A frazzled literary agent just returning to work after maternity leave has her first day back at the office interrupted by a nightmare: her affable husband has apparently taken three hostages in a London warehouse and is threatening to shoot them. The story unfolds from the dual viewpoints of the bewildered wife and the determined negotiator brought in to de-escalate the siege, which does not end as anyone involved planned...as becomes even more evident years later, as unsolved mysteries and lingering questions still hang in the air: what makes a loving husband and father turn hostage taker and criminal? Finding out the answer had me turning pages long into the night. I have read a few Gillian McAllister books now, and I have enjoyed all of them. She is definitely becoming a must-read for me and I would highly recommend this book and her others. Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC to preview.

I really enjoyed the twists and turns; this book kept me guessing until almost the end. I thought the narrator's delivery was well delivered and captured Camilla's journey effectively.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a free advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review

I will be recommending this to the library's book club. It incorporates a diverse range of elements that are both familiar and defamiliarized that our patrons will love;

Camilla and Luke are happily married and have a young daughter. "Cam" is ready to go back to work as a literary agent, Luke is a ghost writer. When she wakes up on the morning she is to return to work, Luke is already gone for the day, and left her a cryptic note. She is watching the news as she gets ready to go, and sees that there is a hostage situation at the warehouse where Luke would be working that day. Then the phone rings and the police want to talk to her. Is Luke a hostage? When the police come to the house, they inform her that he is not a hostage, but the hostage taker. Niall, the hostage negotiator is on the scene, and convinces the police and SWAT teams not to go in yet, he is sure that Luke doesn't want to kill anyone. When he lets one of the hostages go, Niall feels confident that he will be able to talk him down, but there are two gunshots. They storm the building and find two dead men, but Luke has disappeared. Where is he? Why did this doting husband and father become a killer? Fast forward 7 years when Cam is applying to have Luke declared dead. A woman wants to meet with her as one of the dead men is her husband, but then she ends up killed. Niall, never stopped looking at the crime and has stumbled on information that tells him that they have been wrong about everything.

This book starts off with a bang and doesn't let up. As the second part of the story unfolded, I was confused, just as much as Niall and Cam. If Luke is still alive and hadn't planned on killing anyone, then what happened? As the story unfolds, bits of information are dropped along the way, making me try to figure out what happened, but not being able to. There are lots of twists, which kept me guessing. The story is told from two POVs, Cam's and Niall's. We also get Niall's personal story, which is sad, one that often happens with people in law enforcement. I also loved that Cam's job is in publishing, and it has a role in the story. This was a different plot than one I have read before, and I did have to suspend belief at times, but overall, I enjoyed this story and was kept guessing right up to the end. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Emilia Fox. I have recently listened to another book by this talented voice actress and enjoy her performance. She uses just the right amount of expression and gives voice to the various characters. I will not hesitate to listen to her again.

This book took me on a wild ride through family drama, mental health, a hostage situation, and so many twists and turns. I really enjoy the feeling of uncertainty as I read and Gillian McAllister always keeps me on my toes. Everything is not as it seems and I love that I don't know where the story is headed. The audiobook is the perfect way to enjoy this novel and the narration is spot on.

Kudos to Gillian McAllister for sticking the landing with an explosive ending to this action-packed thriller. This was a rather distant story for quite a bit of it, with a strong sense of opacity around why the characters did the things they did. I caught a couple of McAllister's twists pretty early <spoiler> immediately clocking for example that the second script from Adam was going to actually be a note from Luc. And also realizing that Charlie was something of a plant</spoiler>, and I think those things made me care for this one a little less. Still, this was an ambitious story of a hostage situation gone wrong, with clever narration and, as mentioned, a really great ending.

Famous Last Words is the first book I've read by Gillian McAllister and I'm kind of kicking myself for waiting so long. I thoroughly enjoyed it and devoured the vast majority of it in one day. If you're a fan of thriller mysteries, you are likely to really like this one. Highly recommended.

Not quite a 4 for me but definitely not a 3! There were a few elements that felt predictable to me, yet I was still invested in the story. This is me second book I’ve read by McAllister, and I’m enjoying her writing style. The unfolding of the plot feels like a “slow burn,” but the dual POVs still move it along. I suspect that Readers who need a lot of action in their stories may find this one too slow, but the ending of each chapter really did make me curious to know what happens next.

