This book is about both love and crime and explores the question: how do you reconcile the bad things a person has done with the love you still have for them? I enjoyed the inner dialogue of Cam’s struggle to figure out if she could move on from her husband when she truly believed he was still out there, and it was cool to see that paralleled in Niall’s experience with his ex wife. Plot-wise this story really fell flat for me. It felt like the author couldn’t decide how to distribute the love story plot line with the mystery plot line, which left a lot of the mystery to unfold in the last 15 percent. The first chunk of the book was just inner struggle, and it felt like the storyline was not developing at all, leaving the last chunk to happen way too fast with new characters thrown in at the last minute. Overall it was a really cool concept, but I struggled with the execution.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC copy in exchange for my honest review!

unfortunately i am in the minority of people who just didnt care for or connect with this book, the premise sounded extremely insane in the best of ways but the story progressed entirely too slow to keep me engaged. for the first time in a thriller i found myself not able to force myself through to at least get to the big plot reveals at the end, i simply just stopped caring what it could be…😅

i think my biggest issue in all of it was the negotiators point of very, i found being in his head annoying from the start. i enjoyed Cams pov and would have liked to have possibly gotten Lukes at some point but again i just cant push myself to get past everything else to get to the grander things.

im hopeful that in the future another of gillian’s books will work better for me, or maybe giving this a try with an audio one day?

This book started off strong and never let off the pedal. It was so hard to put down and I just had to know how it all connected! It was like putting a puzzle together while I read it! Such a masterpiece!!

Fantastic book by Gillian McAllister! A puzzle to piece together as you read. It kept me guessing the whole way through! It wasn’t a fast-paced thriller, but I picked it up every spare minute I had because I was so interested in the story. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this.

I LOVE Gillian McAllister! I was so excited and when I found out that she was writing a new book! Let me tell you the book hangover is so real with this one. Who am I kidding? I’m probably going to just reread it now.

4.5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for my ARC and exchange for my honest review. This book will be published February 25, 2025.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author, who wrote the very popular “ Wrong Place Wrong Time”, a Reese’s Book Club pick.

I read this book in two days and couldn’t put it down. It was a definite page-turner with unexpected twists.

This book started off strong and never let off the pedal. It was so hard to put down and I just had to know how it all connected! Such a masterpiece!!

WOW. WOW. WOW.

What a book!! This book has me intrigued from the first chapter! I NEEDED to know how Luke was involved and what happened. And it did not disappoint. The entire book I was trying to guess what happened & who was the bad guy and where Luke was but I only got about 25% of it right. Yet the answers were under our nose the entire time!! This is hands down one of my favorite mystery/thrillers EVER

3.75 This book was a thriller set around a hostage situation that no one seems to understand. The Hostage taker seemed to have no reason to be taking hostages. As the story goes on, the reader is given snippets of information about the events leading up to the fateful day. It was meant to be an edge of the seat thriller, but I didn't find that to be the case. I found it fairly predictable. The good guy who was working for the bad guy, who was writing the novel that Cam and received., etc. I have enjoyed Gillian McAllister's books in the past, but this one just didn't have the same "twist" as the others. Thanks to Net Galley for this ARC opportunity.

✨ A love story. A siege. A hostage negotiation. Motherhood. Marriage. ALL of these elements and more are seamlessly blended into this page-turner that I couldn’t get enough of.

✨This is an excellent thriller with plenty of twists and turns. I was completely shocked at the final outcome.

🌿Read if you like:
✨Dual points of view
✨Multiple timelines
✨A puzzle to piece together
✨Fast-paced thrillers
✨London settings

My thanks to @williammorrowbooks and @netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book before its publication date.

I was so excited to get a copy of this on NetGalley since I really enjoy Gillian McAllister’s. This one did not disappoint! I loved the Cam never gave up on her husband. The twists in this book were surprising except for one that I saw coming. I also enjoyed getting a glimpse into the world of book publishing.

Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister is an intriguing and engaging psychological thriller. Though it may not be the best I've read, it's certainly entertaining and earns a solid four-star rating. This novel blends elements of a domestic thriller with touches of police procedural, and the storyline delivers the expected tension, fear, twists, and emotional depth that McAllister consistently evokes!

The story unfolds through two main perspectives. Camilla Deschamps, a new mother navigating an unexpected nightmare, serves as a relatable protagonist. She faces a difficult day—it's her daughter's first day at daycare, and Deschamps is returning to work after maternity leave. To make matters worse, her husband Luke is unreachable, leaving her to handle everything alone. A sense of dread creeps in, and her fears are confirmed when the police show up at her door.

The second perspective comes from Niall, a hostage negotiator whose life was upended on June 21st due to a critical mistake that cost him his career, his marriage, and his peace of mind. After a deadly siege leaves unidentified victims behind, Niall becomes obsessed with uncovering the truth, unable to rest until justice is served.

I’ll admit the final third of the book felt a bit weaker than the earlier sections. That said, the puzzle pieces do come together, and after plenty of twists, we get answers—though some may stretch believability. McAllister’s writing remains captivating throughout, and while I began to piece things together about two-thirds in, a few surprises still caught me off guard at the end.

Overall, Famous Last Words is an entertaining, fast-paced thriller that I highly recommend for anyone seeking an engaging afternoon read. I believe this novel will resonate with many thriller fans. McAllister proves herself to be a creative and imaginative writer, and I look forward to diving into more of her work soon!

