The Last One at the Wedding - Jason Rekulak
Pub Date - Oct 8, 2024
Rating - 2.5 rounded up to 3/5

Thoughts - Thank you to Netgalley and MacMillan Audio for this advanced audio in exchange for my honest opinion. I absolutely loved this author's first book, Hidden Pictures! It was my favorite book of last year, so I literally screamed when I got this copy! Unfortunately, this book fell very short in comparison and I was disappointed. The novel surrounds a father daughter relationship in which the father is invited to the daughter's wedding after being estranged for over 3 years. I really liked the narrator for this story who truly made the story come to life.

A few things I wasn't the biggest fan of:
1. There was not really a big surprise like his previous book had- I kept waiting for it and it just didn't happen
2. The amount of SPIDERS in this book-- I'm an arachnophobe so that part really triggered me. EW.
3. The story had SO much potential with possibilities for a big turn that I was thinking would happen, but never did.

Overall, I really liked the premise and it had so much promise, but really fell short for me.

After being forced to read Hidden Pictures (which was way out of my comfort zone but ended up terrifying me in the best way), I was excited to dive into Jason Rekulak’s second book, especially with it being spooky season.

First off, I have to say the audiobook is SO GOOD. John Pirhalla's narration was so impressive that I’m already looking up what else he’s done! But sadly, this book didn’t hit as hard for me as Hidden Pictures. While it leaned more into mystery with a bit of suspense, I didn’t get much of a thriller or horror vibe from it. (The MMC Frank felt a bit rambly at times, and his grumpy old man attitude occasionally made me want to smack him.

As for the plot twists, they didn’t quite surprise me as much as I expected, and I felt like the book went about 20% longer than I expected it to. That said, I flew through this book in about 48 hours while working, so it was an easy and entertaining listen.

I’m definitely looking forward to Jason Rekulak’s next book, but this one didn’t quite match the intensity and emotional punch of Hidden Pictures for me.

I really enjoyed this audiobook, the narrator's voice is really soothing for such an F'ed up story 🤣 His cadence and expressiveness also added to the storytelling.

The Last One at the Wedding following Frank as he reconnects with his daughter (Maggie) before her wedding to the mysterious and shaded Aiden, who is the som of the wealthy Gardner family.

Slowly but surely Frank begins to uncover the harrowing truth as the time runs down, but can he save Maggie before it's too late? The cast of support characters is well developed and really add to this story.

The only negative I have is that at ~80% this story just went from believable and engaging to wild, unrealistic and confusing especially in the audiobook version. However I was already invested in discovering the truth so I powered through it. But just know it isn't you if you noticed that too!

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the ALC!

This was a pretty dramatic thriller. I liked Frank and felt he grew as a character throughout the book. The narrator did a great job reading the story and changing his voice for the characters. Almost all the characters were unlikeable in this book until the end. There were lots of people behaving badly and getting away with it. Lots of twists and death which were surprising. I felt the beginning was a little slow but it picked up in the middle and just kept going. A solid 4 stars.

Kudos to the author for writing a compelling domestic suspense novel with well developed, completely unlikeable characters. I couldn’t stop listening! Almost every character is morally bankrupt except for the delightful 10 year old foster child, Abigail. I would love to read an entire novel with her as the MC.

The narration by John Pirhalla was excellent. He brought the character of Frank, a UPS driver, to life and kept me enthralled for all of the nearly 10 hour audiobook. I felt as if I were actually listening to my UPS driver.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys slow burn, rich people behaving badly domestic thriller. It was well written and narrated and I enjoyed it from beginning to end.

This one was...slow. Reading it at times was tedious. It had enough mystery to keep me engaged enough to finish but I did have to fight my mind from wandering at times out of boredom.

Frank was a pretty lackluster character. He fit the stereotypical hard working Gen X father and was pretty dense. His lack of awareness and pointless tangents were irritating for me and I cringed quite a bit. I did like the twist it took at one point though, and I also liked the whole glimpse into how the very wealthy (and often corrupt) live and operate.

The silver lining for me was how great the narrator of the audio was. I'm not sure I would have finished if his performance hadn't been so good. I would definitely listen to a book he voices for again and his performance bumps this up from a 2.5 out rating to a solid 3 for me.

