The Last Party: A.R. Torre ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Perla Wultz seems like the perfect mother and wife in the prestigious Pasadena community. No one knows she is harboring a deadly secret that occurred 23 years ago. No one but inmate Leewood Folcrum who was convicted of murdering 2 teenage girls.

Oh my god. This book just confirmed A.R. Torre is my absolute favorite author. The main character Perla was despicable and cringey. I could not put this book down and finished in 2 shorts days.

Thank you A.R Torre for the wonderful read as always, and NetGalley + Thomas & Mercer for the advanced reader copy.

Sinister

The Last Party is an aptly named psychological thriller about an infamous murder that took place over 20 years ago and the ongoing obsession with crime in the present day.

The novel revolves around the brutal murder of three 12-year-old girls, a convicted murderer in prison, and a woman determined to have fame and fortune. How these events are linked together is the driving force of the novel.

Narrated primarily by Perla, a mother who has a mysterious connection to the notorious murder, the points of view of Leewood, a prisoner, and 11-year-old Sophie Wultz, they all have issues and are not likable. But this is not a novel that requires one to like the characters. Perla has a strong personality, and her voice is coldly compelling. She is soulless. Sophie, who is 11 years old going on 12, sounds and acts like she is 32 years old. And Leewood is disgusting in his own ways. All three characters are keeping some big secrets. All three kept me turning the pages.

The plot unfolds in small tidbits as Perla reveals her plans. While there are some twists and turns, some are easy to predict if you pay close attention to the details. However, this didn't detract from my overall enjoyment, as I was engrossed in the twisted minds of the characters.

This is a dark, disturbing read with a satisfying ending. It's fast-paced, and the batsh*t crazy game of cat and mouse kept me riveted. If you like novels with a good dose of obsession, manipulation, and a twisted plot, this one is for you!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer in exchange for an honest review.

An author that can write from spicy dark romances to psychological suspenseful thrillers as effortless as A.R. Torre? Sign me up! Wow The Last Party may be my newest book by her and I will be adding it to my favorites of 2024! I was blown away by the twists and turns and never ever saw it happening. Such a great, deliciously amazing story that had me gripped from the beginning to the very end. I literally had to read this in one sitting. JOB WELL DONE!

This author doesn't disappoint! I won't give anything away, but my interest didn't flag and I wanted to race to the end, yet also savor this thrill ride. I was able to keep track of the characters, as they were fully fleshed out, and the plot was intricate enough to keep me guessing.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy. My opinions are my own.

Holy. Sh**.

I usually inhale A.R. Torre’s books in a single sitting. The Last Party was no exception. And this has to be her best yet. It was disgustingly diabolical. I was shocked at the dark depths she took this thriller, because usually she goes there, yes, but this time, wow. She went there. It was devious. It was despicable. It was delicious, delectable, divine. I easily figured out the twist - but that’s in part to the cleverly laid clues throughout the book. Despite it being easier to figure out, the twist is no less satisfying. I love to hate narcissists and A.R. Torre gave us the perfect narcissist. You need to read this one asap.

Wow! This book was so wild! The best by A.R. Torre yet. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time I was reading. This book was fast paced and so twisty that I could not put it down! The characters were so intriguing. I enjoyed everything about it. Can't wait to recommend!

I loved this, but heads-up, it is Dark!

Energy: Blunt. Resolute. Disastrous.
Scene: 🇺🇸 A gated community in Pasadena, California
Perspective: We follow four characters: a couple each with a tragic past raising their 12-year-old child; excerpts of the child’s summer journal writing project; and an inmate sentenced to life for killing their 12-year-old and friends at a birthday party in the 1990s. We also get snippets of true crime media & interviews relating to the murders.

🐩 Tail Wags: The characters. Getting the tea upfront. The tangled web of twists and reveals. The evil scheming. The ending.

🤔 Random Thoughts:
This was so terribly fun, but it hits sometimes that although this is fiction…these things do happen 🤯

I love the upfront storytelling and reveals. No sneaking around behind the reader’s back trying to trick us. I was hooked (and horrified) watching it all unfold. If someone told me every spoiler leading up to the end, I think I’d still read this just to watch it all play out 🫣

If you are a fan of characters you love to hate and deep diving into twisted minds, this could be perfect for you. 😅

Check content warnings and proceed with caution if you’re not a fan of dark psychological thrillers involving family/children.

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🤓 Reader Role: Ghost in the room, ghost in their minds, eavesdropping on everyone. Thrown head-first into the story and the blurry picture of what’s happening gradually becomes clearer.
🗺️ World-Building: Immersive. Not overly detailed so lots of room to imagine yet sets a good foundation for later scenes.
🔥 Fuel: There’s twists and regular reveals, with the suspense from piecing together the motivations of the characters and how they’re connected. And watching the ending come to fruition, since we already know something criminal will happen.
📖 Cred: Plausible, like one of those ‘truth is stranger than fiction’ crime cases.

