Set deep in the swamplands of the Louisiana Bayou, this slow-burn murder mystery follows Loyal, a journalist reluctantly returning home to care for her ailing mother. When her estranged childhood friend, Cutter, turns up dead in the swamp, Loyal finds herself entangled in a web of suspicion, regret, and long-buried secrets. Her regret at the downfall of their relationship propels Loyal's quest for answers and unsettling questions arise — did Cutter's own brothers have something to do with it and why? While it was a slow burn for me, the character development and plot twists make it a rewarding read of friendship, poverty, dysfunctional family, addiction and survival.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy! #ourlastwilddays #netgalley

I absolutely loved this story. There is something about the Louisiana swamps that naturally gives a mysterious element to any story. Anna Bailey’s writing was brilliant. I loved Cutter, Loyal, Dewell, Sasha and Beau. Each character had a unique voice and the struggles they all went through felt so real. I loved learning about alligator hunting. Excellent book that I highly recommend.

Anna Bailey's "Our Last Wild Days" wraps you in Louisiana's suffocating embrace. The humidity clings like a second skin, a constant reminder that nature holds power here, even as industrial progress creeps into Assumption Parish's wilderness. This palpable atmosphere is another character altogether, heightening every whispered secret and suspicious glance.

I found myself completely immersed in Loyal's reluctant homecoming, dragged back to the town she escaped by her mother's illness and thrust into a journalist position that reopens old wounds. When her estranged friend's death becomes her first assignment, guilt and determination collide in a way that feels heartbreakingly authentic. The partnership with her editor's nephew tones down the grimness as trust is built, evolving into a growing friendship between the two.

What starts as a personal quest for justice peels back layers of small-town façades to reveal something more insidious. The dead friend's family alligator farm provides the perfect backdrop—primal, dangerous, yet oddly vulnerable to outside forces. Bailey brilliantly uses this setting to mirror the community itself—wild elements being systematically contained and exploited.

The brothers' involvement with drugs isn't just a plot device—it's a window into how desperation takes root in forgotten places. Each character carries their own relationship with the encroaching world, making even the most troubling choices feel grounded in reality.

Bailey's greatest triumph is her ability to weave environmental concerns through a propulsive mystery without ever feeling preachy. The rot beneath the town's surface runs parallel to the ecological devastation, creating a thriller that satisfies on multiple levels. For readers who crave mysteries where setting becomes sensation and every revelation cuts deeper than the last, "Our Last Wild Days" delivers with devastating precision.

Thank you, Atria Books and NetGalley, for my free book.

A slow burn deeply atmospheric novel about a woman looking for truth and redemption from a morass. Loyal is back in Jackknife to care for her mother. She's always felt she betrayed her friend Cutter who lived in the swamp with her family and she wants to make it right. Except she can't because Cutter's body has been found. So what to do if you're a journalist? Yep, she goes looking for the truth with the help of Sasha, a photographer. No one cared about the Labresque family, not even the family itself and now Loyal is digging, putting herself in a bit of peril but even more distress. This goes in hard on the feels and smells of the swamp as well as the Gothic element of the story. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. Good storytelling makes a good read.

Our Last Wild Days by Anna Baily, Loyalmay has returned to Jack Knife Louisiana, her childhood home to help out her mother who has early onset dementia. she gets a job with the local and only paper in town The Bayou Leader. with loyal maze arrival it brings their employees up to three. This is how she finds out early on that her best friend Marianne a.k.a. cutter was found in a cutoff in the Bayou. she will soon learn the death of her ex best friend with the sheriff calls a suicide isn’t the only strange thing to happen in the parish and she believes it’s all connected. first Loyalmay and the flamboyant quirky Sasha will have to go and get a comment from what’s left of cutter’s family her two brothers bow and dewall. they live deep in the swamp and the death of their sister isn’t the only reason she is hesitating to visit the back water compound where they live. The last time she saw the siblings she was running from an alligator attack leaving two of her fingers at the Homestead. The whole town thinks their family crazy, but Loyalmay knows a different side to the unconventional close-knit siblings. This is where she learns Dewall is angrier than ever in little brother bow is addicted to crystal meth. This doesn’t lessen her desire to find out what really happened, because knowing Cutter the way she did she absolutely a certain she didn’t kill herself. from football hopeful Don Broussard becoming sheriff to Cutter hanging out with the preachers kid there are lots of things Loyal we’ll have to relearn about jackknife but she is willing to relearn all if it helps her solve her best friends murder. this book was pretty good and the description made the mystery that much more earrie. I do want to say the author got the attitude of the policeman right because they do act like they are whales in a pond of guppies. i’m always afraid when authors write stories said in the Bayou in southern Louisiana but I have to give kudos to miss Baily because she did a bang up job representing the south she didn’t give us a stupid accent and for the most part she was correct. With one exception that is, there’s no way Sasha would’ve taped his hair because they’re beauty salons and Sally’s hair salon stores on every corner I didn’t get that I could be wrong because to be honest I didn’t even know why he was duct taping his hair but either way I digress I found the book a little slow but again I finished it the whole thing with Dewall at the end I found unbelievable only due to the characteristics he had throughout the book or for at least most of it. I still recommend this book for those who like books written in the south especially Cajun country you will probably love this book I really enjoyed it.#NetGalley, #AtriaBooks, #TheBlindReviewer, #MyHonestReview, #AnnaBaily, #OurLastWildDays,

