A relentless, adrenaline-charged thriller where danger lurks in every shadow. Adams delivers a cinematic, pulse-pounding ride from start to finish.

I love, love, love Taylor Adams and her novel, "Her Last Breath" was just as good as her others. A fast-paced, thrilling, chilling roller-coaster of a ride.

𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒔, 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒃𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓.

I've always been afraid of the ocean, but I didn't realize I was also terrified of space until that became a sub-genre of horror, and now, thanks to Taylor Adams' 2026 release, I can add caves to my lengthy list of fears.

Tess and Alma have been friends since high school. Tess found refuge with Alma's family after suffering horrific abuse at the hands of her mother. The women remained close even though their lives went in different directions--Tess is a reserved legal assistant struggling to pay for law school, while Alma has reinvented herself as Allie and has become a travel influencer, jetting off to remote locales. She's absolutely fearless, and Tess exists happily in her shadow.

After years of excuses, Tess finds herself agreeing to go caving with her experienced friend. As soon as the women descended, I felt the grips of my own claustrophobia. The detailed descriptions of the caves made them easy to visualize, and the creeping sense of dread and unease grew with each page. The women soon realize they are not alone when a strange man steps out of the shadows. He is a walking red flag, yet Allie refuses to show fear. Soon, the two women are fighting to stay alive inside an underground labyrinth, and when the first twist hit, I audibly gasped.

Told in alternating points of view with dual timelines, the reader is plunged into the dank underground that threatens to become a tomb while 24 hours later, we are listening to Tess recount her harrowing story of survival from her hospital bed. The detective interviewing her gently shares upsetting news about Ellie's true past, which leads her to believe the violent attack was planned and calculated. That first twist was just the beginning. With the precision of Theseus plotting his escape route in the labyrinth with his ball of thread, the author deftly creates a web of deception that will leave you in awe once you see how all the moving parts converge.

I can't recommend this one enough. Many thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for this stunning early copy. This title will publish February 17, 2026.