Mood Reading Match-Up:
-Baking brownies. Pill bottle. Hot tub. Summer sun poolside. Party balloons. Prison gates. Security doors. Tinny phone conversations. Burgers and fries. Coughing.
-Domestic horror with scheming and a twist…not the typical thriller mom trope
-Parents behaving badly psychological suspense

Content Heads-Up: Personality disorder (narcissism, antisocial). Pedophilia (mention; recall off page). Pet cruelty, death (rabbit; brief recall). Terminal illness (lung). Child murder (preteen). Family annihilation. Possible false accusation, planting evidence. Jealousy, obsession. Blood. Emotional incest. Body shaming. Cosmetic surgery.

Rep: White and ambiguously described Americans.

📚 Format: Advance Reader’s Copy from Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley

My musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶

😅 Potential Fav of 2024

4.5 wild birthday candle stars

This author continues to be a winner for me. This one is oh so dark, though! Perla is one of the vilest characters I’ve ever encountered in fiction. She has everyone fooled. She looks like she has everything: a loving husband and a great daughter. So why is she plotting to kill her daughter? That is the puzzle for the reader to solve!

Perla’s secrets and dark past surface as we read deeper into the book. We also hear from Perla’s daughter, Sophie, through her diary.

There’s an alternating storyline with a convicted killer, Leewood. He’s been behind bars for over twenty years for the murder of young girls at a birthday party. We read the letters that his fans wrote to him. And a doctoral candidate is visiting him to do research.

My brain was busy trying to connect the dots while I turned the pages as quickly as I could. How is Perla connected to Leewood, and why is she obsessed? Is she one of his fans and mimicking his crime? As the clock ticked down, the twists just kept coming. It is a winning and entertaining thriller, for sure!

The Last Party by A.R. Torre
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

**Release Date: August 20, 2024**

**Genre: Dark Psychological Thriller**

The Last Party dives into the depths of human darkness, providing readers with a captivating and unsettling narrative. The protagonist, Perla Wultz, stands out as a uniquely unlikeable and vile character. 💀

Torre's masterful storytelling unfolds through multiple perspectives and short chapters, creating a fast-paced and engaging read. The plot is riddled with unexpected twists and turns, resulting in a mind-bending conclusion that will leave readers questioning if people like this exist. 😳

If you love ❤️
- Unconventional and unreliable narrators
- Multifaceted perspectives
- Short, captivating chapters
- Unpredictable plot twists
- An unsettling exploration of human nature

This book is a must-read for those who appreciate dark psychological thrillers that challenge conventional storytelling. If you enjoy unlikeable protagonists, intricate plot structures, and mind-bending endings, then this book is for you.

Pre-order your copy of The Last Party today and immerse yourself in a literary experience that will haunt your thoughts long after the final page.

what a wild ride!! even though some of the twists and turns were predictable (well, maybe just for me because my brain is creepishly twisted by all the books i read), they were still so fun to watch play out and had me second guessing the whole time. a.r. torre has definitely becoming one of my “must read” authors with every new release!

You are going to want to add this one to your summer reading list. This was a wild one. Lots of twists in this one. I did see a few coming but it absolutely did not ruin my reading enjoyment. Pretty fun story here!! Perla is a loving mother of Sophie, and married to Grant. They live in a gated Pasadena community. But she got some skeletons in her closet. You will read journal entries of Sophie throughout the book. Leewood Fulcrum is serving a life sentence after he confessed to killing two little girls at a birthday party 23 years ago. Perla has an obsession with this man and his crime. So does a doctoral student that's been interviewing him. Told through past and present, all three of these people and their stories end up connecting. This was fast paced, dark and suspenseful. It's not gory, which I liked. I can't wait to read more by Torre.

Thank you @thrillerbookloversthepulse the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thriller fans - you need The Last Party on your #summerbtr !

I’m a big A.R. Torre fan and I know this is a BOLD STATEMENT, but The Last Party just might be my favourite of her books. Since many of my besties in @thrillerbookloversthepulse are also big fans, we’ve had some fun chats about the book.

One of my favourite things about A.R. Torre’s books are how they’re so psychologically messed up. To be clear, this is one of the biggest compliments I can give a thriller. The Last Party’s characters get inside your head and stay there until the final page. The combination of everyday life with evil hiding behind cashmere sweaters is *chefs kiss*.

The format of The Last Party is rich and engaging. By using multiple narrative styles (multi POVs, witness statements, a podcast and diary entries), Torre makes the story dynamic, drops red herrings and introduces twists that will keep your mind spinning.

My recommendation? Put on your OOO, grab your favourite drink and block a day to read The Last Party. Once you start, you won’t be able to stop!

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC. I love this author. This one was another must read! The writing style never disappoints.

The Wultz family, Grant and Perla with their daughter, Sophie, is a wealthy family with a messed-up dynamic. Perla has a habit to lie as she thinks of it as part of a play, and she's also obsessed with a crime that happened about twenty years ago. You'll get that dark energy from Perla and she'll keep you on edge of what she's planning to do.
Not far from where they live, it's a prison where Leewood Folcrum who served his sentence after murder spree on his daughter's twelfth birthday party.
How Wultz family's live intertwine with Folcrum?