Ughhh so heart wrenching!! Being from a small town, we know the families that deal with addiction, poverty and shunned from the community. This book delivers a message about the labels in place, whether it is troublemakers, outcasts or damaged souls. The book has dark underlying tones that are painful to read how neglect and hardships can either make them stronger or angrier. The Labasques family has endured as alligator hunters deep in the Louisiana Bayou. They have known their share of betrayal and have created their own chaos and corruption in the town. When their sister, Cutter, was found dead in the swamp it was as if no one cared, not even her brothers. The one person who did care was her estranged friend, Loyal. Loyal left town at 18 years old after an accident with an alligator and some harsh words that she would regret ever writing for the world to see. Those words were like salt poured deep into the Labasques' wounds. Loyal returned to the town to care for her mom suffering from dementia. She took a job as a journalist at the local newspaper. She arrives in town, as a stranger to many and notes the demise the town has suffered since she left.
The dangers are not only in the swamps infested with mosquitoes, alligators and snakes but people in the woods with masks and an endless whistling. The creepy factor is definitely there within the swamps and will have you gravitating to the end. With reminders of Where the Crawdads Sing, just not quite as humbling, because this is a dark atmospheric thriller with a web of deceptions. A great job by the author keeping it low-key and slowly building riddled implications with 4 POVs, and layers of significance. There is more than meets the surface, and exploring deeper is a worthwhile endeavor.
"How anyone survives is much as it is the mystery of how one woman didn't."
Thank you Netgalley and Atria Books for this incredible ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Dark, atmospheric, with tension lurking just below the surface, Our Last Wild Days sucked me in and never let go. This book began as a bit of a slow burn for me and I do struggle with them, but the author won me over with her wonderful writing, vivid descriptions, and the mystery surrounding Cutter Labasques's death. I could almost feel the humidity of the swamp, as the family of alligator hunters in Jacknife, Louisiana, went about their business. When Cutter is found face down in the swamp, it is not her brothers but her childhood friend, Loyal May questions Cutter's death.

If you are looking for a book that is heavy on emotion with a fantastic southern setting, Our Last Wild Days may be the book for you! You could cut the tension with a knife as this gritty southern book gets closer to the reveal. The story slowly builds and readers soon get to meet several of the key characters who are flawed, damaged, and beaten down.

If you struggle with slow burns as I do, hang in there as Anna Bailey will win you over with her searing plot and vivid descriptions. This was my second book by Anna Bailey, and I look forward to reading more of her books in the future.

Wonderfully written, atmospheric, and gritty.

Anna’s writing is incredibly descriptive. I could vividly visualise the setting and the characters. The absorbing storyline hooked me from page one as we join the alligator hunters who are the Labasque family. Orphaned, the three now adult brothers and sister live a meagre existence from the sale of the alligators they risk their lives to capture and kill. CANT WAIT UNTIL THE NEXT RELEASE OF ANNA BAILEY!

𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ★ ★ ★ ★
𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: May 20, 2025
𝗔𝗥𝗖 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪:

This was a first for me with Anna Bailey and their writing and I loved it. I took in all of this book and thought that it was wonderfully written. The way that Anna writes has you imagining and hanging on every last word on every single page. We jump in when our main character gets back to her home town and her friend is found dead and it’s ruled a lot of speculation are placed on what happened because of their upbringing and everything surrounding them and their life but what really happened is what we get into. We are given such a beautiful story with a lot of meat to it, involving relationships, family, judgment, ties and bonds we have with each other and the darkness behind things that we cannot see. This book was very addictive and I did not want to set it down. I will continue to reach for other books that publish from our author and will recommend always to my reading friends.

