WOW! “Last Seen” by J.T. Ellison is a terrifying, intimidating, edgy, intense, psychological thriller. This is one novel that is spine-chilling, blood -curling, and nail biting .(if you have the habit) The Genres for this novel are : Crime Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Suspense Thriller, Women Sleuths,Mystery, and Fiction. I would suggest you not read this late at night. In this dark novel, there are dark secrets, lies, betrayals, gaslighting, buried memories, suspense, twists, turns, danger, and murder. J.T. Ellison writes at her best and vividly describes the setting, scenery, and the dark, complicated, complex characters.

The female protagonist, Halley James has had a devastating day. It appears that her marriage to her husband is troubled and ending, and instead of a profitable and respectable promotion, she gets fired from the company she has been working for. Her father calls from a hospital bed, informing her he fell and will be having surgery. Halley and her father are close, especially since her mother and step sister were killed in an accident when she was six years old. Halley’s father requests that she get the new insurance cards from his desk. Halley goes to their home, and in searching for the cards, discovers papers stating that Halley’s mother was murdered, and it was the sister that killed her. Halley is in shock, and is determined and obsessed to find the truth about her mother. How could a loved family member lie about something so important?

On Halley’s haunting journey and quest, she is threatened and in terrible danger. She is getting stronger hints to walk away while she can. The author takes us on a dark journey where there are quirky, peculiar, and strange characters that are very suspect. There are strange places with difficult and dangerous access. Does Halley have the key to the answers in her memory? I highly recommend that you read this thought-provoking intense thriller.

This isn’t just a thriller. It’s a wake-up call disguised as fiction.

Last Seen slinks into your consciousness like a memory you’ve buried too deep to admit exists. It’s not loud. It doesn’t shout. It whispers. And what it whispers is this: What if everything you’ve been told, by the people who raised you, by the stories you’ve told yourself just to survive—is a lie?

Halley James is not your average thriller protagonist. She’s brilliant, untethered, unraveling at a forensic level, both literally and emotionally. The forensic scientist turned accidental detective. But this isn’t about solving a case. It’s about solving herself.

You’ll follow her from one fractured truth to the next, chasing shadows in towns that seem too perfect, through memories too painful to trust. Ellison doesn’t hand you a mystery. She hands you a mirror. And the more you read, the more your own reflection begins to shift.

The storytelling is surgical, sharp, precise, deliberate. But it’s also emotional, intimate, and haunting in a way that almost feels intrusive. And Brockville? That town deserves a character credit of its own. The vibe is so polished it squeaks, but underneath is something rotten you will smell before you see.

Here’s the truth: Last Seen doesn’t just mess with your head. It hijacks your gut. It dares you to ask yourself what you believe about love, about family, about memory, about survival and whether knowing the truth is actually worth it.

This book doesn’t need to shock you with a final twist. It wounds you on the first page and keeps applying pressure until the very end.

You won’t walk away from Last Seen untouched. You’ll walk away looking over your shoulder, asking: What am I not seeing?

Family secrets, gothic chills, and one twist after another this is part family drama, part psychological suspense, and full of buried truths. When Halley learns her mother didn’t die in a car crash but was actually murdered, her world unravels. Set in the atmospheric (and eerie) Brockville, this one drips with dread, deception, and a sense of creeping unease. The final stretch kicks into high thriller gear, and I couldn’t look away. If you like your suspense with dark family roots and gothic flair, don’t miss this one.

I am not sure how it is possible that this is only the second book by this author that I have read, but I will say that she knows how to drag you to the depths of wickedness and leave you wondering how you are going to claw your way out!

Halley doesn't remember much about the day her mother died. The mind is a powerful thing, and will protect us from bad memories. But when she stumbles across a clipping about her mother's death and that her sister was the one who killed her, it sparks a flash of a memory, and she sets off to find out what happened to Cat.

I was invested from the beginning of this book. There are chapters where the killer is speaking to us, and it is eerie. The story does alternate timelines to provide more background about Cat and what she endured. The book is told primarily from Halley's perspective, but these other chapters add depth to the story and details we wouldn't get otherwise.