It's dark and addictive (read carefully, and you'll find the clue),a total page turner, and I will highly recommend this book for those thriller booklovers. I love those short chapters as each chapter will have you wanting more.

The Last Party by A.R. Torre

Perla Wultz has it all. She was adopted by a wealthy couple when she was young and now that they are gone, she's inherited all their wealth. She's married to the man of her dreams and has a beautiful daughter who is about to turn twelve. They live in an affluent, gated Pasadena community and Perla has no trouble maintaining her perfect and accomplished persona.

Perla's daughter Sophie is oh so smart and she's keeping a diary. Sophie sees so much, she sees through so much. Her mother is a liar and she's teaching Sophie how to lie. There is an art to it and Perla is a wiz at telling lies, manipulating, and covering it all.

Twenty-three years ago, Leewood Folcrum, was convicted of killing two young girls at a birthday party. He admits he did it and even has a fan club of sorts. Women who want to be with him, men who want to know him, and now he's being hassled by a doctoral student who is interviewing Folcrum for his dissertation. But Folcrum is getting suspicious and doesn't trust this guy. At least he's good for fast food lunches, the payment Fulcrum exacts for allowing the student to meet with him. Fulcrum won't tell his secrets though. He's going to hold on to them for life.

Perla is obsessed with Folcrum and his crime. So very obsessed and she has plans. Those plans will blow up the life of her family, blow up the life of Folcrum. Perla needs to get ready for all the attention and media interviews, she's going to be sought after, so she needs to look her best. So much planning, so little time.

The story can be hard to follow at first. There are media posts, neighbor interviews, and we are not always sure whose POV we are seeing. I loved Sophie's viewpoint and wished for more of it. The story is very disturbing in so many ways and I wasn't always sure I wanted to look at what was being presented. This is no ordinary thriller, it's throwing the worst evils at us and some of them seem to be brushed over. But I could not put the book down and it certainly entertained.

Thank you to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for this ARC.

Warning ⚠️
Perla Wultz is one of the most despicable, vile, manipulative characters that you will ever meet!

Twenty-three years ago, Leewood Folcrum, (inmate 82145) was found holding his daughter in his arms, her throat slit-the two friends invited his daughter Jenny’s 12th birthday sleepover party, lying beside them-DEAD.

An inquisitive doctoral student, Dr. Timothy Valden has decided to interview Folcrum for his dissertation. He hopes to discover WHY he committed the crime and what REALLY happened the night of the “FOLCRUM PARTY”??

What will it take to get Folcrum to agree to an interview?
An “Arby’s Beef N Cheddar, upsized with curly fries and a root beer.

And, what will it take to convince Perla Wultz to mimic that famous crime and kill her own daughter, Sophie, on her 12th birthday?
EVEN LESS

In fact, it’s her own idea. She has saved a life before and knows it is thrilling to do so, but that the feeling pales in comparison to TAKING a life.

But, first she will have to set a plan in motion to frame someone else to take the fall.

This is a DARK DARK story filled with DECEPTION and SURPRISES! The tension is palpable as the days grow closer to Sophie’s 12th birthday party.

Will she survive?

The story unfolds through the alternating perspectives of Perla, the journal entries of 11 year old Sophie, and the interviews between Dr. Valden and Leewood Folcrum, with emails and commentary from neighbors peppered in.

The pace is fast and short chapters allow you to say “just one more” as you race to find out if Perla will succeed.

A.R. Torre is a pseudonym of Alessandra Torre- her dark alter ego writes psychological thrillers while Alessandra writes spicy romances-And this novel is definitely A.R. Torre’s MOST UNSETTLING yet.

It was “unputdownable”!

AVAILABLE August 20, 2024

Thank You to Thomas & Mercer for the gifted copy provided through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to offer a candid review!

This book has been getting talked about sooooooo much at ThePulse and for good reason!! It seems like once one person read it, it was like a wildfire through the group. I believe it is well known now to never sit out for an A.R. Torre book.
I started reading Saturday evening and did not want to put it down. It was so good. It immediately drew me in. What a wild ride this book was! There was so much to unpack with this story. It was like a never ending onion with all of the layers being pulled back. I love how the book flowed. The story was told in several different points of view, along with some quotes from a news article or podcast. The flashbacks also helped add to the suspense. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, another curve ball was thrown! And that ending?! OMG! This review is super hard to write without giving anything away. While this is a good, fast paced read, it is also pretty dark and not for everyone!

I absolutely loved this! It is totally spine tingling and will keep you guessing till the end! And even when you think you have it figured out you will be wrong. Do NOT miss this!!

This book is freaking everything. I could not put it down. The amount of twists was insane and I could not figure out what was going to happen next. I absolutely loved to hate Perla.

“Too bad the ability to thaw ice wasn’t going to save him.”

Um what did I just read?!? When I say I devoured this book I mean I DEVOURED THIS BOOK!!! The complexity of this book is absolutely mind blowing. I was immediately invested from the beginning and kept wanting more. Then the end literally had my jaw on the ground! This is easily in the top 5 best reads of 2024.