Wow, this book was a whirlwind mystery and I loved it! Camilla’s loving, wonderful husband Luke leaves cryptic note behind before he goes missing. Then a hostage situation is developing in London and the police arrive to inform her that her husband is involved. However, he is not a hostage, but the gunman who took the hostages. I listened to the audiobook version and the narrator has a British accent (which I love) and is truly excellent! I seriously could NOT stop listening throughout the first part of the book with the hostage situation, I was fully enveloped by the story and just had to know what would happen next! Once the book flashed to the future, it dragged a little for me and felt a bit repetitive - I was beginning to wonder if any action would happen soon. It definitely picked up again in the final part of the book when all the pieces began to click together and I definitely did not see the twist or explanation of events coming at all! Gillian McAllister is an excellent storyteller and delivers another great thriller here. I would definitely recommend this one to others! Thank you to NetGalley, Gillian McAllister, and Harper Audio for the gifted ALC. This is a voluntary and honest review.

Gillian McAllister's Famous Last Words is a super clever and surprising book that will keep you guessing until the very end! You'll constantly be wondering what's really going on and thinking about whether someone who seems good could actually do something bad. The story pulls you in with characters you really feel for, like Polly, and Camilla, who goes through so much and just wants to understand what happened.

The book also introduces Niall, a police negotiator who sees things very logically, which is a great contrast to Camilla's emotions. McAllister does a fantastic job of building suspense by jumping between the past and the present. This really shows how much the events have affected Camilla and slowly reveals little clues that make you rethink everything. You'll be on the edge of your seat as the truth finally comes out in a way you probably won't expect!

Many thanks to NetGallery and Harper Audio for aharing the latest Gillian McAllister read. It drew me in and kept me thinking throughout. Fox’s narration gave dramatic life to the already action-packed plot.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an audio-ARC of Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister.
Famous Last Words is a mysterious thriller that pulls the reader into the story from the very beginning. Camilla learns that her husband has taken 3 hostages and ultimately shoots two of them before escaping from the scene. Camilla knows this is not the man she is in love and struggles to move forward. The story is fast-paced, providing enough action and twists to keep the reader turning pages. This will be an easy book to recommend to reader's who like mysteries.

I definitely enjoyed this thriller and I have already sold it in our store. Great for fans of Wrong Place Wrong Time.

This twisty domestic/crime mystery involves a literary agent's author husband disappearing after he inexplicably takes three people hostage. Seven years later, she's still trying to figure out what happened and can't shake the feeling that she's being watched.

OK, I really wanted to like this one, and there's parts of it that I thought were really interesting. It's very character heavy. But it felt wayyyy too long and there were parts of the story that got so repetitive. I feel like it could have been at least an hour or two shorter (I listened to the audiobook) because I found my attention wandering a lot with so many unnecessary details. Camilla and Luke's story was really moving and I think that was the best part about it. She just can't understand why he did what he did and she spends a lot of time grieving him, as anyone would. We also spend a lot of time with the hostage negotiator, Niall, whose career was affected by what happened the day of the siege and he's haunted by what happened.

The narration was well done. It's like the narrator was grieving right along with Camilla.

TW: Infertility

3.5 stars.

What a great premise and opening to this thriller! It was so fast paced in the first part, so much so that the 2nd part could only feel REALLY slow. I like the introspective part 2, but it was a bit jarring after the chokehold the first part had on me. I love the POVs we get in this book and I was able to relate with Camilla. I loved this and will read anything Gillian McAllister writes!

I had high hopes for this book, and it absolutely delivered.
It’s the kind of thriller that keeps you guessing, second-guessing, and spinning theories until the very last page.
Twisty and tense in all the right ways—you won’t want to put it down.

"Does the 21st of April mean anything to you?" And I look over at the calendar.
I had good timing with listening to this one.
This was good. I do not normally love this kind of book but this author writes them well.
I love the narration!

This book was vaguely reminiscent of The Last Thing He Told Me for me. I saw the twist coming at the end but that’s probably because I read A LOT of mystery thrillers. I liked the time jump. I feel like the story wouldn’t have worked as well without it.

3.5/5 stars

A good thriller that is unique because the POV’s are the people who didn’t commit the crime. Or the supposed crime. I did see the bit about the book coming though!

This was a very good thriller. I have enjoyed Ms McAllister's books and this one did not disappoint. It was well written and had a nice twist at the end, It kept my interest and I was keen to find out if the accused man was guilty or not.
The narration was great and made likening to the book vert enjoyable.

Well done book but could have had more potential. I felt It fell a little flat. I do Have friends I told to read it because I knew They would enjoy it.