Who doesn't love a good Hollywood mystery filled with an excellent cast of characters? And like with all Hollywood elite....some you love, some you love to hate. I personally have been to Hollywood a few times as i live in Southern California & this author did a great job of describing everything from the scenery to the culture & the way society behaves. I love books told in dual POV....it kept everything well organized for me. I finished this in about 3 hours. I'm very curious if we're getting a follow up to this?! Look forward to more by this author.

The Final Act by Lisa Gray is a gripping, fast-paced thriller that blends Hollywood glamour with dark mystery. When struggling actress Madison James disappears, her case quickly turns into a media sensation, and detectives Sarah Delaney and Rob Moreno must navigate the deceptive world of Tinseltown to uncover the truth. Gray crafts a tense narrative, full of twists and secrets, exploring the intersection of fame, obsession, and crime. With its compelling characters and shocking revelations, The Final Act keeps readers on the edge of their seats until the very last page.

A fun and juicy Hollywood tale about a missing former actress with a past. Also a good detective story. Overall a nice combination of fast-paced thriller and conventional mystery, with a smart female detective investigating Madison's disappearance. The narrative structure alternates her search for Madison with snippets from Madison's past life as an up and coming actress in the early 2000s. This is a timely and interesting story that has a fast-moving plot and an intriguing set of characters. I will definitely read more by Lisa Grey after enjoying this page-turner!

Madison is a former Hollywood star who is now waitressing, she wants to restart her career. She goes missing by the Hollywood sign and it is up to Sarah to find her and bring her home. The things Sarah uncovers are baffling.

I read my first Lisa Gray novel last year and loved it! I’ve vowed to start reading her more and it started with this read. I enjoyed this different perspective of missing persons. Usually I read books and the detective is almost always part of the homicide division. This was a breath of fresh air. Madison’s POV was set in the past and Sarah’s was current time. As Sarah would uncover things or be led to the next step, Madison’s story would introduce the background on what was to come. Books set up like this, are awesome. There’s no confusing bouncing around, you know what direction we are going.

This was twisty, suspenseful and a very fast read. I got this bad boy done in 2 sittings! So good, I would highly recommend checking out what happened to Madison James.

If you like mystery and thriller you need to put this on your TBR!!!

We follow Madison who is an actress who has completed a slasher film and is on your way to the top and feeling just awesome.

Now we fast forward twenty years later and Madison has disappeared and gone missing but they do find her purse.

In 2002, the main character Madison is a rising star, having just completed a successful slasher film. She is young, beautiful and feeling on top of the world.

This was a fast paced read that i did not want to put down. This was the first novel i read from this author and definitely wont be the last. The writing style and plot the way she writes i really liked.

Thanks NetGalley for letting me read and review.

This is an excellent mystery thriller. The story alternates between 2002 and 2022, a narrative style I always enjoy.

In 2002, the main character Madison is a rising star, having just completed a successful slasher film. She is young, beautiful and feeling on top of the world.

Fast forward, twenty years later. Madison has gone missing, her purse found in a forested area. Madison's career never took off after her premiere movie success but she is making headlines now. The search for Madison is underway. Detective Sarah Delaney is on the case with her partner and they are diving into the world of the rich, famous and used to be famous.

Overall, a fast paced easy to follow read. The Hollywood lifestyle backdrop was particularly appealing. This is the second novel I have read by the author Lisa Gray and I am a fan. I really enjoy her writing style and storylines.

It’s been twenty years since Madison James had any kind of success in Hollywood. Now she’s disappeared and a TikTok sleuth has found her purse discarded in a Los Angeles park. The news spreads like wildfire across a nation hungry for celebrity tragedy, and the struggling actress’s mysterious disappearance quickly becomes a national obsession.

Detectives Sarah Delaney and Rob Moreno of the LAPD Missing Persons Unit take the case. But truth is a rare commodity in Tinseltown; some people will stop at nothing to get what they want and Delaney and Moreno soon find themselves mired in Hollywood’s dark underbelly with little in the way of clues.

As revelations from the past emerge, it becomes apparent there is more going on than meets the eye. With an obsessive public watching every step of the investigation, can the police find Madison before she becomes more than just missing?

I am hooked on these types of books. I love the mystery thrillers and this one did not disappoint. I was hooked from the beginning. Cannot wait to read more from the author.

This book was written so well. I've been struggling to enjoy mystery books after my short Freida McFadden obsession, but this book revived my love. Even with the back and forth time hops, I was able to follow along, which is very difficult for me. There were just enough characters to make it a whodunnit without overwhelming the reader. I will say I wasn't overly surprised by the ending or any of the surprises, honestly, BUT I still think it was a good book.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5

I love movies almost as much as I love books so a story about darker side of Hollywood and the world of acting immediately piqued my interest. If you are looking for a fun, entertaining read this summer you will want to check out The Final Act!