The town of Brockville seems idyllic, but there is a dark underbelly residing there. There are references to Stepford, and it wouldn't be too far off. You have to be careful in this town, because it is not as perfect as it appears. The people are friendly, and one man stands out, Noah. He may be the son of the founder, but that doesn't mean he agrees with everything his family says or does.

Another side story is Halley's relationship with her husband, Theo. While things seem great on the surface, their marriage is breaking up. Can it be saved? There is chemistry between the two, but a difference is keeping them apart. 

This book is perfect for those who love a good thriller and want to shout at the characters to look out!

We give this book 5 paws up.

💥 B O O K T O U R review💥 featuring “Last Seen” by J.T. Ellison!

Today is my stop on the book tour for LAST SEEN that releases TODAY everybody!

Halley James goes back home to Marchburg, Virginia to take care of her father after he has a bad fall. Halley grew up thinking that her mother died in a car accident when she was young and is deeply disturbed when she finds out her father has been lying to her for her entire life!

Halley’s mother was murdered by her sister Catriona right in front of her and the trauma must have blocked it from her memory. The more time she spends in Marchburg brings back terrifying flashbacks. And the kicker is … Catriona may or may not be still alive and living on the run!

As Halley digs up information, menacing situations arise and threats start to target her! NO ONE wants Halley to revisit the past and its secrets and the townspeople seem to be sitting on a ton of skeletons from her family’s past!

Thank you kindly to @thrillerchick @otrpr @thomasmerceruk for my #gifted copy in exchange for my honest review and spot on this book tour! I loved it so much!

NYT bestselling author J.T. Ellison (a long time favorite) returns to a previous book setting, Marchburg, Virginia (with cameo appearances from The Goode School) from her book Good Girls Lie (5 stars) Blue Ridge Mountains Virginia to the creepy town of Brockville, Tennessee in this electrifying thriller, LAST SEEN which will keep you turning the pages to solve this engrossing mystery of what happened to a mother and sister.

In this chilling, sinister psychological thriller, Ellison keeps the suspense high to the shocking conclusion, leaving you on the edge of your seat!

Darkness hides in unlikely places.

About...

In 2017, in Washington, DC, Halley James, a forensic scientist at NISL, was fired (due to whistleblowing for sexual harassment) after she was expecting to be promoted and a raise. She loves lab work. This sudden loss of her job, a broken marriage, and her father's hospitalization after a fall set the stage for the upheaval in Halley's life.

After all, she had offers from the FBI, CIA, Homeland Security, and ATF. She also left her husband, Theo, three weeks earlier, their house in McLean, and their dog, Charlie. She wanted children, a family. He did not. Now living in a furnished basement apartment in Georgetown, and now this.

Now she is crying for more than her job, her failed marriage, and her childless belly. She is crying for the promise of a life that no longer exists.

Then she receives a call from her dad, who is in the hospital. He took a tumble down the front stairs and broke his femur. She must return to Marchburg, VA, to help out her dad (since she no longer has a life). Her dad teaches at the Goode School, a private girls' prep school.

Her parents moved from Nashville to Virginia after the car accident that took her mother and sister's lives when she was six. It has been she and her dad since. Being the daughter of a professor was always a positive.

When her father asks her to retrieve some insurance papers for him, she looks in his home office instead of his work office. She uncovers some shocking information that changes everything she thought about her life, leaving her and the readers stunned.

She discovers her mother, Susannah Elizabeth Handon, age 35, was murdered, and her 16-year-old daughter was held for questioning. He is horrified. Her half sister, Catroni (Cat), murdered her mother?

What is happening? She was told they both died in a car accident when she was six, twenty-eight years ago. She barely remembers pieces, flashes of memories

Now she is getting a headache, something she has experienced since the accident. Why had her father lied?

Did something sinister happen? She must confront her father. Now her childhood home belongs to a stranger. She is shocked. Her dad betrayed her and lied to her.

From here, Halley starts a search for the truth. What she finds says Catrona is dangerous and has not been seen since 2002, fifteen years earlier. Where did she go?

Driven by a fierce determination for the truth, Halley chases down a lead in Brockville, Tennessee. It appears that her sister attended a literary workshop in 2002 at Brockville Artist Colony and has not been seen since.

