I usually go for shorter books, so this one was a bit longer than I usually read, but it was worth it. This author is truly talented and I don’t know why I haven’t read more from them. I loved the dual timelines, multiple POVs, the setting and of course, the authors writing. It’s better to go into this one blind and you won’t regret it!

Thank you Over the River PR, #partner, for the advanced copy of Last Seen in exchange for my honest review.

It’s no secret I’m a fan of J.T. Ellison and this latest book did not disappoint! I always love psychological thrillers that play around with memory and the way Ellison does it here really keeps you guessing as to what is going on and what really happened. The added cat and mouse game just ups the suspense, giving this that frantic pacing that makes you not want to put it down once you’ve started it. Her books might be a little thick, but you absolutely fly through them!

This thriller is perfect for a good binge-read! I thought the overall plot was really interesting: a woman (Halley) trying to find out the truth about a past she can't remember. I think Halley is a well-developed character, someone imperfect but also likable. There were a few small details / stylistic choices that took me out of the writing from time to time, but nothing big/constant enough to turn me off of reading this -- overall I liked the writing. I was always ready to pick it back up, especially when I was close to the climax/highest point of tension. It was a tiny bit slow in the exposition, but then I think the pacing really picks up as Halley's investigation unfurls. I think there's enough hints that you can kind of put together what happened, but I still liked having some of it explained to me (not EVERYTHING is given away by these hints). I would definitely recommend for anyone looking for a good, quick thriller read!

Thank you to Net Galley and Thomas & Mercer for this e-book in exchange for my honest review! It was definitely an enjoyable read.

Skimmed to the end. I hold JT Ellison's [book:No One Knows|25814204] in high regard – it's one of the books that I recommend to someone just returning to reading (if you can stomach the content), as it hooks you and genuinely inflicts psychological pain. Unfortunately since that read, nothing else has hit the same. Last Seen is more of a slow burn, and not one I was rushing to get back to. I set this aside to read other things before finally committing to skimming just in case something really amazing happened.

While visiting her father, Halley discovers her mother and stepsister didn't die in a car accident but that her sister killed her mother and then was sent away to a psychiatric detention center. This makes her question all of her memories and go in search of her sister and answers. Along the way women are dying in her wake and answers are hard to come by. This takes her to the last place her sister was seen before her last disappearance. It's a wild ride.

“𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙙𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜.”

𝗣𝘂𝗯 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲: 8/1/25

𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁: audiobook 🎧(60%)/ ebook 📖 (40%)

𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆: Halley James’s life unravels when she returns home and learns her mother was murdered, not killed in an accident—and her half-sister Cat was the prime suspect. Determined to uncover the truth, Halley follows Cat’s trail to a small Tennessee town, where charm masks disturbing secrets. The deeper she digs, the more she finds herself tangled in a deadly web of lies, cults, and danger.

𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀:
🔪 Mutiple POV
🌲 Unreliable Narrator
🔪 Slow Burn
🌲 Cults and Secret Towns

𝗠𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀: I loved the southern, remote setting and the whole creepy isolated town vibe—that part totally worked for me. The narrators also did a fantastic job, especially the male “monster” character who came across as super unsettling in all the right ways. But the story itself got a little messy with confusing POVs and distracting inner dialogue that pulled me out of it. I usually don’t mind a slow burn, but this one dragged so much it tipped over into boring, which was a bummer given the strong premise. Still, if you love dark southern settings and an eerie small-town mystery, this one might be worth a try.

𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 2/5 ⭐️⭐️

*Thank you @NetGalley, @BrillianceAudio and Thomas & Mercer for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

#LastSeen

Halley’s life seems to be falling apart all at once—she has lost her job at the business she helped build, her marriage is over, and now her dad is hurt and needing emergency surgery. When she goes to be with him, she finds something in his house suggesting he’s been lying to her all her life about her mother’s death when she was a child. She starts investigating and things get darker from there.
I enjoyed this book. I think it’s well paced and Halley is a good character. It does get a little bananas by the end, but Ellison sets it up well enough that I was able to suspend disbelief and go with it.

This is an incredible thriller with the plot and characters all being incredibly well developed. The ending was one that I would normally hate but with this particular plot, it worked.

Thank you to Thomas and Mercer and NetGalley for this arc! I really enjoyed this thriller. It was written well and the characters were well developed.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

While the premise was interesting, the execution fell flat. One of the main issues of the book was the pacing. It took almost 70% into the book to actually get to the main story. The characters were also not well written; They didn't fit the profiles they were written out to be. The plot twist was also not interesting and there were several plot holes. Overall, while the writing style might be good, the other main elements of the book were unfortunately not well developed.

