This was my first title from this author – after his last novel that was such great reviews, I was excited to read this – I did read the summary so it didn’t seem to be the horror and more my thriller style, whew! It was! Side note – I had the audiobook version and the narrator, John Pirhalla did an amazing job! Made me feel as if I was watching the story play out before my very eyes. This novel had all the drama of family and wedding drama that sometimes we see and sometimes we see and don’t want to admit, especially with family. 5 stars plus! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC #JasonRekulak#TheLastOneattheWedding #NetGalley

It's time for Jason Rekulak to claim his title of King of the Intelligent Thriller. This is the second book of his I've read, and it's even more of a riveting page-turner than Hidden Pictures.

The book surrounds a somewhat unreliable but loveable narrator, Frank. Frank has an adult daughter Maggie who he loves more than anything, but from whom he has been estranged for three years. Maggie suddenly contacts him to let him know she's getting married; and it turns out to be to the son of an Elon Musk-type entrepreneur of a revolutionary battery company called Capaciti. Suddenly the kind, solidly middle-class Frank is thrust into the world of the ultra rich, and the ultra obnoxious. And it turns out these people have some deadly secrets, which his dear daughter may or may not know about.

I really loved the emotional intelligence of this book and its focus on how some parents are blind to the faults of their children. I also loved the fascinating characters (Frank's sister and her revolving door of foster children, an eccentric foster child Abigail, Frank's hesitant romantic interest in the woman who cuts his hair at Supercuts) and the intricate and fast-paced plotting. There's tons of action and drama in the book, especially the last half. The final chapter requires a wee bit of suspension of disbelief but is high octane, thrilling, heart in your throat type stuff. I loved this book so much because I loved Frank, which is a real testament to the author because Frank makes some pretty stupid choices, but I still rooted for him throughout.

The audiobook narrator also did an excellent job voicing Frank and drawing me into the story.

Not only do I give this five full stars, but I absolutely can't wait for Jason Rekulak's next book. He's becoming one of my favorite contemporary suspense authors.

Pubs Oct 8!

This is my first book by this author (I have Hidden Pictures on my TBR [of course] but haven't gotten around to actually reading it yet). I liked this suspenseful story; the characters and the setting were very well-written.

One of my GR friend's reviews mentioned lice and spiders as trigger warnings and I was SO intrigued to find out what that could mean LOL. Seriously though, TW SPIDERS, SO GROSS.

This has some good twists that I didn't see coming, the characters you hope to love and trust just might not be who you think they are. This was fast paced enough to keep me turning pages in a rush but also gives a good amount of backstory sprinkled throughout. The setting for the wedding was so good and so perfect! An entire camp owned by this rich family where all the guests are secluded, they don't have their cars, they can only access places they've been granted permissions to access, cabins around a lake... all wonderfully set up and described.

The narrator was wonderful.
The ending is where I knock off a star.

An interesting thriller; quite different from this author's last book Hidden Pictures. There are no paranormal aspects, but there are some evil people that make the story entertaining. The story is told from the perspective of Frank, a single father who did everything he could for his daughter Maggie, yet despite his efforts they had a falling out. When she calls to tell him about her upcoming wedding, Frank will do just about anything for her. But he can't ignore the mysterious warnings and questionable behavior of his new extended family. I loved the family drama aspect and how the plot unfolded with a few great twists. I think fans of thrillers will enjoy this one.

This is my first Jason Rekulak book and won't be my last. I enjoyed this suspense-thriller that unwound like a slow-burn mystery with several twists. The twists keep you guessing on who did what in the past and who is involved now.
Frank Szatowski is estranged from his daughter and gets a surprising call from her inviting him to her wedding. Once Frank mets her husband-to-be he has even more questions. Wedding weekend comes up fast and the wedding part is semi-secluded at the in-law's in New Hampshire. The more Frank learns, the more questions come up and the more he wants to intervene to save his daughter... the only question is does she want to be saved? I did love that this book was only from Frank's POV so it didn't give a lot of insight on other's actions/motives until Frank learned of them.
Theming highlights: Family Drama and Secrets; Father/Daughter relationship; Wedding; Cover Ups; Manipulation

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced audio copy. I think the narrator did a great job bringing Frank's nuances to life.

Reviewed on Goodreads and can review on Amazon after publication day!

4 stars. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did a fantastic job keeping me hooked and using different voices for different characters.