This was a highly anticipated read, after loving Hidden Pictures. I knew not to expect a horror story with this one (even though it's NOT listed that way, sometimes people have a certain expectation with a previous book). What this one is, is a mystery, narrated by a dad whose estranged adult daughter is getting married, where the dad tries to figure out things that don't seem right at a wedding. It was an intriguing mystery, and the twists weren't what I would have expected. I thought this one was easy to follow and entertaining on audio and John Pirhalla was great at alternating voices during conversations. I ended up listening to this one a bit faster than I usually go for audiobooks, the hardcover is only 352 pages and I think the narration could have been a bit faster given the almost 12 hour run time for the default speed.

Dnf @ 7%. I’m sorry but I tried to get into this book but just couldn’t. I’m a huge fan of the author’s previous book but this was such a huge deviation from it and along with the vague plot description, I saw no reason to continue.

This was a slow burn and I recommend going into this not comparing it to Hidden Pictures because it's completely different. The writing was good and you really do get swept away in the story. There wasn't a "big twist" in this just some smaller twists. I'd consider this more suspenseful rather than thriller.

The main character Frank was pretty unlikable in the beginning. Took me a while to warm up to him. I didn't understand why he was so mean to the young foster girl. His dislike towards her was never really explained.

Other than that I did enjoy this and would recommend reading it when it comes out in October.

This is a solid book with good audio narration. The main character (Frank) is likeable, which is good because most of the secondary characters are unlikeable. The unlikeable characters, though, don't detract from the story, and they make the reader think about what they might do in a similar situation. I don't think the version I had included trigger warnings, but it should, for suicide, lice, and spiders.

I really enjoyed the narration of this audiobook! The story fell a little flat for me as aspects felt unrealistic and frustrating at times. I appreciated Frank’s morality and sense of honor, and this story is a poignant look at how far parents will go to protect or defend their children. I think I was just expecting a little more in the mystery category and I do think this is more of a literary suspense.

This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Jason Rekulak, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley.

This audiobook is narrated by John Pirhalla. John did a fantastic job with this. His voice conveyed a lot of emotion, which really enhanced the experience of this audiobook.

This was my first time reading a book by Jason Rekulak, but it definitely won't be my last. I was aware of his reputation as a horror writer when I requested this audiobook from NetGalley. Luckily for me, the only horror I felt reading this was in the reveals. This has multiple reveals, and each reveal works to pull the reader in more. This works as a thriller as well as a study of the relationship between a father and his adult daughter.

Frank Szatowski is a single father to an adult daughter who has successfully launched with a good job. Frank and his daughter, Maggie, are estranged and haven't spoken in about 3 years when the novel opens. This is an interesting dynamic given how common parent and adult child estrangements have become in our current society.

Anyway, Maggie calls Frank out of the blue, acts like nothing much has happened, and invites him to her upcoming nuptials.
Frank had no idea his daughter was seeing anyone, much less engaged. None the less he's desperately waited for her to reach out and immediately agrees to come.
Frank is a UPS driver, a former soldier who was deployed to the Middle East, a smidge over middle-aged, and a widower. Frank's late wife, Colleen, died suddenly of a brain aneurysm when Maggie was just 10. Frank is fairly close to his sister, Tammy, and she supported him in raising Maggie.

Maggie had also cut off Tammy when she became estranged with Frank, so they are both eager to reconnect. Tammy is a sweet person who has largely spent a lifetime helping others: she cares for the elderly in their homes and takes in foster kids in her home. The weekend of the wedding, Tammy has a last-minute foster placement, Abigail Grimm (with 2 mm's🥰), who attends the wedding with Tammy & Frank. As they arrive at the wedding venue, which is a private estate owned by Maggie's fiancé, Aidan Gardner's wealthy, well-connected family. Just to get onto the property required Frank & Tammy to sign a multi page NDA stating that all events of the wedding weekend were to remain private. Frank is not happy with their arrangement, but his focus is on repairing his relationship with Maggie. Only Maggie seems to be avoiding him, his future son in law Aidan seems to be ignoring the pre-wedding festivities, and Frank has yet to meet Aidan's mother. There's also a missing woman, and the townsfolk blame Aidan's family for her plight. This is twisty, and the reveals are juicy. I definitely recommend this for fans of domestic thrillers.

Thank you to Jason Rekulak, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the advanced audiobook in exchange with my honest review!

