So many words could be used to describe this book: outlandish, meta, ridiculous, creepy, exciting, and most of all, fun. There were times when I felt like it turned my brain upside down and it's just something that I truly appreciate about a thriller book. I'd figured some things out before they were revealed, but I don't even mind that. It was just such a wild ride, and it made me a bit emotional near the end too. Whew. It also had a few things in common with (my beloved) No Exit, but those similarities were mostly spiritual – the story was packed with action and craziness, but it was also fresh enough to not feel repetitive at all. It was just really good, and despite a few minor flaws, I'd recommend it – especially if unhinged stuff like that is your thing.

When I read the description of The Last Word, I knew I had to read it. After finishing it in record time, all I can say is WOW! This is a five star read.

Emma is a young woman who has suffered a trauma that is slowly revealed in the book. She escapes by house sitting in a remote beach house with her dog. Her closest neighbor is about a half mile away. They have never met but they watch each other on a telescope and play Hangman on a Whiteboard. That in itself is kind of creepy but it gets worse.

Emma reads constantly on her ereader and after reading a poorly written slasher book she posts a negative online review of it. The author doesn’t like her review and demands that she remove it. What is the deal with this guy? She is allowed to express her opinion. Emma refuses but she has made a mistake because the author begins terrorizing her, or is he? Emma is in such a bad place that she might be seeing things that aren’t there. Was he really in her bedroom late one night? When things escalate Emma finds herself recreating one of his gruesome books as she fights for her life.

There are so many twists in this book and it is really scary. I don’t give spoilers in my reviews but just trust me on this. If you like atmospheric, thrillers with lots of twists and a strong female character, you will want to get The Last Word when it is published on April 25th.

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the advanced reading copy. I couldn’t put The Last Word down.

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Filled with twists, turns, and more twists, The Last Word is the definition of a suspense novel. Thank you Netgalley and William Morrow for the advance copy.

I did it.

I have achieved what I set forth to do.

I wanted to read a book that would have me:

1. chew my fingernails down to the beds
2. hold my breath in angst
3. fear what lurks in the shadows.

I had to call my therapist after concluding The Last Word.

This is in no way shape or form a bad thing, the fact that this book had this much of an impact on me is still mind boggling BUT if anyone could do it, it was sure to be Taylor Adams.

I read No Exit awhile back and right there I knew that Adams and I had formed a "book-ship" of sorts, that would eventually escalate and lead me down a path of unwavering obsession to her books both published, and yet to be published.

Does Taylor Adams have that effect on you too? Maybe we can start a support group.

All kidding aside, The Last Word has easily snuck on in to my number one slot of most favored books.... EVER.

Side Note : After concluding The Last Word, I swear, I will never ever post a bad review, scouts honor.

Teaser :

After posting a negative book review, a woman living in a remote location begins to wonder if the author is a little touchy—or very, very dangerous—in this pulse-pounding novel of psychological suspense and terror from the critically acclaimed author of No Exit and Hairpin Bridge.

Emma Carpenter lives in isolation with her golden retriever Laika, house-sitting an old beachfront home on the rainy Washington coast. Her only human contact is her enigmatic old neighbor, Deek, and (via text) the house’s owner, Jules.

One day, she reads a poorly written—but gruesome—horror novel by the author H. G. Kane, and posts a one-star review that drags her into an online argument with none other than the author himself. Soon after, disturbing incidents start to occur at night. To Emma, this can’t just be a coincidence. It was strange enough for this author to bicker with her online about a lousy review; could he be stalking her, too?

As Emma digs into Kane’s life and work, she learns he has published sixteen other novels, all similarly sadistic tales of stalking and murder. But who is he? How did he find her? And what else is he capable of?

Emma is in isolation at a beach house with her dog. She reads a lot. After reading a gory, murder story and leaving a one-star review, the author is not pleased.

