Quite enjoyed this read. I was certainly not what it seems when you base it on the description. This book evolved into so much more. Nicely followed up at the end too.

I thought this mystery thriller was too long and drawn out. New mom Cam learns that hubby Luke has taken and killed hostages and now has disappeared. A 7-year jump in the storyline helps move things along for awhile but then it slows down again. It is an interesting plot, but the execution of that plot is lacking. Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for providing an ARC.

This was a quick, propulsive, engaging read. It gripped me from the first sentence and didn't let go until I'd devoured it, several hours later! Highly recommend for anyone in a reading slump.

On June 21 Camilla's life is about to change forever. Not only is it her first day back to work after her maternity leave, it is her daughter's first day at daycare. When she wakes up her husband, Luke, is not there. He has left a weird note. Later, she sees on the breaking news that there is a hostage situation in London. When the police show up and tell her that Luke is involved in this hostage situation it is just the beginning. This book is full of secrets she and the hostage negotiator uncover to solve the case. Thanks to @NetGalley for the ARC of this book! I really liked it.

This book is, at its core, a love story wrapped in the suspense of a mystery/thriller. Camila and Luke seem to have a typical married life, complete with the joys and challenges of raising a new baby, until one day, Luke vanishes—leaving behind a cryptic note. Hours later, Camila discovers her dependable, mild-mannered husband is holding three hostages at gunpoint in a warehouse. This shocking event sparks years of unanswered questions and a wife’s unwavering faith in the man she thought she knew.

The story is told through three perspectives: Camila, Niall (a hostage negotiator), and a mysterious third voice whose identity isn’t revealed until near the end. This narrative structure drives the tension, immersing the reader in the characters’ uncertainty and deepening the mystery. Like the main characters, readers will find themselves questioning what truly happened on the day of the hostage crisis.

Compelling and thought-provoking, this book keeps you hooked from start to finish. Definitely a worthwhile read!

I am a big fan of this author and have read their other books but this particular book was not my cup of tea. It was a very slow start. The first 50% was slow, the next 50% picked up some.

Gillian McAllister is back with another winner. Cam is busy preparing for her first day back to work after maternity leave when she realizes her husband Luke isn’t at home. An odd note on the table further confuses her. A short time later she is told that Luke is in a hostage situation, but her world begins to crumble when she realizes that he’s not the one being held against his will. Her world turns upside down in a matter of moments, but Cam is convinced that there must be something more at play and that Luke’s last note to her must hold the secret.

The beginning really drew me in and I thought the story line was very original. The book was a little slow moving for me but the ended provided lots of twists.

I could NOT believe my luck when I saw I was granted an ARC if this book—I am not exaggerating when I say this is a book I have been EAGERLY anticipating since I first heard about it! I’m happy to say, this held up to my excitement! Utterly gripping and impossible to put down, I was completely sucked into the many twists and turns. I highly recommend this book!

Wow!! What a ride the author takes you on! This is sure to be a book that will be talked about a ton in 2025! Hostage situation, a love story and a mystery all collide and will leave you unglued at the end! Excellent novel!! Thank you to Netgalley and William Morrow for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Famous Last Words was the first book by Gillian McAllister that I've read but it won't be the last. It was captivating and exciting. It had twists and turns that you couldn't see coming. It was fast paced and kept you interested throughout the story. I have become a fan and will purchase more of Gillian McAllister's books on the future.

Thanks to NetGalley , William Morrow, and Scene of The Crime Early Readers for the advanced copy. The opinions are my own.

I liked the concept of this book, but much of the middle of the book was so repetitive and slow... I understand why but it was a struggle to get through. The ending was a little bit of a surprise but at times felt too neatly wrapped up.

Wow! I loved this book. Thrillers are hard to wow me with nowadays given their ubiquity but this one had me gripped nearly the entire time. Lots of twists and turns, with a few I spotted but didn’t detract from my reading experience. Well-written and has what you think you know constantly in turn. Lovely!!

I love this author and was so excited to receive the ARC. It’s a really good book and I really had no idea what the big twist was going to be. The middle section was very slow to get through but the book picked up at the 2/3 mark. Really well written.