But Brockville’s utopian charm hides a chilling darkness. And Halley’s search for answers threatens to expose an unspeakable reality.

My thoughts...

LAST SEEN is one of J.T. Ellison's best, and she pulls out all the stops!

A haunting, intricately layered, and lyrical novel about family secrets, unspoken evil, and the search for the truth, no matter the costs.

In a town no one ever leaves, there are only so many places to hide. The sinister tone builds relentlessly and conjures a menacingly beautiful setting with darkness underneath the surface. There is plenty to hide and the ruthlessness to keep their secrets hidden.

Ellison's writing truly shines in her descriptions of the town of Brockville's residents. A compelling exploration of the meaning of family: the sacrifices we make, the secrets we keep, and the lengths to which we will go to protect the ones we love.

I was utterly glued to the pages in this edgy, gritty, and twisty spine-chilling psychological suspense with all the Gothic creepy vibes that will keep you turning the pages into the wee hours of the morning! Creepy in the best possible way,

The utopian, isolated, elegant village of Brockville was fascinating, eerie, and creepy, setting a spine-chilling tone.

Atmospherically, the author brilliantly sets the mood with contrasts of beauty and idyllic to dark and evil below the surface. There are also a lot of metaphors and contrasts with the settings and the characters.

The story masterfully intermingles mystery and psychological tension, emotional depth, with a standout main character who wrestles with her memories and the present. In this thrilling adventure, the author explores the haunting shadows that can lurk beneath the surface of a picturesque facade.

Brockville reminds me of Serenbe, a beautiful wellness community connected to nature on the edge of Atlanta, Georgia, which I enjoyed visiting. (but unlike Brockville's evil side). Rea Frey also has a book that was based on this project.

I was excited to revisit The Goode School (if you read) Good Girls Lie, where we get an update and visit past characters.

With her signature style, Ellison combines family secrets, domestic violence, cults, trauma, mind control, manipulation, memories, and childhood drama with complex characters, mind-bending suspense, a twisty plot, lyrical prose, and an atmospheric setting—delivering a top-notch, compelling page-turner!

LAST SEEN is a clever, twisted, and shocking whodunit, as the author carefully peels back the layers of dark secrets and the mysteries of the past, and how they connect to the present. This engrossing tale of a charming town hiding a chilling past is Southern Gothic at its best.

Thriller fans, this is a must-summer read!

Audiobook...

I am currently listening to the killer audiobook narrated by two favorites, Scott Brick and Saskia Maarleveld. Highly recommend!

Recs...

LAST SEEN is for fans of the author and those who enjoyed her Good Girls Lie, as well as fans of Gothictown by Emily Carpenter, The Girls by Emma Cline, Bald-Faced Liar by Victoria Helen Stone, What's Done in Darkness by Laura McHugh, and the hit show, a speculative fiction series, Paradise.

Blog review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: Aug 1, 2025
My Rating: 5 Stars
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Probably the best psychological thriller I’ve read this year. Captivated by its unrelenting secrets, “Just Seen” was a page- turner I couldn’t put down.

Halley is on the verge of a divorce, she lost her job, her father is in the hospital having surgery and then she finds out her mother’s death was not caused by a car accident after all but a murder! She takes it upon herself despite the danger involved to seek out the killer, her half sister. Her search starts in a town called Brockville where her sister was “Last Seen”!

Thrilling ! Dark! Twisted ! Author JT Ellison leaves you aghast !
A fully evolved novel packed with suspense, mystery and a sadistic individual. Shocking ending, eerie, one I didn’t see coming.

Highly recommend this thriller to anyone who enjoys this genre. The book cover is perfect , love it ! 4.5

Thanks to Thomas & Mercer, Author JT Ellison and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I have to say that this did hold my attention for the entire airplane flight where I was reading it. I did like the FMC, Halley. I was glad that she was NOT an unreliable narrator. Her husband, Theo, was my favorite in the whole book, though. He seemed to have the most common sense.