The story is centered around the disappearance of an actress/waitress whose acting career never fully took off. Two detectives from LAPD missing persons unit will have to uncover a number of secrets from the past if they want to solve this one.

The star of this story for me was Detective Sarah Delaney. I loved her no nonsense attitude and she was the driving force behind my need to keep turning the pages. I know this is not a series but I would definitely grab a book if it featured her again. I enjoyed the dual timeline and such a compelling cast of side characters. I can’t believe this was my first Lisa Gray book! It definitely won’t be the last!

My bookish peeps at @bookloversthepulse are also loving this one! A huge thank you to @brilliancepublishing for my copy!

The Final Act is a fast paced thriller that takes place in the flashing lights of Hollywood. When a down on her luck former actress goes missing Detective Sarah Delaney is on the case.

I went into this one blind and liked it as a palate cleanser. While forgettable ( One problem with being so far behind on reviews is forgetting details) the story line is compulsively written so that you want to keep turning the pages.

Madison James has ALWAYS wanted to be … a FINAL GIRL 😳… This girl breezed into LA and landed a role in a horror film 🎥… she was dubbed to be the next hot 🔥🔥 star. Move over Neve Campbell… 😉… there is a new girl in town… BUT…Twenty… yes Twenty years later… she is STILL trying to become a Final Girl ..😳🙄 No matter what it takes.. and then… she disappeared.. without a trace… POOF 💥 … Where is Madison James?? 🥺

This was a fast paced thriller that I totally binged!! I didn’t want to put it down!! I loved the past and present POV’s!! So addictive!!👏👏

This was my first @lisagraywriter book… and I am immediately looking at her backlist!! The Dark Room and To Die For sound amazing!! 😍

The Final Act was my first Lisa Gray read, and I’m glad my friends over at @thrillerbookloversthepulse introduced me to her work.

The Final Act takes the dark side of fame and combines it with a missing persons case and a police procedural, all in under 300 pages.

A few highlights:

🎭Gripping Plot: layered with multiple timelines. While I had some twists figured out, it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book. You definitely need to pay attention to keep up with the timeline changes, especially with Madison

🎦 Dynamic Characters: the dual POVs of Madison and Sarah worked well and I was invested in the outcome of Madison’s story

I look forward to reading more of Lisa Gray’s books!

Thank you to the publisher and @netgalley for the copy to read and review.

The dark side of Hollywood, misplaced power and privilege, and far reaching consequences hidden by wealth. How far would you go to get the dream? A solid mystery with plenty of red herrings, twists and turns!
A fantastic read. Well done Lisa Gray, I can’t wait to read your next book.

This is the first of Gray’s novels that I’ve read, and I very much enjoyed it. Long-time readers of CR will know that mysteries/crime novels set in and around Hollywood are like catnip for me, and this one was engaging and quickly paced. Thanks to a bout of insomnia, I ended up reading this in just two sittings.In The Final Act, missing persons detective Sarah Delaney and her new partner Rob Moreno take up the case of a missing actress. Madison James’s purse has been found in a park, and thanks to a TikTok “sleuth”, the disappearance is starting to gain traction. Newly assigned to the MPU, Delaney dives right in, and starts to pull apart Madison’s life, her past, and also the world in which she operated. She is a somewhat washed up actress — only three movie credits to her name, 20 years ago, before dropping off the Hollywood map entirely.

As Delaney and Moreno unearth more details, they start to suspect that Madison’s past may hold the key to her disappearance. Over the course of their investigation, they come up against some of the worst elements of Hollywood — especially an abundance of predatory men who believe they have a right to treat women as they see fit, for their own amusement and benefit. Through discussions with Madison’s manager, and others, they also learn about the actress’s journey through the uncaring world of Hollywood. All of this builds to a few surprises, which I won’t describe to avoid spoilers.

Gray takes the story in some interesting directions, and the author’s prose pulled me through. The pacing is excellent, and the characters are well-drawn. It’s not the most innovative mystery/crime novel, but it is a very enjoyable read, and doesn’t lean heavily on genre tropes. I’d certainly be interested in reading more novels featuring Delaney and Moreno, and I think the characters could anchor a series. We get to know Delaney more than Moreno, but there’s more to explore with both of them. (Also, given the reason Delaney moved from robbery-homicide to missing persons also offers plenty of opportunities for stories on the more personal side of a detective series.) I’m also going to have to read more of Gray’s other novels; and I think I’ll start with To Die For.

If you’re after a quickly-paced, engaging crime novel, then I think you could do a lot worse than giving Lisa Gray’s The Final Act a try.

If pretty much every Hollywood themed book and the UNSUB series had a book baby, The Final Act by Lisa Gray would be it!