📚 PRE-PUBLICATION BOOK REVIEW 📚

Famous Last Words By Gillian McAllister
Publication Date: February 25, 2025
Publisher: William Morrow

📚MY RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

📚MY REVIEW:

Everybody's been buzzing about this book, and I was so excited when I was approved for this ARC on NetGalley. For me, this read lived up to all its buzzworthiness! I fell asleep with the book in my hand last night and it was the very first thing I thought of this morning when I awakened. Okay, it was the second thing I thought about after a giant cup of coffee.😉

This suspenseful crime thrilling mystery was absolutely unputdownable for me! The tension jumped off the pages and kept me enraptured with this storyline from the very beginning until the very last page.

This is the story of Camilla and Luke, a happily married couple with a 9-month-old daughter, Polly. Camilla is heading back to work after maternity leave, and she's confused about why Luke has left so early on this day (of all days) and why he isn't home with her to take Polly to her first day of daycare. And what's with the cryptic note Luke left her on the kitchen counter? Upon arriving at work, Camilla's feelings about this monumental day in motherhood are quickly set aside when police officers suddenly show up at her office and tell her that Luke is holed up in a warehouse and holding hostages at gunpoint...

...And the mysteriously suspenseful thrill ride takes off from there.

As the mystery deepens, the story is also told from the POV of Niall, the hostage negotiator on scene with Luke. That's all I'll say about the plot, as I think this one is best to just go into as blindly as possible. This book had multiple POVs and multiple timelines, all told in a brilliantly seamless way to maintain the suspense and hold my attention. What captivated me so much about it was that it felt almost genre-bending, as this read encapsulated the suspense of a thriller, the tension of a police procedural and crime thriller, the questions within a great mystery, and even included components of a beautiful love story.

This was my first read from Gillian McAllister, and I promise you that her backlist is now a top priority on my TBR. This book was easily a 5 ⭐ read for me! Thank you so much to William Morrow and NetGalley for this advanced e-book in exchange for my honest review.

#FamousLastWords #GillianMcAllister #WilliamMorrow #NetGalley #NetGalleyReviews #ARC #thrillerlover #thrilleraddict #suspense #crimethrillers #mysteries #bookreviews #bookrecs #bookrecommendations

Whoa. What the heck was that?
I meant this in both a good way and bad. Okay, first off the book was a bit too slow for me and im ready to throw the towel and just dnf this but it picked up late-mid part. It is very character driven and has dialogues that i can compare to tv drama. I feel like watching a telenovela that just keeps on stretching its plot. It makes me just wanna scream to the characters and say JUST FN SAY IT!
Anyhow, i like the dual povs. I like seeing the events in the eyes of two characters.
3.75

Camilla is a new mother who wakes up one morning and finds that her husband, Luke, is not there. She doesn't know where he went and then finds an ambiguous note he left her. She wonders what it could possibly mean, but continues on with her day of taking her daughter to daycare! Once at work, the police show up to her job to tell her that there is a hostage situation and her husband is involved. I don't want to give too much away but that story sounded so intriguing to me.

The story started out really good but for a good portion of the middle, it fell flat for me. I really wanted to see what was going on so I continued on. It took almost until 90% for it to pick up. It was a character driven book, and throughout it, you'll get a lot of the inner thoughts and monologue of Cam. This has the feeling of the love story between Luke and Camilla. So for me, this wasn't my favorite by her, but I do feel like others are really going to like it and I already see it getting great reviews.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Gillian McAllister has written another phenomenal thriller that was impossible to put down! Set in the London suburbs, this novel follows Cami, wife of Luke and soon to be single mother, and negotiator/cop Nial. The book begins with Cami’s loving, relaxed husband committing an unspeakable crime, holding three people hostage which in turn causes her to cross paths with Nial. Luke ends up escaping police custody, and the novel jumps forward 7 years in time as Cami looks to finally move on, and the case still haunts Nial, the failed negotiator.

I may be an outlier on this one, but it was just a little too slow-moving for me. I love Gillian McAllister's writing but this one just didn't land for me the way I wanted to. Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

McAllister’s writing is so easy to get lost in. It’s not too heavy, but you still get all those intense, emotional moments that make you question everything. I loved the character development too—Holly felt so real, and you could totally empathize with her, even when she made questionable choices (because let’s be honest, who hasn’t?).

If you're into thrillers that make you think, with a dash of human drama, Famous Last Words will keep you up way past your bedtime. I can already tell I'll be recommending this one to my friends for a long time.

Definitely a must-read if you like your mysteries a bit more on the unpredictable side.