Large thank you to our Author, NetGalley as well as Atria Books

Thank you @netgalley for this ARC copy. I was drawn to this book purely because it featured the swamps of Louisiana. I hadn’t read anything with swamps and always thought it would be great for a mystery/thriller and here we are. This book starts off pretty good and the characters are interesting. The book as a whole is a decent read and I’d recommend it to others. However, there are A LOT of trigger warnings for people. I feel like it has every complex storyline. It features death (obviously), missing children, abortion, poverty, homosexuality, and race issues, just to name a few (probably missed some).

Atmospheric and haunting story. This was a slow burn that wound its way into my soul like the relentless damp and smoldering heat of the Louisiana bayou.

Loyal May left Jackknife, Louisiana at eighteen years old after blowing up her only friendship with Cutter Labasque. After many years away she has returned to care for her mother and the next day discovers that her best friend has been found dead under suspicious circumstances. The local police say that Cutter committed suicide. But Loyal knows her friend would never leave the world that way. Since she can’t reconcile their relationship, Loyal decides to use her investigative journalist skills to good use and discover what really happened to Cutter that fatal night. She teams up with fellow journalist, Sasha, to uncover the truth behind Cutter’s death. But it won’t be easy or safe, because while Jackknife might be a small town it is big on secrets.

Louisiana is one of those places I don’t need to visit. I don’t want to be in a place that has wildlife and weather that is trying to kill the humans. But I do love reading about this mysterious and beautiful place that drips with moss and snakes and witchcraft and where alligators rule the waters. This was one of the most vividly described books I’ve ever experienced, Anna Bailey took me there.

Thank you Netgalley, Atria Books, and the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be available for purchase on May 20, 2025

Set deep in the swamps of Louisiana. Loyal fled her hometown of Jacknife when she was eighteen, now she is back an is working as a reporter at the local newspaper. When a body is discovered Loyal is determined to get answers. The swamp and town are equal characters in this southern gotghic tale. A story of redemption a perfect slow burn dripping with humidity, politics and personal convictions.

Thank you to Atria Books / Simon and Schuster for the ARC.

🐊🥳ARC REVIEW🐊🥳
I just wrapped up "Our Last Wild Days" by Anna Bailey, and I’m still thinking about the hauntingly beautiful but eerie Louisiana swamp and unforgettable characters who call it home. 🐊 I've rated this one 4.5/5 stars, even though it didn't have the fast pace I crave.

The atmosphere in this book is incredible—humid, tense, and eerie. The characters are raw and rough, and the mystery unfolds slowly but keeps you engaged. Jacknife feels like a town frozen in time, full of decay yet alive with tales.

Loyal returns to her small hometown after years away to take care of her mother, only to find herself drawn back into the shadows of her past when her childhood friend, Cutter, is found dead in the swamp. Officially ruled a suicide, Loyal is convinced there’s more to the story. With the help of Sasha—her hilariously nosy, phone-obsessed coworker at the local paper—she begins to uncover the town's buried secrets. But in a town like this, secrets are meant to stay buried!

Sasha stole the show for me—anytime he was on the page, he brought a spark of wit and charm to the darkness. Read "Our Last Wild Days" if you like:
🐊 Southern gothic vibes
🐊 Complicated friendship
🐊 A slow-burning mystery with heart

Thanks to the author and Atria for this gifted eARC provided via NetGalley. All opinions are my own!

#OurLastWildDays #AnnaBailey #Atria #NetGalley #BookReview #SouthernGothic #Louisiana #SwampThriller #Bookstagram #capcut #lefttoread #reader #read #honestreview #thriller #bookreviewer #thrillerbooklovers #thepulse #lovetoread

This started a bit slow to the point where I almost quit but then it picked up in a big way! Part literary fiction/part mystery - almost felt like True Detective but being solved by journalists and in the best way! It was such a great setting, too -- definitely give this one a try!!

Our Last Wild Days comes out next week on May 20, 2025, and you can purchase HERE!