Unfortunately, I really didn’t like this book. Almost from the jump Frank, our narrator, was not likable at all. His inner monologue was super frustrating and I felt like I was mansplained at the whole time. Frank was insufferable. The other characters also felt mustache twirling level of bad.

The story was just not satisfying or thrilling to me.

Thank you Netgalley and MacMillan for the free ALC. My opinions are being left voluntarily. I enjoyed the authors previous book so was super excited for this one. It twisted and never seen the twists coming. The ending felt super rushed and maybe I missed something so may need to listen again and may adjust review if so.

3.5/5☆

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for this ALC in exchange for an honest review!

I really loved Hidden Pictures, so I was excited to be able to read the author’s newest book. While this is very different from Hidden Pictures, no scary drawings or any horror elements, it was still very well written and intriguing.

I don’t know what it is about me lately, but I’ve been reading a lot of books surrounding weddings. While this was a very good thriller with some domestic suspense and locked room elements, I did find the MC to be very annoying on occasion. I get unlikeable characters, but this one was mainly just ignorant in ways that bothered me. It was like trying to make the narrator unreliable but really just leaving out key information. This is a pet peeve of mine.

But there was enough good about this that propelled me to finish in less than 24 hours. It definitely kept my attention. And it will make you appreciate UPS drivers and maybe reconsider ordering certain items for delivery.

3.5 stars

I really struggled to get into the narrator of this. This is my first audiobook, so perhaps I just need to find the right book as an introduction to them, but I personally was not a fan of this one. I got about 8% of the way through before I had to stop. I will give the book a shot when it comes out!

The Last One at the Wedding is a gripping thriller from Jason Rekulak, with audio narrated by John Pirhalla. The story follows Frank Szatowski, a father desperate to reconnect with his estranged daughter, Maggie, after a surprise invitation to her wedding. What seems like a joyful reunion quickly spirals into a tense and unsettling experience when Frank realizes that Maggie is marrying into an elite, secretive family, led by a tech billionaire. The story balances a father’s emotional turmoil with an escalating sense of danger, creating a thriller that will keep readers hooked. Pirhalla’s narration adds to the tension and suspense of the story.

Having never read anything by this author, I wasn't sure what to expect, so I went in blind. I was lucky enough to receive an advance listener copy from NetGalley. The narration was pretty good, now on to the book.

It's a slow-starting psychological thriller about a father who receives a call from his estranged daughter inviting him to her wedding. Upon arrival, he immediately doesn't trust the family she's marrying into, and he has good reason.

I can't think of one character I liked in this book, making it a little rough. However, the characters were developed well, if that's what the author intended. I also feel this book was too long. Many parts could have been left out, and perhaps that would have made the book better. It was a good story; the character-building was done well, and the writing was decent.

Since I've read it, I have read other reviews, and they say this is entirely different from Hidden Pictures, so I will still give that one a shot. This one just didn't hit me right.

3.5

The last one at the wedding

Frank is a UPS driver living an average life. He gets a shock when his daughter. Alls with news of her upcoming marriage. They have lost touch, but his wife- Maggie- wants him to be there, and this opens up a chance to reconnect.

Frank raised Maggie by himself after his wife died from a brain aneurysm. There is a 3 year gap that they went without speaking to each other, that is not made instantly clear.

Frank quickly finds himself in a new world when he travels to Maggie and discovers she is marrying tech billionaire Aiden. He has hesitations about the situation, the quick wedding, and as he picks up on conversations and cues from the other wedding guests.

To make matters more complicated, Frank’s sister brings along her emergency placed foster child. Frank has no tolerance for the drama this brings and while I didn’t like Frank’s obvious distaste for the innocent child, it made funny dialogue and banter between him and his sister.

Frank investigates the secrets about the family his daughter is marrying into, which starts when he receives a photo of Aiden with a different girl and a message asking where she is now. This leads to more conversations with the locals and unearthing hidden secrets that could impact his daughter’s life forever.

I loved the audiobook narrator- I’ve listened to several books by this narrator. I like how he keeps scenes tense. I feel like from start to finish this book had an urgency to it to keep me on edge from start to finish.

“Every parent is an unreliable narrator”

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. This title will be out on 10/8!

Hidden Pictures this is not
Frank is too young to be yelling at clouds the way he is and the daughter is a narcissist
Abigail was the only decent part about this book