Another great book from Laura Dave. As half siblings, Nora and Sam haven't been close, but Sam has suspicions about the circumstances surrounding their father's death, and he persuades Nora to help him figure it out. They end up going back and forth between California and New York, talking to business associates and family/friends, trying to piece together Liam's last day. No one seems willing to reveal much, but they drop enough hints/bits of info for the siblings to keep digging.
Interspersed are chapters from years before, with their father and the love of his life.
It all comes together at the end, in a satisfying reveal/conclusion. This was a page turner that grabbed and held my interest.

4 stars! I’m going to be honest- I wanted to DNF this book so badly. However, I somehow kept tricking myself into reading just one more chapter until I realized I was hooked by the storyline and too far gone to quit now.

Why did I want to DNF? The writing wasn’t for me. I was confused for a bit of the beginning trying to keep up with the writing style.

Why did I keep reading? Because the storyline was intriguing and had me reading late into the night. The chapters were so short that I found myself continuing to read and read because I needed to know what happened next.

Though this book felt more like a mystery, deep down in its bones, it’s a deeply romantic story of true love. Despite the writing, I was enthralled with this book and would recommend you read it if you like complex characters and a mysterious plot line.

A family saga that centers around the circumstances of a fathers untimely death.

Nora and her half-siblings haven't had much of a relationship, and with their fathers mysterious death she joins forces with her brother to seek answers. Deep secrets about their father are revealed, along with his one true love. Together, they learn nothing is what it seemed when it came to their dad and the home he loved in Malibu.

A quick slow-burn mystery that unravels 50+ years of secrets.

Thank you, Simon Element | S&S/ Marysue Rucci Books

I really wanted to like this one since it’s Laura Davis but unfortunately the plot wasn’t very interesting and seemed a little too slow.

I liked this one, but I do think comparing it to The Last Thing He Told Me (which I loved) made it feel slower paced than I had hoped for - definitely more of a slow burn, family drama then a mystery/thriller. However, I absolutely love Laura Dave's writing style, it had a great setting and I loved the dual timeline presentation of the story. I recommend it, just don't go in expecting a fast-paced thriller!

I liked this one. Definitely not a thriller, but a slow-burn family drama. It was similar to The Last Thing He Told Me, and I was more invested in the side plots than the actual cause of Liam's death. I found Nora relatable and her grief was well-done throughout. Sam was abrasive at first, but he grew on me. The romance elements were heart-wrenching and there definitely was a somber feeling throughout. I'm not sure I found Liam and Cory's love story epic by any means, but was still rooting for them. It's a fairly quick read and the writing is well done!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. Review live now on GoodReads and TheStoryGraph

Family Drama x Romance
Thank you, Simon and Schuster, for the gifted copy of The Night We Lost Him {partner}

Genre: Fiction
Format: 🎧📖
Pub Date:  9.17.2024
Pages:  320
Star Rating: ☆☆☆

"Liam Noone's death is ruled accidental, but his daughter Nora is skeptical. Her stepbrother Sam shows up, and soon Nora finds herself pulled into uncovering her father's illusive past."

I always struggle with the sophomore novel after a big hit. The Last Thing He Told Me is one of my favorite books, and I flew through it — but for some reason, The Night We Lost Him wasn't the same for me. 

I anticipated a story that would keep me eagerly flipping pages, but I found a prolonged story that sometimes gravitated more towards a romance or a family drama than a mystery. Don't get me wrong, it was interesting, and I liked how it was told with glimpses of their father's past, but it didn't do enough to keep my attention. I wish I had read this through the audiobook narrator (Julian Whelan narrated it, by the way), as I think it would've been narrated in a way that kept me interested.

The most enjoyable part of the story was seeing the estranged siblings come together while figuring out what happened to their father. As I mentioned before, we, as the reader, were privy to their father's past and how his relationships impacted his future and, ultimately, his death. 

Read if you enjoy:
😅 Complex family dynamics
✌🏼 Dual timeline
🐌 Slow burn
🗣️ Character-driven novels

I recommend reading The Night We Lost Him if you're looking for more of a family saga than a domestic mystery.

A heart wrenching family drama about loss, grief and secrets. A sister and her half brother search for answers to their father’s tragic death. I really enjoyed this one!! Though more of a drama than a traditional thriller, the mystery kept me engaged and I was able to binge this short novel quickly.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon Element for a copy of this book!

This is more of a novel about loss and grief than a thriller. While incredibly well written is it a slower pace character driven story - both of which I love.