"This place," he says, "ain't as untamed as people think. We're already breathing factory air, drinking factory water-they'll build a factory on top of us one of these years, just you wait. We're living in our last wild days, boy. And that ghost gator, she's a relic-something left of the strange beauty of this backcountry. So maybe I am looking, but just to see her. I'm used to looking at things I can't have."

A woman is found drowned. A 13 year old girl is missing. Someone's frozen waffles have been stolen. There are dead snakes hanging from trees. And someone is whistling in the dark woods. Are any of these things related? And if so, how? This is what Loyal wants to find out after she returns home to Jackknife Louisiana to take care of her aging mother. She brings back her big city journalistic drives and can't resist investigating the death of her childhood best friend, Cutter. What she gets into is so much more than expected! I think some people will try and compare this book to Where the Crawdads Sing, and sure it has that same feel. But this book is much more action and suspense focused. The setting of the swamps and smalltown life support the plot but are more minor characters than in Crawdads. In this way, those who enjoyed Crawdads will enjoy this book and many who didn't enjoy Crawdads will still enjoy this book!

Loyal May returns home after a decade away to help care for her ailing mother. Soon after she arrives, her former best friend is found dead, launching Loyal down an investigative path.

Anna Bailey's atmospheric writing makes the reader feel as hot and suffocated in the murky bayou as the characters. I enjoyed parts of the book, but found it difficult to become invested in Loyal or Cutter. Sasha's arc was written the best, but even that felt on the verge of being fulfilling, but never quite got there.

Atria Books provided an advanced copy via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

DNF at 23% - I was excited to read an atmospheric suspense story, but at almost a quarter of the way in, I felt myself dreading every page.

This story is definitely atmospheric, which I usually love. But it felt too atmospheric for this type of story, if that makes sense. Instead of immersing me in the story, the descriptions bogged the plot down and made what should be a suspenseful story slow and boring.

I kept catching myself skimming and finally realized that the author’s writing style just didn’t work for me in this genre. If you like super slow burn atmospheric suspense stories, you may enjoy this one.

Thank you to Atria Books for the opportunity to read this early.

A mystery set in the southern swampy town of Jacknife, where the police force doesn't always have everyone's best interests in mind. So, when a town local is found dead, they seem to do the bare minimum to determine what happened. Thankfully, two local reporters are determined to find out the truth, uncovering some dark town secrets in the process.

Loyal May reluctantly returns to her hometown to take care of her mom, whose mental health seems to be declining. She aims to keep busy during her stay, quickly joining the Bayou Leader, and gaining a possible story with Sasha Petitpas, when a female body is found. That body being her childhood friend, Cutter. The police are quick to label it suicide, too quick if you ask me. That doesn't sit well with Loyal and Sasha, who begin to dig deep into Cutter's life, starting with her two brothers.

Beau and Dewall are two very odd characters, but that made their arcs that much more interesting. Beau is a drug addict, who only seems to care about his next fix. Dewall basically runs the family business, catching gators, and that says a lot about who he is and how he operates. Scary overall. But are either responsible for Cutter's death? While I think there is some connection there, I didn't think they personally killed her. With little information to work with, I think Loyal and Sasha were very resourceful and determined to the truth.

The author does a good job of pulling several subplots together to reveal the truth about Cutter's death, while finally exposing some other secrets. The atmospheric writing style also set the perfect vibe for the story - I could almost sense the swamp-like setting, adding a creepy element to the already mysterious story. While the pace seemed slow for a mystery, this was overall, an intriguing story.

I really enjoyed the first half of the book but the last half or so seemed to drag on and I was expecting more in the end. I thought the story was interesting and unique especially with the descriptions of the Louisiana swamps and alligator hunting. Despite some slow moments I think with more editing and refinement this book has the potential to be a great read! I also believe this book makes the perfect summer/beach read.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review and feedback.

Thank you @atriabooks for the gifted advance reader copy!

Loyal May returns to her rundown small town in rural Louisiana to care for her mother. When the body of her childhood best friend is discovered in the water, she is determined to find the truth of what happened to her.

This mystery was so rich in atmosphere I felt transported to the sweltering Louisiana bayou. The story started out slower but I was very intrigued by the unique characters, gator hunting, and legends of the swamp. It deals with some heavy topics and doesn’t shy away from gritty details. The story culminates in a very satisfying way and with surprising character arcs that pulled on my heartstrings.

Rating 4.5⭐️