I really do enjoy a Lisa Gray novel. Always tightly written and well plotted, they draw you in to the story from the beginning and don’t let up til you’ve turned the last page. So it is with her latest novel, The Final Act.

Set in the tawdry tinseltown of Hollywood; home of broken dreams and too many waitresses and busboys who dream of becoming famous, the novel focuses in on Madison James, an aspiring actress who once wanted no more than to be the final girl in a slasher movie.

Things didn’t work out quite the way she hoped and Madison has had her share of Hollywood sleazebags, from the #MeToo producers to the fist heavy stars who necessitate the wearing of sunglasses ’til the bruises disappear.

But Madison is front page news now. She’s disappeared and a Tik Toker has found her purse on a hiking trail. Already Madison’s disappearance is going viral and that’s before Detectives Sarah Delaney and her partner, Rob Moreno from the LAPD Missing Persons Unit are assigned her case.

Told in two timelines, the reader is introduced to the young Madison of 2004; her excitement at being in Hollywood, her casting in a horror film and the review that really got her hopes up. It’s easy to see how Madison was carried away by promises of a glamorous lifestyle and bigger parts to come.

The Madison of 2024 is a very different woman. No longer the naive ingenue, she still hopes for the part that could make her name, but she’s not willing to compromise herself to get there. She’s seen Hollywood destroy too many young women in this oversexualised industry.

Sarah Delaney is new to the LAPD Missing Persons Unit. She’s transferred in from Robbery/Homicide and isn’t saying why she’s made this unusual sidestep. She’s a smart detective though and she knows when someone isn’t telling the whole truth.

Lisa Gray’s novel is bang up to date, even as it references some of the old stories of femicide like The Black Dahlia where the stories are of glamorous but very dead Hollywood stars.

Her plotting is very well layered and it takes a good bit of peeling back to reveal what’s really going on underneath. The clues are there, but the plotline builds in some great twists and tangles a few threads, leaving a mystery that only comes together and unfolds when the time is right.

The result is a fresh, enthralling, contemporary thriller with overtones of old Hollywood and faded glamour feeding straight into today’s obsession with true crime events and Tik Tok memes.

Verdict: a fast -paced, on point thriller with great characters and a superb plotline that keeps the reader turning those pages.

I was introduced to Lisa Gray through her Jessica Shaw books, set in California and full of atmosphere and suspense. Gray’s latest, The Final Act, is a sly and slow-burn take on the Hollywood movie business. The characters are believable, and the plot build’s mystery around a not-quite-famous actress. The chapters alternate between both characters and time, but reads easily and smoothly. When the revelations about Madison James’s disappearance ensue, the story’s tempo and suspense increase nicely. Gray’s a solid storyteller, and the book will be on many readers list of blockbusters.

This fast paced book has excitement and drama and kept my attention while reading it. I loved the short chapters. It is told in multiple POV’s in past and present but it was all clear. It’s my first book by this author and will not be my last. I loved the Hollywood vibes even if it was the seedier side of Hollywood.

Twenty years ago, Madison James was a scream Queen actress in Hollywood. Now she is a has been living in an apartment, waitressing and not getting any new jobs. All of a sudden, a TikTok sensation finds her purse on a trail and she is missing! Two detectives, Sarah and Rob, are working on her case and discover another missing case with similarities. They are working fast to try to solve the case amid lies, deceit and dishonor.

I loved the transcripts from the horror shows, it was a nice touch. I really felt for Madison, she was dealt a bad hand. Her character was well developed, but I loved Sarah’s more! Looking forward to more books by Lisa Gray!

LAPD detectives may find more than they could’ve possibly imagined in the hunt for a missing person…

Madison James enjoyed some moderate success as an actress shortly after the Greyhound bus took her from Indiana to Los Angeles in 2001. Fast forward to 2022 & her main source of income is waitressing, but when she doesn’t show up to her shift & then her purse is found on a hiking trail, the Missing Persons Unit is called in; during the course of their investigation many violent Hollywood secrets start to come to light…

I’ve enjoyed a couple of books from this author in the past & this one did not disappoint! I enjoyed sharing a first name with the female detective & all of the magazine/newspaper articles were a great way to catch up on relevant details throughout the timeline of Madison’s acting career. Would definitely recommend checking out the author’s Instagram because it was fun to see the movie posters she made for the films Madison was in.

Thanks to NetGalley & Thomas & Mercer for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Special thank you to NetGalley, Lisa Gray And Thomas & Mercer for an ARC of this fast-paced mystery/thriller!
I absolutely loved the story line and the characters. The way that the author shifts from timelines and different character perspectives makes it a page-turner, on top of the plot twists throughout. This book will certinaly be a hit. 4.5 ⭐️ for me!