Famous Last Words

Gillian McAllister

4/5

Synopsis

It is June 21st, the longest day of the year, and new mother Camilla’s life is about to change forever. After months of maternity leave, she will drop her infant daughter off at daycare for the first time and return to her job as a literary agent. Finally. But, when she wakes, her husband Luke isn’t there, and in his place is a cryptic note.

Then it starts. Breaking news: there’s a hostage situation developing in London. The police arrive, and tell her Luke is involved. But he isn’t a hostage. Her husband—doting father, eternal optimist—is the gunman.

What she does next is crucial. Because only she knows what the note he left behind that morning says…

Genre

Mystery/Crime/Thriller/Suspense

Content Warning

Violence, murder, stalking

After reading Just Another Missing Person, I wasn’t sure what I’d think of Gillian McAllister’s other work, but a friend recommended her books, so I gave her another try, and I’m glad I did! I enjoyed this one a lot, so let’s get into it, and I’ll tell you why!

What I Liked

Plot

The plot kept me hooked (nearly) all the way through. It starts off with a bang: Camilla goes back to work after maternity leave, and all of a sudden, her loving husband is holding people hostage?! Like, do we even know the people we love at all? Then, as we go through the book, having the ‘anonymous reporting’ chapters really added to the suspense. Who was watching Cam? Why were they watching her? I was so excited to see where it was going to go, and I loved how it all came together in the end. I knew everything had to be connected, but it wasn’t quite how I guessed, and I loved the plot twist!

“It’s been so lovely with you both. Lx”

Characters

The book follows the characters Camilla, the wife of the hostage taker, and Niall, the hostage negotiator. They both have similar losses that they’re dealing with after the siege, and I was hoping that they’d connect a bit more and commiserate, but it made sense that they didn’t, so I just have to be okay with that. I loved that Camilla loved Luke so much, and that she didn’t want to let go even when everyone around her told her she should. She was so relatable with her book obsession, and it didn’t feel so forced like it can in books. She was a really well-rounded character. 

“I miss you. I miss you. I miss you.”

What I Didn’t Like

My only complaint (if I can even call it that) is that it got a little slow in the middle. Cam and Niall were just going about their day-to-day, and nothing was really moving forward except the days. Fortunately, it didn’t last long before the excitement ramped up again.

This book didn’t really remind me of anything else I’d ever read or watched, and it was refreshing to dive into something new. I definitely will read this author again. I’ve heard that “Wrong Place Wrong Time” is excellent, so I’ll be getting that from the library ASAP!

If you want to read more reviews on Gillian McAllister you can read it here: Just Another Missing Person.

If you have a book you’d like to recommend, please leave a comment! Happy Reading!