The beginning is interesting, and I was really wanted to know what happened to Halley's sister. But...then the plot got farfetched and unbelievable. I felt that there were loose strings with some characters. Characters were mentioned and then the reader has no idea what happened to them. Plus, who doesn't look at their pictures on their cell phone?

The ending was weird and unbelievable. What's up with the town of Brockville? The bad guy must have some superpowers. LOL Seems like there could be more stories with these characters at some point.

There were some editing issues, too. Page 15..."She collapses on the sofa." Page 16..."she...sinks onto the sofa." ? (I even checked this with the final copy.)

Thank you to Over the River PR for the advanced readers copy and #gifted final copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

After a separation from her husband and the loss of her job, Halley returns home to help her father after a fall. Soon after arriving, her world is turned upside down when her father admits lying to her since she was a child about the deaths of her mother and sister. Always believing it was an accident that took them, she is at a loss after hearing that her mother was murdered by her sister, who pled guilty and is now missing. She throws herself into investigating the case herself and finding out what really happened and where her sister is.

This was an addictive page-turner full of twists every step of the way. The dual perspectives kept this intriguing and the pace steady. I liked that this was a little more lengthy than the average mystery/thriller read. It helped connect with the characters more, and I was able to fully submerge myself into their world. The writing was descriptive, and the storyline was unique. The cultish and stepford wife type vibes were tenfold in this, and the story of the origin of the town of Brockville was the icing on the cake. Overall, any fan of descriptive, solid storytelling will devour this one, and I give it four stars.

Thank you, Netgalley and Thomas and Mercer, for this ARC.

Last Seen by J.T. Ellison was an incredible thriller I absolutely loved.

With lyrical prose and exciting characters, this is one not to miss!

I had to stop to catch my breath numerous times in Last Seen. When the main character finds out she has been lied to as a child, her whole world tips over. As she seeks to find answers and discovers a creepy town where nothing seems to be normal, the tension and pace of the story ramps up with shocking twists and heart stopping moments.

Halley’s world gets flipped upside down when she finds out her mother didn’t die in a car accident like she thought… she was murdered. And the worst part? Her sister might have something to do with it. This one is full of family and small town secrets. Halley is determined to find her sister and the truth.
If you’re into psychological thrillers with emotion and family secrets that refuse to stay buried, this one should definitely be on your radar!

I'll snap up any book J.T. writes. Secrets, betrayal, and family bonds collide in LAST SEEN when Halley searches for the truth in bucolic Brockville. The small town seems too good to be true and holds dark secrets of its own. Halley finds looking for the truth comes with a price.

Thank you Thomas & Mercer and Over the River PR for my gifted copy!

I knew I would be in for a wild ride with Last Seen. It’s J.T. Ellison! The self proclaimed thriller chick, the face of the popcorn thriller genre. She was my first ever NetGalley approval way back in 2018, and I’ve read anything and everything of hers I could since then.

Last Seen was a little confusing for me, though. It had all of the elements that make me love her thrillers. The writing was crisp, the characters were perfectly imperfect, the plot was driven. The first half of the book had me researching Halley’s past like a ghost over her shoulder. I wanted to know why she had been lied to her entire life, too!

But then the second half of the book takes a twist that I did not see coming. I really wish I did, because if the clues were interlaid, setting the trajectory for the rest of the book, I think it would have ROCKED me. But I mostly just felt confused. It felt like two different books. Two different books I would absolutely inhale, but as one, it left me a little over/underwhelmed. It’s a bummer to say this, because I am a huge fan of hers, and getting this book to read and early review felt like winning the lottery.

That said … I would still recommend it. She’s a thicc book at just over 420 pages, but I kept turning them. Kept trying to connect the dots. Kept trying to figure out where this was going. I really do think it’s going to be a huge hit, and I think my confusion is absolutely a me problem.

Anyway! I’m already excited for her next book!

Halley’s mom and sister died in a car crash when she was only 6 years old. Now she his grown but lost her job, and her marriage is falling apart, oh and her dad is in the hospital. When she heads to his bedside, she finds out that her mother didn’t die in a crash. She was murdered. Halley is determined to get to the bottom of what happened.

