All I needed to see was the author’s name, and I wanted to read The Final Act. Everything I’ve ever read by Lisa Gray is fantastic and this was no exception.

I loved everything about it. The plot, the pace, the characters, the tension, even the past/present timelines. It was all done so well that I was sad when the book was over.

The worst is a good book with an ending that either leaves you hanging or is just so blah, but the conclusion for The Final Act was satisfying.

I cannot wait for Lisa Gray’s next book!

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?

Oh man, this was an insane book from start to finish. I went in, expecting a story just about finding a missing woman, but instead got something 10x better.

Madison James had only 3 movie roles before her career fizzed out, thanks to a horrible man. 20 years later, she’s missing and her purse has just been found.

The story started out pretty on track for what I expected, and then the plot twists started and it became an even more enthralling story. I really enjoyed having chapters of Detective Sarah Delaney working the case, but I also loved the chapters from Madison’s POV that told the story of her career’s start (and subsequent end). Brilliant writing.

Other than a few grammar errors that I was pretty much able to read through, this book was an incredible read!

Rating: 4.5/5

Recommend? Absolutely

Wow! This page turner will keep you questioning right up to the shocking reveal. I was hooked. There's a great cast of characters, a gripping mystery, jaw dropping moments, and so much more. I sat down to read this one and before I knew it hours had passed. I was so immersed in the story.

Thank you Netgalley, Lisa Gray and Thomas & Mercer for the eArc of The Final Act.

I've been eyeing up Lisa Gray's books on my TBR list for a while so jumped on the wagon to read The Final Act. This narrative surrounds an actress, Madison James who was just making it big after 3 roles in films but doesn't hit the big bucks.. Years later, Madison working in a place called The Jones Restaurant, just doing her own thing when she mysteriously disappears. Of course, the internet blows uo and everyone is wondering what happened seeing as her purse was found at a hiker trail. Foul play?

The story itself is told in the past when Madison is getting famous and then why she didn't hit the big screens,. The narrative is a captivating one, taking you through the highs and lows of being famous. The drugs, abuse, sexual exploitation as well as fame and fortune.

The present is told by the Missing Persons Department, Detectives Delaney and Moreno. sifting through the tips of the wannabe, armchair detectives of social media. Trying to find out what happened.

The mixture of the two timelines make for a compelling, gripping read. Lisa Gray's writing style is descriptive and pacing is medium throughout the book. The characters. Madison and the Detectives felt well fleshed out and, for me, likeable.

I also had the pleaure of listening to some of this book as an audio version and loved Vivienne Leheny's voice. Her pacing is spot on for this sort of thriller and easy to listen to .

I loved this unique, fast paced thriller! Thanks to NetGalley and for this eARC. The Final Act follows actress Madison James and her fall from almost Hollywood stardom. Madison suddenly goes missing and detectives are racing against the clock to find her before it's too late. There are quite a few twists and turns. I loved that this thriller was unique and also showed the unglamorous side to Hollywood. I really enjoyed this book!

This story was about a missing actress she wasn’t an A list celeb though did star in a well known movie that was a bit like Scream from what I gathered. This is when our detectives come in and start trying to figure this out though there are a lot of actors in this town and that is making it hard to solve.

I felt like this was a really good story with all the twists and turns you want in this genre.

Well this was just a delight! A bingeable popcorn thriller, I was invested from the first chapter and hooked until the end. I flew through this one in just over a day.

A twisty, pacey thriller, with snappy dialogue and great well rounded characters (some likeable, some really not!) Gray uses the dual timelines and POV with ease, showing us how Madison is desperate to see her name in lights as a young 19 year old wannabe actress - only to find herself 20 years later as front page news for going missing, her purse randomly on a hiker trail and her neighbours none the wiser of her whereabouts…

I really loved the character of Detective Sarah Delaney’s and her partnership with “I wasn’t born until ‘95” Moreno haha! I really hope this is the beginning of a new series!

Dark Side..
The darkest side of Hollywood and Hollywood fame is explored in this immersive, gritty and compelling suspense where past meets present and truths will out. With an exceptionally well crafted cast of characters populating a propulsive plot, a well written narrative, a solid mystery at its heart and twists aplenty this is a gripping and riveting read.

Fast paced and suspenseful, this had me obsessed! As in, I started..... got sucked in and there went my plans for the rest kf the day. I loved everything about it, the characters were so well crafter and Brought to life. The pacing kept me interested. Just the modern day setting and that old trappings of fame theme brought upto date with the tiktok element and the fact that anyone can now be famous and anyone now can decide they're investigating a missing person and such. It's all just so very true to life so I was just completely invested. There are some good twists and turns, there's a dual timeline which also adds depth to the characters and background. I really couldn't fault it. I loved reading g this

I loved this book! I also loved her last book!
This one is set in LA, which I always love. It’s about a washed up actress that only got a start to a career before it tanked, many years before. When her purse is found and she’s reported missing by a person social media, the police begin to dig into her life.