Taylor Adams is back to the excitement and high-energy pace of No Exit! I could not put this one down and you won’t be able to either. It is constant action and anticipation! I had one of the twists pegged from the beginning, but that did not matter because there were about a million other twists that I didn’t see coming. This story will have your head spinning with twists and fake me outs. Loved it!

“In a story, the author is God.”

The Last Word comes out 4/25.

Emma is staying in a remote beach house with only her dog and an elderly neighbor for company. After she reads a terrible horror book and posts a one-star review, weird things start happening, and Emma is sure the author is involved.

What. Did. I. Just. Read?!?
This story was non-stop action and excitement with a zillion twists and turns and times that I thought the story was over and then another wild thing happened and another and aaaaaah!

Was it over the cliff bananas? YES
Did I love it? YES
Did I binge-read it in an afternoon? YES
Should you read it? YESSSSSS

Taylor Adams books just keep getting better. This book had me on the edge of my seat. I could not put it down.

I enjoyed this book, much like past books by Taylor Adams. The concept of this book was interesting and something I haven't read before, which is important to me with thrillers. It was twisty but still had a slight predictability which made the characters feel more human and less fictional. I really enjoyed the book-ception, aka the book inside the book. I love that it told the story along with the narrative and the twist of the ending was great. I'm glad Laika made it, even though she wasn't a major point to the plot. I liked the cliffhanger of Emma's happy ending, it gives the reader some work to do in deciding how they feel the 2 reconnect in a way. I will continue to pick up Taylor Adams books, they're just enough gore to plot ratio.

You know those books that you can guess what is going to happen around the corner before it happens? Well you can't do that with this book. Surprise, Surprise, I didn't see that coming. Ha! Yes some of us may figure it out ahead of time but I only did it twice. Otherwise it was suspenseful and fun to read. I like that it's so up on downloading and read e-books and also the information on reviews. I won't tell how it ends but you will enjoy this adventure. Not slow and keeps you interested in what's happening next. Love the dog and conversations with him. Funny stuff and thank you Publishers and NetGalley.

Emma suffers a tragedy and decides to leave home to house sit at a house on the Strand. Her hermit of a neighbor suggests she read an e-book from Amazon, which turns out to be horrible, resulting in a one-star review. Any normal human would shrug it off, but not this author. He goes tit-for-tat with Emma, imploring her to remove her poor review. Since she refuses, he decides to stalk her to prove her. I won't go into what happens since I don't want to spoil it, but trust me, you want to read this book to find out.

I can honestly say that this book is not a one-star book! It's been a while since I read a book that gripped me as much as this one did. It was confusing at the beginning, but once I figured out what was going on I didn't want to stop reading this book. I loved all of the twists and turns; just when I thought I had it figured out I discovered I was wrong. It is so well written and put together, I don't see any plot holes. I absolutely loved this book and cannot wait to tell the patrons at the library about this as well as co-workers.

I find myself never particularly enjoying the main characters of Adams' novels, but weirdly enough that doesn't stop me from really liking the books themselves. Emma, our MC, is housesitting her friend's beach house with only a golden retriever as company (I would die for this dog, you can't stop me). She reads a book that she considers to be the worst book ever and writes a negative review online. Soon, the author demands she amend or completely delete the review, which she doesn't. Then, weird things start to happen one after the other. This book has a breakneck speed that I loved--I finished this in one day because I just needed to know what happened next and how this resolved. Tight plotting, interesting setting and synopsis, I highly recommend this! Can't wait for the next release from this author!

A thriller AND a book within a book? Yes, please! I read this book in 48 hours and couldn’t stop until the end. Pulse-pounding at times and poignant at others, this was a hit! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced e-reader copy.