Many thanks to NetGalley, William Morrow, and Gillian McAlister for an advance copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own.

Cam is a new mom with a wonderful family and happy life. Until her husband commits a terrible crime and disappears. Now she is trying navigate life without the answers to why. Did she even know her own husband?

I really think this is Gillian McAllister’s best book yet. Lots of twists, turns, and surprises that had me shaking. Definitely did not expect it to end the way it did. I loved the character development and even the supporting characters had great stories. Great book with a satisfying conclusion.

Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and William Morrow Publishing for the advance reader copy. Publication date Feb 25, 2025 4.5/5⭐️

Another great read by Gillian McAllister...this one as twisty turvy as it gets! Lots of love for the women left behind after her murdering husband disappears and the hostage negotiator really grew on me. Would never have figured this one out!

Oof! Tense & engaging with a fantastic premise. I love a good British thriller and this delivered!! I did find the “wrap up” a bit on the nose (over delivered) but tbh I wasn’t mad they summarized all the things I didn’t pay quite enough attention to!

Cam wakes up one morning to find that her husband has left the house. In fact, the good man that she knows and loves is holding three people hostage in a warehouse. She is as puzzled as the London police are to figure out why he is doing it. Scraps of clues, such as the handwritten note that he left her that morning, are all that she has to figure it out.
The same thing that has worked so well in Gillian McAllister’s other recent books makes this one click. .A crime happens that seems impossible, based on the goodness of the characters involved. Her writing is unusual, full of the impressions of an interrupted happy life, and it works, in a way that it shouldn't. As an American reader, I love the everyday British slang, and it pulls me into the setting.
While it's well worth the read, this didn't draw me in as much as Wrong Place Wrong Time or as much as Just Another Missing Person. While Cam is involved (it is after all her husband), she wasn’t in the warehouse. For the most part, she isn't in the middle of the action, and I think it's this that makes Famous Last Words less of a thrill. Four stars.

This is my third and far from final Gillian read- what an amazingly well done thrilling yet slow burning mystery. There were so many moving parts, and no stones left unturned and all the answers were given. I had a couple hunches that proved to be correct, but I wasn’t dissatisfied in my guessing.

Camilla’s (Cam) husband, Luke, has taken three people hostage in a warehouse shortly after their newborn daughter was born. Two people are killed, and the police cannot identify them and no one comes forward reporting them mossing. Luke escapes the warehouse somehow and we don’t see or hear from Luke for several years- and we aren’t even sure he’s still alive. Cam carries on in life as best she can, still holding out hope for their reunion. Meanwhile, Niall, is the hostage negotiator turned detective that is digging for the truth; he cannot let this case remain a cold case. This case haunts him because he feels like a failed hostage negotiator since two people ended up dead. Niall wants to find Luke just as bad as Cam does- and the truth of what really happened in the warehouse and why.

So so so good. Thank you to Netgalley and William Morrow Books for the ARC of this book- all opinions are solely my own.

Really fascinating premise and I love the writing progression and the way the story unfolded. It just sucked me in and had me totally invested in what was happening, how everyone felt and the mystery behind it all. It was hard to put down and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

It was a great concept of not only facing a crime crisis you don’t understand, but second guessing everything you know about your spouse, or for Niall, your own judgement. And then the aftermath of that.

I thought the way the writing unfolded in a reflective way was so insightful, it let you identify with the characters completely. Some of the mystery I was able to piece together as we went, and some not till the end. While the story itself was still sad to me, I really enjoyed it a ton.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are mine.

It's not often a mystery/thriller can keep me on the edge of my seat throughout the book, but this one grabbed me from the get-go and never let up. I found myself growing anxious, perplexed, heartbroken, hopeful, and jittery in turns as the story developed, sometimes feeling several at once. And, to my delight, though clues were dripped and dropped, weaved and woven, into the story, I only predicted one small part of the ending (I am so disappointed when I am able to figure out the ending, especially any twists, part-way through a book, which happens way too often for me), offering plenty of nice surprises and a very satisfying ending.

In Famous Last Words, Camilla, a book agent, and Luke, a ghostwriter, are a happily-married couple living in London with 9 month-old Polly. However, when Cam wakes one June morning and Luke is gone, she doesn't know where he is until she is contacted by Niall, a hostage negotiator, who tells her Luke has taken three hostages in a warehouse and is holding them at gunpoint. Of course, Cam is blindsided by this, and her world falls apart that day when two of the hostages end up dead and Luke disappears. The story continues seven years later, as Cam is trying to have Luke officially declared dead, so she can sell the house she and Polly live in, even if she hasn't emotionally moved on from loving Luke.

In alternating POVs-Cam's and Niall's-we delve into how both the police and his wife view Luke and his actions, as well as how those actions affect Cam and Niall and their lives, both during the hostage seige and after. We learn that both believe that Luke might still be alive. And we follow them as they, bit by bit, begin to investigate in their own ways, with their own insights, in their search for the answers to WHY?

Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister follows Camilla who is a young mother who wakes up and finds that her husband Luke is gone. She’s unable to find him and then finds this obscure note he’s left her. Next we hear of breaking news about a hostage situation in which Luke is the perpetrator. This then leaves Camilla trying to figure out why this is happening and what Luke is doing.

I don’t want to give anything away on what happens next. I will say this was a very fast paced story that was hard to put down. Will not disappoint.