The Last One at the Wedding is a great traditional thriller - think the Firm by John Grisham - rather than a Whodunnit. The story kept me hooked. The story revolves around Frank, the father of the bride to be, Maggie, and the mysterious but wealthy Garner family she is marrying into. I enjoyed the dad character and the slow unravelling of all of the other characters at the wedding.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for the advanced read.

I really enjoyed this book from the author! Definitely different than his last. I enjoyed the twists, which started happening about halfway through but then kept coming! That's not to say that the story is boring, because it is not! I'd definitely recommend to all mystery and thriller readers!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you to @flatironbooks and @macmillanaudio for my #gifted copies! This book was published October 1! The audiobook is narrated by John Pirhalla and is fantastic on audio - the narrator also voicing for the other characters.

I am a huge fan of Hidden Pictures (hardcopy is a must for this one) and I was so excited to read this one! If you are looking for a book with similar vibes to that one, this is not it, but this is a highly compelling slow burn mystery with elements of suspense.

Frank Szatowski is shocked when his daughter, Maggie, calls him for the first time in three years. She invites him to her upcoming wedding in New Hampshire. Frank is ecstatic, and determined to finally make things right. Maggie is marrying Aidan Gardner, the son of a famous tech billionaire, and Frank is desperate to connect with both of them and repair their relationship. Frank starts to believe ’s Aiden and his family are hiding secrets which become more apparent when he gets to the secluded estate where the wedding is taking place.

I loved Frank's character and his background as a UPS driver - I honestly could have read more about just his life! Frank is an excellent narrator - he's skeptical of the situation, eager to connect with his daughter and her fiance's family, forthcoming with what he knows and questions, and also makes some mistakes along the way. This story has rich people drama, complex family dynamics, a mystery about a woman that went missing, and so much more that kept me intrigued!

Recommend if you enjoy:
-Rich people behaving badly
-Father-daughter relationships
-Foster family relationships
-Unlikable casts
-Atmospheric New England camp stories
-UPS drivers!!

This was so different from Jason Rekulak's first book and yet I liked it so much. We start off meeting Frank Szatowski. He hasn't spoken to his daughter in three years when she calls one day to announce her engagement and invite him to the wedding. Frank jumps at the chance to reconnect and initiates a meeting with his daughter, Maggie, and her super rich and connected fiancé, Aiden Gardner. At dinner, he learns just how much Maggie's life has changed at that the wedding will take place at an old remote summer camp in New Hampshire owned by the Gardner family. As Frank attempts to connect with Maggie and the Gardners, things do not feel quite right to him and he wonders if the wedding should even happen at all.

First....I loved Frank. He is a career UPS driver, a devoted father, and a good man. I adored his averageness and how unapologetic he was about who he was. I loved the care he had for his daughter, even when it wasn't easy. This is a quiet domestic suspense novel that slowly unravels as more time is spent at the estate in New Hampshire. The Gardners are super suspicious, including the secluded mother of Aiden Gardner who doesn't join in any of the wedding activities. These are part rich people gone wrong and part messy family. Frank's sister and her newest foster child. Both are great additional characters in their own right. The plot keeps you.guessing as to what is really going on. I couldn't stop reading this one as I had to know how Frank managed to unravel all the mysteries of the engagement and family dynamics.

Narration was fantastic. John Pirhalla is Frank in this book and does a stellar job. I felt like Frank himself was sitting next to me telling me about this crazy, messed up story that happened to him. He handles both the female characters and the foster child really well. I loved them all for the different personalities that Pirhalla brings through.

While I wouldn't call this a thriller, I would call it a great time. It's so fun to see an author try something completely different and succeed. Rekulak is becoming a must-read author for me and should be a must-try author for you if you have not. Definitely recommend!

The Last One at the Wedding is the story of Frank Szatowski, a UPS driver and father to his estranged daughter Maggie. Following a surprise call from Maggie inviting him to her wedding, he is ecstatic and determined to reconnect. After meeting his future son-in-law, he is surprised that Aidan is the son of a tech billionaire, but there is also something off about him. Eager to get to know Aidan and his family, he soon discovers that they have secrets, including a murder, and so does his daughter Maggie…

This is a mystery/suspense novel filled with dysfunctional families. The plot, which unfolds at a tantalizing pace, keeps readers captivated and intrigued. It is sometimes funny (Abigail, Frank's sister's foster child) and full of twists. It keeps you guessing, making it an entertaining read, although the ending was somewhat abrupt.