Last Seen
by J.T. Ellison
Pub Date: August 1, 2025
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
This book is so good!! I highly recommend it!
She just lost her job at the forensics lab. Her dad needs emergency surgery. But the biggest blow comes back home in Marchburg, Virginia, where she discovers her mother didn’t actually die in a car crash. Her mom was murdered—and her father lied about it all these years.

I have nothing to hide from you. Are you hiding something from me?

Since she was six years old, it’s been Halley and her dad. Now, she doesn’t know what to believe. Desperate for the truth, Halley chases down a lead in Brockville, Tennessee. But all there is not as it seems. Brockville’s utopian charm hides a chilling darkness. And Halley’s search for answers threatens to expose an unspeakable reality.

This is my Friday read from this author and when I say I was blown away… it’s an understatement. I throughly enjoyed this book. I’m soooooo glad I got the ARC. This is a must read.

Right when you think you have it figured out there’s yet another twist I didn’t see coming.

Last Seen
This book pulled me in quite quickly. I really had no idea where it was going and was surprised when it all came together. I definitely didn’t see that coming.
Halley’s mother was murdered by her half sister Cat many years ago when she was only 6 years old. Though that’s not the story her Dad always told her. She grew up believing her mother and sister both died in a car accident. When she learns the truth many years later and that her sister didn’t actually die like she was told, she starts to dig into the past. She learns her sister whom was held until her 18th birthday for the murder eventually went onto college and was an inspiring author before she just vanished. The last place she was seen was at a writers retreat in a little strange town called, Brockville. Which is where Halley heads to for answers but she is quickly in over her head.
A good, solid read that will keep you guessing till the end.

This was my third book by JT Ellison and I'll continue picking up whatever she writes! My book club read A VERY BAD THING last year and I have been eagerly awaiting her next release!

LAST SEEN started off on a 5-star trajectory for me. I was super intrigued by the secrets Halley uncovered about her dark past.

Unfortunately, as the story progressed, it became a little too unbelievable and, in a sense, weird. I pushed through until the end, but there were a few times I almost DNF'ed. I'm glad I finished it--but it ended up being a 3 star read.

This book messed with my emotions so much. It was so good, had a fare few really good twists and kept me guessing. The ending was also perfect. I usually don't like having open endings, but it worked really well for this book.

JT Ellison does it again! I'm a huge mystery fan and absolutely loved this book. The main character, Halley, finds out that she has been lied to her whole life about her mother's death. Once she finds out, everything changes. This book was an absolute page turner. Five stars!

3.5* First book by JT Ellison, and I have to start off by saying that I loved the natural flow of the writing! It felt like having a conversation with a close friend who talks just like you do. Hard to describe exactly, but the conversational style made it effortless for me to become fully wrapped up in the narrative!

I also appreciated that the tension kicked in almost immediately and kept things moving, so I felt like there was no time for boring parts, which was great!

With that said… while it started off strong, it went downhill:
1. Some parts of the plot felt kinda forced and straight-up random. For example, SPOILERS AHEAD, when Cat’s old therapist showed up at Halley’s place with a letter. She said she kept it for Cat, who told her to only give it to Halley if Halley came asking. First off, that felt SUPER random, like Cat somehow predicted the future and knew Halley, a sister she had close to no relationship with (?!), would come looking for her. And second, why would a therapist be the one holding onto this letter? It would’ve made way more sense if it was Cat’s old best friend or someone actually close to her. This whole thing just came out of nowhere for me, and I wished there had been some kind of build-up instead of it feeling so out of the blue.
2. Most if not all of the characters are very much hot and cold / as in, their moods keep switching abruptly. For example, one minute the Sherif of Brockville was an ass, the next he was extremely caring, and then the next, back to being an ass. Maybe this was meant to make things unpredictable but it pretty much annoyed me and I wasn’t a fan of the inconsistencies.
3. The third-person narrative. This felt kind of random too, especially because it didn’t really add much to the story.

Overall though, it was an enjoyable read! A book that Freida McFadden fans will appreciate for sure!

Imagine everything you knew, your whole life, could turn out to be a lie. When I say I could not put this book down, I COULD NOT PUT TIS BOOK DOWN! The manipulation, the narcissism, the suspense, this had everything you will want in a thriller read. There is a lot happening in this book but the author does a great job with moving through the story and the transitions. Oh, and just when you think you have it all figured out, think again!

Thank you NetGalley for the eArc

I give this book 2 stars. At times I felt like it dragged and was too long. I loved the story and the concept though and I have liked all of her other books that I’ve read.

This book sucked me in from the very beginning and I could not put it down! It is a wild ride, with a few parts feeling a little unrealistic, but honestly it was too good for me to even care.

I also really enjoyed that the ending of this one did not seem predictable. It was hard to figure out, and I just love when a mystery/thriller surprises me. Just when you think you know whats going on, I can promise that you don't!!

This one is a bit darker than J.T. Ellison's usual works, but it was fantastic.