenseful goodness. Multiple twists I didn’t see coming. I want to go back and reread knowing what I know. I definitely will be purchasing a hard copy of this when it comes out next month! Thanks netgalley.

It’s Camilla’s first day back at work after 9 months of maternity leave. Little does she know it will also be her first day as a single mom. Why? Oh because the police come to her office to inform her there’s a hostage situation in London, and her husband is the gunman!

I really have enjoyed other books by this author and this one was the same! Was definitely a hard to put down type of book! Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read this book in return for my honest review.

This is not my first book by her and wont be my last. I enjoyed the book it was a little slow to start but still kept me wanting to read to find out what happened. The story flowed nicely and the plot kept me interested. I wish there was a little more about some of the characters backgrounds. Overall I enjoyed my reading experience with this one- gave it 4 stars and will read her next book.

An addictive thriller about a new mother's world upended when her husband commits a terrifying crime.

Cams life turns upside down on her first day back to work, and her daughter’s first day at daycare, when her husband takes three people hostage at a warehouse across town, then disappears.
Seven years later, she can’t give up believing that he is good, and still alive…

The author is an auto-buy for me and I have complete faith that I'll love anything she writes.

The short chapters keep the flow of the book at a good pace. The plot is interesting but honestly did not keep me guessing towards the end. I read alot and alot of the same genre of books so it could just be me but I saw whatever came a mile away. Still I overall enjoyed the story and love Gillian and her novels!

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for the ARC to enjoy. This debuts 2/25

Famous Last Words - Gillian McAllister

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“But actually, may I remind you that most everyone feels utterly fucked up by life.”

Cam is shocked when she discovers her husband, Luke, is holding three people hostage on her first day back to work after maternity leave. Niall, the hostage negotiator, works with her to try to uncover why Luke is doing this and the darker details behind it.

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley and William Morrow. I was immediately drawn to the concept of being the person connect to their hostage holder vs. the hostages as many books have already done. I do wish the story spent more time on the actual day of the hostage and dragged out those events longer, which is more what I expected to happen. While I could see some of the twists coming from the beginning, especially with the mystery manuscript Cam was reading, I was pleasantly surprised with how everything shook out at the end. Overall, a great and twisty read!

This book was suspenseful and fast paced. When I wasn’t reading the book, I was thinking about the book. Thank you to the publisher, author and NetGalley for the opportunity tot read this arc.

I love Gillian McAllister. I would read her grocery list. She is an auto-buy author for me and I have complete faith that I'll love anything she writes.

And she has proven me correct once again. WOW this was amazing. When I thought X outcome was inevitable, she pulled Y out of it and made it work SEAMLESSLY. Twists I didn't see coming. Characters with such depth and emotion. This book feels like a big change up from her usual books and I'm HERE for it. This was incredible. Pick this one up, you won't regret it.

I really enjoyed this one. I think Gillian McAllister has such a unique way of writing. This book *sounds* just like Wrong Place, Wrong Time (in my head at least). I think the pacing of this one is faster than Wrong Place, Wrong Time. There was an actual mystery in this one and some great twists. Highly recommended!

Camilla’s life turns upside down on her first day back to work, and her daughter’s first day at daycare, when her husband takes three people hostage at a warehouse across town, then disappears. Seven years later, she can’t give up believing that he is good, and still alive…

This was such a rollercoaster and kept me engaged all day - I couldn’t put it down. I picked up on a lot of the clues and guessed most of the twists, but there were so many pieces to the puzzle that it was easy to stay interested, trying to figure out how it all fit together.

Camilla felt so relatable to me, especially how she would rather be home reading a book than out at a party. I love how Camilla escapes into fiction, and I wish I could read the full version of the compelling manuscript she keeps rushing home to read!

One day, Camilla's husband Luke does the unthinkable. Now, seven years later, she's still not over his betrayal and disappearance.