John Pirhalla's narration is not just a reading of the story, it's an experience. His outstanding performance brings Frank to life and adds a layer of suspense that will keep you on the edge of your seat, making the audiobook a must-listen for any mystery/suspense fan.

I am grateful to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me with an advanced audio copy of The Last One at the Wedding in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, Jason Rekulak, for writing another fantastic book. I can't wait to see what's next!

Maggie Frank’s estranged daughter is getting married. She calls her dad to invite him to the wedding. Frank brings along his sister and her foster child. Frank gets there and all kinds of crazy stuff ensues and Frank wonders what Maggie got herself into. I don’t want to ruin the twists but let’s say that there is more to the story of Maggie and her fiance and also there seems to be suspicious deaths while they are there. I found the story to be fun and enjoyable . I really liked the narrarator who sounded just like a UPS-er (my husband is a veteran UPS-er) . Great book and def recommend.

This is how one follows up Hidden Pictures.

Jason Rekulak has written something totally different.

Frank and his daughter have been estranged for 3 years. So long that Frank doesn’t even remember how it all started. But Maggie’s on the phone telling him the big news that she’s getting married! She welcomes her father back into her life as she embarks on a new journey with Aidan.

But Aidan isn’t the starving artist that Frank expects to find when he meets his future son in law. In fact, nothing is quite as it seems. The wedding planning is in full swing and quickly approaching. Frank hasn’t even met his soon to be son-in-laws family.

Everything begins to fall apart the weekend of the wedding. Reluctantly, Frank and his sister make the trek to the camp the wedding is to be held at with the emergency placed foster child in tow. The party kicks off and Frank starts to see clues of something more sinister at every turn.

I received a copy of the audiobook of this and I was beyond excited. I started it and didn’t want to stop listening to sleep. John Pirhalla reminds me of top 40’s when I was younger. His voice perfectly adds to the charm of Franks character. It was engaging and well cast.

Thank you to Jason Rekulak, Macmillan Audio, Flatiron Books,John Pirhalla and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this suspenseful thrilling tale of a father daughter relationship gone wrong.
I read a lot of thrillers, and this one was truly out of the box unique.
When Frank is invited to his estranged daughter’s wedding he doesn’t quite know what to think. When he meets her fiancé and his family, he questions their relationship even more. The secrets are piled high, the story is twisty, and still has moments of such human sensitivity in it.
Loved every second of this one.
Hidden Pictures has been on my TBR for a while, and after reading this, it totally makes me want to finally pick it up.
Thank you netgalley for the AAC

A bunch of toxic people walk into a wedding…

There’s bound to be a punchline somewhere!

Unfortunately, this book wasn’t it for me. The ultimate twist was on a level of cringe that my eyes could not roll hard enough. Narrated from a widowed father’s perspective, the reader expected some sort of redemption. But all we got was some strange, money-obsessed mid-life crisis mess. The rest of the characters are abhorrent. The only one that maybe deserves attention is the 10 year old foster kid envisioning a fairytale, but given a nightmare.

The audiobook read by John Pirhalla seemed fitting for the salt-of-the-earth character. He was also easily understood at faster speeds.

Thank you NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and author Jason Rekulak for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

I had high hopes for this one after loving his last book but I found this one kind of disappointing. The characters just didn't do anything for me.

I saw a lot of comparison before I started this one to the authors first book so I tried to go into this story with fresh eyes and I’m glad I did. I enjoyed it a lot.

Frank has been invited to his estranged daughter’s wedding and she is marrying into a family he has never met that has an intimidating amount of money. He brings along his sister and her newly placed foster daughter. Someone is missing, death, and just overall strange occurrences ensue….

I enjoyed Frank trying to be an active parent in all of the plans while also kind of giggling to myself at the amount of times he was like what the hell? I also enjoyed the storyline including the foster niece and his interactions with her.

The creepiest part to me about this book was the lice 😂 While not creepy or really thriller the story was suspenseful and I enjoyed it.

4.5 stars rounded up!
This was my first Jason Rekulak novel, so I had no idea what to expect. I was VERY pleasantly surprised with The Last One at the Wedding. The story hooked me from the very beginning. It covers a lot of ground from Frank raising Maggie as a child all the way to present day as she's about to get married. I loved the twists and turns throughout the book and how pretty much every character is morally grey. Rich people drama and flawed characters is right up my alley. It only lost half a star because it got a little plot hole-y at the end.