The Final Act by Lisa Gray is a very good thriller set in Hollywood and spanning decades.

It is also told from several POV's and it goes back and forth from past to present.

It is easy to read, steady paced, not too fast as thriller tend to be, more of a character build book.

There are some surprises along the way. The ending is well explained and makes perfect sense.

A really good story, not to be skipped.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #Thomas&Mercer for the book #TheFinalAct by #LisaGray. This book is a hit with me and I loved it! Madison James was an up and coming actress when an incident happened that derailed her acting career. Twenty years later and she is still trying to make it. But, she hasn’t been seen in days and reported missing. Her purse has been located in a park and a girl has put it out on TikTok. As detective Sarah Delaney delves into things, she finds there is a lot more to this story. What happened to Madison?

Wow! Lisa Gray has firmly becoming one of my favourite authors and she’s smashed it again with this book it’s been my favourite read of the year so far!
I absolutely loved the story line and the two main characters. It was a definite page turner and the intrigue of finding out what had happened to Maddison made it so I couldn’t put the book down.
I really liked the seeing the darker side to Tinseltown and I’d actually love to see some of the movies that were described 🤣 especially The Murder Book that sounded like something I would enjoy.

Overall another fast paced book with great twists and turns, if you’ve not read any of Lisa’s books before I would definitely recommend.

Twenty years ago, Madison James was expected to be the next "scream queen" after her film debut, but things didn't go as planned and she has spent most of that time as a waitress at a Hollywood diner. Her name shoots back into the headlines, however, after she goes missing and her purse is found abandoned off-trail in an L.A. park. The case is Detective Sarah Delaney's first on the LAPD's Missing Persons Unit, and after transferring from Robbery/Homicide because she wants to help people before they become murder victims, she is determined to find Madison alive, but is she already too late? The story spans past and present from Madison and Delaney's points of view. It grabbed my attention right away and I devoured this book in about a day. The main characters are multidimensional and likeable -in fact, I hope this won't be a stand-alone, as I'd love to see more of Detective Delaney! Gray doles out important revelations within a web of information that held my interest while not giving too much away too soon.

This fast paced and twisty story takes a look at the darker side of Hollywood as we learn about a star that went missing. Told in multiple point of views, and different time frames, this tale grabbed me from the start and didn't let me go until the end. I really enjoyed this one and hope to read more from Lisa Gray!
Thank you, NetGalley, for the chance to read this ARC.

Fantastic book from start to finish. Mystery, intrigue and deception all rolled into one. A real page turner, hard to put down.

Twenty years ago, Madison had her big break in Hollywood. However, she was a one hit wonder and quickly fizzled out. Fast forward to the present, and Madison is missing. A Tiktok sleuth finds Madison's discarded purse in an LA park. The video becomes popular on TikTok and soon the entire nation is wondering what happened to Madison.

Detectives Sarah Delaney and Rob Moreno are on the case! The pair begin their investigations but hit a wall. Even after worming their way into Hollywood, they are still not finding any leads. As time goes on, the detectives find that they are dealing with a deeper story that stems from the past. Sarah and Rob are determined to find Madison before the case turns into a homicide.

This ended up being a very twisty tale! I wasn't sure what to expect based off the description. I do not really care for police procedurals, which I thought this might be based on the description, but The Final Act turned out to be a great mystery/thriller. Lisa Gray is amazing at writing unpredictable twists and keeping the suspense levels high. I will say that I was genuinely shocked by the big reveal.

I also really enjoyed the Hollywood vibes. Lisa Gray did an excellent job exploring the realities of young stardom and also the realities of Hollywood and career focused women in general. I love when I stumble across a setting that isn't overdone!

I was hooked from the first page and could not put this one down! In fact, I finished it in one day! I absolutely had to know wha happened to Madison and if she was alive. I enjoyed that the chapter lengths varied - some were super short, which made for a quick paced read. Highly recommend!

Thank you Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

A fast paced detective story that kept my attention all the way through . I liked the dual timeline and the lead detective - Sarah Delaney and I feel like we might see her again at some point .

This book is one of those fast paced thrillers you would find on KU. People have been calling them popcorn thrillers and that is what I would say this is.

We follow an actress who almost made it in the industry but didn’t. She was on a famous slasher but then things don’t quite work out for her. She is still looking for jobs but is also a waitress. When she goes missing, we follow the investigation and we also learn about the past.

This book was decent. It was very fast paced and I think people will like that about this one. It was an easy read and I liked the different timelines that we followed.

I do feel like the twists and stuff were predictable and not surprising to me. I feel like there are a lot of overused tropes in this one especially about the acting industry. I was hoping for something different.

Overall, if you want a quick thriller I would still recommend this one. It just didn’t stand out too much to me. Thanks so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc of this one in exchange for an honest review!

Madison James has wanted to make a big name for herself in Hollywood. Now she has because she has gone missing. It’s up to detectives of the LAPD Missing persons unit to find her before she becomes more than missing.