This was a good thriller! I really liked Camilla. She was a strong character that still has a lot of insecurities. She goes through so much and is still a great mother. The concept of this one was really cool. I liked how it played out and I did find myself really invested in the story. I'm happy that the time jump was in the story. Those kinds of things really get me into the story more. I want to know what happened and how the characters are dealing with everything. The writing itself was really well done as well. There were times that this did move a little too slow for me and focused on characters that I really didn't find that interesting. But, it still a really great story.

All in all, this was a solid thriller!

Thank you to the author and publisher for the gifted copy!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Review: I am finding that I have very complicated feelings about the books coming out in 2025. I am really enjoying them and I am having conflicted feelings. For Famous Last Words, I loved this book all the way through until about 85 percent. I did not enjoy the resolution to the "mystery," but I wouldn't even really call it that. This story is more of a character study of what happens after the events in the synopsis, which I LOVED. I really enjoyed following our main character and learning more about how these events have impacted her and her daughter. I don't want to say anymore about that to avoid spoilers.

One thing I did appreciate is Gillian McAllister took time to develop side characters as well. We indirectly get to know the MC's sister and directly through an alternative POV, get to know the hostage negotiator. I found the POV of the hostage negotiator to be very interesting. We get to see him in therapy sessions and work through life events that have really taken a toll on his mental health. I really loved everything about this story.

Gillian McAllister does a unique job of being able to write a suspenseful character driven story, this is not suspenseful because of any sort of events (well mostly that's mostly true). The only thing keeping this from being a 5 star is the ending. Now, I have no idea how you end a book like this but I almost feel like it would have been better slightly, I mean slightly more open ended or up for interpretation.

This was a second chance author experience for me and it was a good one!! Can't wait for her next book.

It's an exciting day for Camilla, caring for her baby and getting ready to go back to her job after maternity leave. The only thing out of place is a vague note seemingly left behind by her husband Luke. And then she sees the news. A hostage situation is developing and Luke is involved. But he is not a hostage. He is the perpetrator.

Thank you Gillian McAllister and the William Morrow Team for giving me an eARC copy of this novel in return for an honest review. All thoughts here are mine and mine alone.

This book started out a bit slow for me, but once it got going, I was completely hooked. I absolutely loved the mystery and confusion woven throughout it. It was a very engaging read. The voicing behind each character was unique and made me relate to the characters and what they were going through.

I definitely recommend this book for those who love a good crime mystery/thriller. This is also a good book for someone wanting to dabble in thrillers as it was not creepy, but very engaging and well written.

Gripping, shocking, and hard to put down! Gillian McAllister delivered a gripping and brilliantly thought out storyline with Famous Last Words! I was instantly engrossed in the beginning of the book as Cam (Camilla) learns that her husband, Luke, is holding people hostage at gunpoint! She is utterly shocked as it is so out of character for him but then again him leaving in the morning without saying a word and only leaving a note behind, was out of character as well.

Holy Moly, this book took me on a wild ride as Niall, the hostage negotiator comes on the scene! I had no idea where this book was taking me and I had a lot of fun trying to figure out where this book was going, what was behind Luke's actions, and how things were going to wrap up! There were some jaw dropping moments, moments when I wanted to yell at the characters, and a moment when I wanted to slap my forehead when a reveal occurred that I felt that I should have seen it coming but didn't!

Clever, well thought out, thrilling, and hard to put down! I can't wait to read what Gillian McAllister writes next!

Thank you to HarpersCollins Publishers for the ARC of this book. I became a fan of Gillian McAllister when I read Wrong Place Wrong Time. I loved the timeline of this story and how within each part you got more answers. Not only were you trying to solve what happened with Luke, you got to experience his and Cam's love story along the way.

I think I will read anything that Gillian McAllister writes. While her newest book lacked the twists and turns of her previous story, Wrong Place Wrong time, I still enjoyed putting the puzzle pieces together in her newest thriller. Cam and Niall made excellent narrators in this mystery where nothing is quite what it seems. The novel' is well paced, with a gripping opening that maintains momentum throughout, building towards a satisfying and realistic conclusion. I particularly appreciated McAllister's focus on the complexities of relationships, especially within the context of motherhood. I'd highly recommend this to fans of contemporary British thrillers in search of an escape from their everyday lives.