JT Ellison always writes an amazing thriller, and this one was no different. I certainly had to suspend some disbelief at times, but this book was such a wild ride. I felt like things only got more insane and intense as the book went on, but I enjoyed every second. This one is really dark, but if you enjoy Ellison, you will want to grab a copy!

Thank you to @otrpr for my gifted copy of this book!

JT Ellison is a great writer and I have loved most of her books. What I DID love about Last Seen was the return to Marchburg! So incredibly cool, and I discuss the Easter Eggs I found in my full review linked below. It was really fun to revisit the school and the town.

And... I wish we had stayed in Marchburg because after Halley left, the book started to slide into way out-there territory. A Very Bad Thing was just the right amount of wacky and this one was a bridge too far.

I'll discuss the aspects that didn't work for me under spoiler protection on my web review, but overall just too much weirdness, huge suspension of disbelief, and characters who did things that did not make any sense.

I can see that other readers have enjoyed this, so if you like very surprising books that are described as a "wild ride" (true) don't let me deter you.

A great thriller!

The story for this is solid and I enjoyed the journey. It was original and intriguing. However, I found the occasional and minimal multiple POV to be unnecessary and I could’ve done without 100 or so pages. It did drag at times. I spent the first 150 pages trying to figure out what the story was really about, and I think we could’ve gotten there a lot quicker.

I would recommend the read as the story does wrap up nicely and the physical book itself is a beauty. Not my favorite thriller but definitely better than others!

Thank you to the publisher for a gifted copy

This was one crazy, dark and twisted thriller! Haley goes home as her dad has accident only to find out that he has been lying to her. She thought her mother and sister died in a car accident but the truth is way more sinister. She has blacked out what happened and now she wants to find out what happened to her sister. The voices in her head and Catriona's gave such creepy vibes to the book.

She goes to the Brockville where her sister went on a writing retreat only to disappear. This town is full of secrets and not very welcoming to outsiders. She keeps investigating to get to the truth even though people she talks to end up getting killed. I had no idea where this story was going but it was one wild ride.

A cult, a serial killer, and mystery all rolled into one made this story so compelling.

Well, that was a wild ride! This one had me hooked from the first page and it was really hard to put it down.

Halley is having a rough time lately. But things go from bad to worse when she finds out that the past she remembers is all a lie.

I want to first say that I am not usually a fan of the main character all of a sudden “remembering” things from their past, but because of the way the past was introduced to the character, it made sense to me.

I thought the whole town of Brockville was so alluring due to its utopian nature. I knew it was going to be a fun story when it was introduced!

I am a big fan of serial killer, cult, and domestic thrillers that this book was an immediate win!

I did think maybe there were a couple of things that weren’t answered or explained well, but I did read an early copy, so hopefully that will get cleared up before publication.

I definitely recommend this read!

This book snatched my weekend, my breath, and my ability to trust anyone.
Thank you, Thomas Mercer, for the gifted copy of Last Seen by J.T. Ellison {partner}
 
Genre: Mystery
Format: 🎧📖
Pub Date:  8.1.2025
Pages: 447
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆.5

“Never trust the ones who tell you how pure their hearts, how good their intentions. They insist they are servants to the world. There are lies in their words. They say they are servants to the greater good? They are servants to their urges alone.” 

Last Seen was hands down the wildest reading ride I’ve been on in 2025. I picked it up thinking I’d read a few chapters — and then… I did not put it down. It’s one of those books where every chapter peels back a new layer, revealing darker and more twisted secrets, and just when you think you’re catching on? You’re not. Not even close.

J.T. Ellison packed so much into this story, and it shows — the structure, the pacing, the payoff. It’s a carefully crafted thriller that’s impossible to stop thinking about, even when you’re not reading.

I know there were clues scattered throughout, but I missed them all. Every. Single. One. The ending left me completely blindsided in the best way. I was flipping pages, shouting internally, and literally picking my jaw up off the floor.

Read if you enjoy:
🤩 Dark & Twisty
🔍 Stories of missing people
😅 Cults
🐱🐭 Cat & Mouse 

If you like layered thrillers with clever twists, messy secrets, and morally murky characters, this one belongs at the top of your list.