The Night We Lost Him will pull at your emotional heartstrings while exploring how well we know the people we love. More of a family drama unearthing secrets and betrayals. it definitely held my attention, especially after the half way mark.

Great setting and told from past and present timelines we slowly see the unraveling of the story.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Simon Element and S&S for an advanced ebook.

More of a 2.5. This book is…okay. I wouldn’t really consider it s thriller or a mystery, there’s more drama than anything thrilling.

The book starts very slow with nothing much happening until about the 80% mark.

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for a copy of this ARC.

Laura Dave is becoming one of modern literatures best thriller crime writers. A story of a father and his estranged children. They try to find answers after he has unexpected and accidentally meet his end. But there is more to the story and the family’s history as well. A quick thrilling read that keeps you guessing until the final chapter.

Laura Dave is a second time read for me and while her books are never really anything super unique they are a fun time. I really liked the book, but it was not something that will stick with me for a while.

Thank you to Netgalley & the publisher for my early arc copy of this!

In my opinion this was not a thriller, but was a family drama with a splash of a mystery. With that said I liked it, it wasn’t necessarily what I was looking for, and I probably wouldn’t have picked it out if it wasn’t marketed the way it is, I enjoyed the story.

We are in 2 different timelines Liam’s(the dad) history and “modern day” with our main character trying to solve her fathers mysterious death.

Liam Noone is a successful hotelier with a portfolio of luxury properties, a number of ex-wives, and three adult children. When he falls to his death, his son Sam suspects foul play and convinces the protagonist, Nora, to help him investigate. As they question the adults close to him, Nora and Sam must figure out how to unravel their grief from the facts as they find out they may not have known their father as well as they thought they did.

I read a number of other reviews where readers contested that this book is more of a family saga than a mystery/thriller, and while it had elements of both I think it was a bit too muddled to firmly fall into either camp. The characters were a bit too flat to make up for the slower pace of the plot, and since their development wasn’t robust I didn’t get emotionally invested in anyone. The big reveals didn’t have as much weight as I hoped for, probably due to this lack of investment. However, Dave’s prose is extremely readable and while this does not have the same appeal as The Last Thing He Told Me it is still enough of a page turner that it will appeal to her fans.

The Night We Lost Him is a character driven mystery following a pair of siblings after their father died from a fall at his cliffside home. I struggled a little with pacing, but really enjoyed the dynamics of family relationships. The main character is an Architect, and there are many nods to different architectural styles, elements, and design.

Perfect for people who love architecture and enjoy a slow paced mystery.

I received an ARC from Simon Element | S&S/ Marysue Rucci Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a quick read that keeps the pace up and keeps you guessing to the end. I enjoyed this story of two siblings searching for answers to their father's sudden death. For a short concise book, I felt that the characters were well developed and excellently written.

After successful hotel magnate Liam Noone suddenly dies, two of his estranged and grieving children, Sam and Nora, team up to look for answers. They find out more than they expected about their father's life as they try to determine if their father's death was an accident or not.

Different from Dave's previous book, this is a combination of literary mystery and family drama. It is character-driven, with lots of different relationship dynamics and emotions that play out in a dual timeline before the answer to what happened to Liam comes to light. Through flashbacks, we learn things that led to the crucial events of the night Liam died. We also see various relationship issues in the current timeline that mirror Liam's past.
I especially enjoyed the realistic way Nora and Sam work on their uneasy sibling relationship. Their dynamic became the one I was most invested in, and I was rooting for them to strengthen their bond. The characters are complicated, and there are themes of heartbreak, loss, and grief.

The descriptions of Liam's home on the stunning California coast are very atmospheric. The slow-burn mystery is intriguing, with some red herrings and one big twist I did not figure out that showed everything in a different light. I enjoyed this one!

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon Element Marysue Ricci Books for the gifted eARC!

I’ve really liked all of Laura Dave’s books, and this one is no exception! As many reviews mention, it is more of a family drama than a thriller. Nora, the main character, tries to figure out what really happened to her dad on the night he died. Alternating chapters tell the father’s backstory. It’s an engaging story that held my interest, and I thought the surprise twist and the ending were great.

Thank you to NetGalley and S&S/ Marysue Rucci Books for the advanced readers copy of The Night We Lost Him by Laura Dave.

The premise of this novel really had me intrigued. Even more so after her last suspense/thriller novel. I was thoroughly intrigued from the beginning with the main character however not so much with the sibling. Laura Dave managed to wrap this one up rarely cleanly. I think just like her last novel, this one will make for a great movie or limited series on a streaming service.

This is my second novel by this author and unfortunately it’s another miss, I do like some of the writing but it’s just missing some spark to me. Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.