Taylor Adams sure knows how to keep you on the edge of your seat. This book starts out with Emma who is housesitting for her friend in a beach house. You know something tragic has happened to Emma and she is running away from her grief. She is cooped up in this beach house with her Golden Retriever dog as her older neighbor Deek recommends an eBook. They only communicate through white board. She reads Murder Mountain by H.G. Kane. It is the worse book she has ever read. She decides to go online and write a 1 star review. H.G. Kane writes back demanding she change it or delete it. She refuses. After a couple days weird things begin to happen. A man with a demon face mask shows up on the security cameras. She feels someone is watching her. A bird flies into the window and dies. Things just get worse for Emma. Taylor Adams puts a few good twists in the end I didn't see coming. This book is a very quick read because you are eager to know what happens and who will make it out alive.

Do you think about your book reviews before you post them? For Emma Carpenter, one negative book review makes her question everything about the author, H. G. Kane. Thank you so much to William Morrow and Taylor Adams for my copy of this book.

Alone and isolated while house-sitting on the coast of Washington, Emma goes through a few books a day. When her neighbor recommends a terribly written book as a joke, Emma decides to leave a 1-star review after wasting four hours of her life. When the author responds, it seems that he is taking the review extremely seriously. Shortly after, weird things start happening at night, and Emma thinks the disgruntled author is involved. After digging into Kane’s work, Emma realizes that there are sixteen other gruesome and horrific tales of murder. Are these books purely fiction? Or is Emma about to find out how seriously the author takes his writing.

Thoughts: First off let me say, THE DOG IS OKAY. There were so many moments where I got so tense and almost put the book down, but the dog is fine, I promise. This book does include some triggers like suicide and infant death, so be aware of that. This book also has some very specific stereotypes that are a bit basic, like your very classic incel.

Anyway, Taylor Adams does a phenomenal job of using classic horror tropes to poke fun at the way some authors write. This book was a blast to read and starts out with the action right from the beginning. The story was meta and fun and more complex than your average thriller. There is a narrator within a narrator, a writing style that has the potential to be confusing but really worked. This is the ultimate unreliable narrator story, especially because you don’t know who the narrator is half the time. The ending was both surprising and not, and I loved every second of it! 4.5 stars!

Lol, this book was so great and meta. It gave me weird dreams, made me lowkey reconsider being on goodread where I've rated a few stories 1 star, and the dog lives in the end, so I'm giving it a solid 5/5.

4.25 stars. Taylor Adams author of No Exit delivers again! This super fast-paced book sinks its claws into you from the very first chapter and does not let go. Unlike some thrillers, you don’t have to wait til the last half to get any action, this book is action packed all the way through. I actually could not put it down because I was dying to know what happened next. While at times it was a little outlandish I didn’t find that it took away from the story at all because we expect that from this genre. In terms of characters, Emma Carpenter was a troubled protagonist with dimension that you couldn’t help but root for. And don’t even get me started on Deek.

I also loved the meta aspect of it, about horror books and their tropes. I think fans of fast-paced thrillers and Adams’ previous work will devour this one as well. On sale April 25th, 2023, preorder your copy today I promise you won’t regret it!

Thank you to William Morrow, Taylor Adams and Netgalley for this gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of The Last Word by Taylor Adams. Adams has become one of my favorite authors over the last few years due to his intense thriller style novels. This novel did not disappoint! The fact that it centers around writers makes it even better. I kept thinking I knew what was going to happen next and I was wrong. Adams is truly a masterful story teller and I can't wait to see what he writes next!

Few authors play with readers' expectations like Taylor Adams, and he's at his best with The Last Word. In this compelling, fast-paced thriller, the author has a conversation with the reader about reading and writing, with plenty of subtle humor that only heightens the overall entertainment value. You'll probably predict one or two plot twists, but as with No Exit, you'll be surprised by a few as well.

A big thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for the ARC.

Unfortunately once I carefully read the book description I realized the author is the psycho in the story, which is not what I look. Also the author sounds super psycho which turned me off. So I did not read this book.
Thanks anyway to William Morrow and NetGalley for an advanced review copy.

Wouldn’t it be funny if we all gave this one star and you had to read the book to get the joke. I read this right before going to bed every night and it was definitely not a good idea. Super creepy and super unpredictable. Had a print copy too that I gave to a librarian coworker cause I knew she would love it.