I can't say enough good things about John Pirhalla as the narrator of this audiobook. I rarely enjoy a book that's not from a female perspective, let a lone a middle aged white guy. John really brought Frank's Szatowski to life. I felt every emotion along with Frank. This might be one of the best audiobooks I've ever listened to.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this ARC!

Frank thinks his relationship with his daughter may be over until one day he gets a call from her. He is shocked, but even more so when she tells him she is getting married and wants him to come to the wedding. He is so happy to make things right with her and to meet his future family. Until he does meet them. His future son-in-law is stand offish and he feels very out of place with the rest of them. Also his daughter, Maggie, doesn’t seem to have time for him. He starts to really worry when things start coming to light and the locals seem to be hostile with the family his daughter is marrying into.

This was told from the perspective of Frank, which I appreciated since he was the most likeable character. Most everyone else was not likeable, which is fine with me. This is not creepy, but a good domestic thriller. It felt like a slow burn, although it didn’t drag on.

The dynamic between Frank and Maggie is very interesting. As is the dynamic in the Gardner family. I thought I knew exactly what was going on, but I didn’t except for a little bit. I was definitely surprised. The ending was a little unresolved and not totally satisfying. The narrator did a really good job with this book!

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan for the advanced audio copy of this book!

Read Completed 10/3/24 | 3.25 stars

I had mixed feelings about this book throughout my whole read, but it was very easily readable. It started off as a 4 star read, jumped to a 3 star, then a 3.5 star, and then ended up at 3.25 stars. THE LAST ONE AT THE WEDDING was an easy read, but nothing really stood out to me, and a lot of it felt a little underdeveloped. I think this can be a fun popcorn read, but it just wasn't a favorite of mine.

I really liked the story of "rubbing elbows with the rich" but from the father's POV. I liked Frank as the narrator and I liked that he was neither the rich guy nor the one being wooed by the rich people. I really liked that he was a UPS truck driver and genuinely just an average, normal guy. He's been estranged from his daughter Maggie for three years and is very happy to be invited to her wedding, but red flags fly as he spends more and more time with Maggie and the new in-law family to-be.

Mostly, I just felt like a lot of things were underdeveloped. It's hard to talk about it all without sharing spoilers, but nearly all of the characters weren't very details or deep. I feel like we didn't really get to know anyone, but especially Maggie. There are some stories about her past that give us some insight, finally including the incident that caused the three year rift, but it just didn't really connect. I feel like there still wasn't a lot of explanation about why she makes the decisions she makes and we're just kind of told to accept it.

A big part of the story -- in content, but not necessarily plot -- is that Frank's sister, who helped raise Maggie after her mother died, comes to the wedding as well and she brings her new foster daughter Abigail. Abigail came from a rough background -- she doesn't know how to behave in social situations, came to Frank's sister (and the wedding) with head lice, and consistently becomes an uncomfortable situation for Frank as he's trying to barely keep up with the new part of the family. I don't have an issue with Abigail being a part of the story and her behavior is totally understandable, especially after the trauma she's been through, but I just didn't really enjoy her part in the story. Sometimes I just don't enjoy kids being a big part of an adult thriller and this just happened to be one of those cases.

The ending had some high-stakes moments but it was kind of too little too late, and even then, some things just didn't really feel like they jived with the rest of the book. I just felt like a lot of these plot points and twists were still stuck in the outline phase and we didn't really get the meat and potatoes that fleshed out that whole story.

The very end got a little more exciting and that was when I thought I might end up rating this 3.5 stars, but then we lost the momentum again and it kept going and going. Then I lost interest and steam and the book just kind of... ended and I didn't get why.

AUDIOBOOK THOUGHTS: John Pirhalla was the narrator for this book and I really enjoyed his narration! I wouldn't say he's a new favorite but I did like his voice and narration style. My only complaint was that most of his women sounded pretty similar and his voices weren't *super* varied, but I did have a good time listening to him and I really liked his tone of voice.

Narration was spot on. The story, not so much. I was shocked maybe once and otherwise this felt like it dragged on forever and wasn’t super suspenseful. It felt very anticlimactic and I didn’t feel connected to any of the characters. Just such a different vibe and kinda boring.