Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Jason Rekulak for the audiobook of The Last One at the Wedding.

This was my first book of Jason Rekulak, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I could not stop listening and needed to find out what the heck was going on. Definitely recommend!!

Thanks to NetGalley I had the privilege to enjoy this title for my honest opinion.

If you're searching for a novel filled with twists, this is the one! Characters that are unreliable throughout will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end. It's an excellent choice for breaking out of a reading slump, enjoying during the spooky season, or for thriller enthusiasts looking for a story that truly keeps you guessing.

Many thanks to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the free audiobook in exchange for my honest review. John Pirhalla does a fantastic job narrating this story! I highly recommend the audiobook.

I loved Hidden Pictures and was expecting a similar read but this story was different and just as good!

Frank Szatowski is a UPS driver, a widow, and a man who raised his daughter, Maggie, as best as he could. He dearly loves Maggie despite the difficulties in their relationship. After a 3 year silence between the 2, Maggie calls out of the blue inviting Frank to her wedding in New Hampshire. What she fails to mention is that she is marrying Aiden, her boss' son. Maggie works for a billion dollar, high tech battery company. As Frank heads to the wedding with high hopes of spending quality time with his daughter and mending fences between the two of them, he finds himself in a foreign land of the uber wealthy with a lot of weirdly disturbing secrets.

This is a fast paced, suspenseful thriller that delves into the secrets at the heart of a rich and famous family. I loved Frank and his genuine, fatherly desire to help Maggie. The character development and backstories for the characters were very well done. There is a bit of alternating into the past for Maggie's childhood but it is very well done.

In Hidden Pictures, there was a touch of a ghost story. This story is solidly on the ground without any spookiness. I was fine with that as it did not need it but in case you are looking for that, its not in there. Highly recommend!!!

4.5 stars rounded down

I loved Jason Rekulak’s previous work Hidden Pictures and was excited to pick up this new novel! We follow Frank who is invited to his estranged daughter’s wedding to an artist from an extremely wealthy family. Frank has not spoken to his daughter for 3 years and struggles to rebuild his relationship with her while also dealing with his gut feeling of something deadly going on behind the scenes.

Rekulak is great at creating flawed characters who grow and are ultimately very relatable. The plot of this one isn’t quite as mysterious/twisty as his previous novel but it still kept me engaged throughout. I loved the outdoorsy wedding setting and the discrepancy between Frank’s middle class life vs the luxury of the wealthy. Frank’s development throughout the novel was a definite highlight for me and the ending was perfect.

I’d recommend this broadly to mystery/thriller lovers! The audiobook was fantastic.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for access to this audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

In The Last One at the Wedding, Jason Rekulak delivers a fun and heartfelt ride with Frank Szatowski, our not-so-typical hero. After three years of radio silence, Frank is thrilled when his daughter Maggie calls to announce her wedding in New Hampshire. But there’s a catch: the fancy venue belongs to her fiancé’s tech billionaire family, and Frank feels way out of his league.

As he tries to reconnect with Maggie, he’s also faced with the challenge of figuring out the icy Aidan, her fiancé. The wedding throws Frank into a world he’s totally unfamiliar with, and the quirky locals seem to have their own secrets about the Gardners. The cast is diverse and memorable, making it easy to keep track of everyone as the story unfolds.

Rekulak has a knack for mixing humor with deeper themes, and this book is packed with unexpected twists that keep you turning the pages. At its heart, it’s a touching exploration of family and second chances. By the end, you’ll be left with a warm feeling and plenty to think about. If you enjoyed Hidden Pictures, get ready for this fresh and engaging story!

Fine thriller/mystery with a strong family-based storyline. I wasn't too fond of the main character, especially when the story opens. Overall, if you are looking for a thriller this is a good option.

This book was really different from his last but I really loved it! This was really beautifully written and I just loved the main character so much.

A man receives a call from his estranged daughter letting him know that she’s engaged and soon to marry the son of an extremely wealthy tech tycoon. When he arrives at the luxury estate for the wedding, he quickly senses something isn’t right with the family and must save his daughter. While this is somewhat the ‘eat the rich’ story I was expecting, it also takes a completely different turn and continued to keep me guessing. A really fun and twisty, hard to put down mystery/thriller.

Well, I was really hoping for a shocking twist like his other book. Every single character was annoying, esp the MMC. He isn't much older than me and claims ignorance on so many pop culture things that it was cringey. the writing was fine, but I kept waiting for a jump scare/twist. its def a low three star.

A bumbling fool as a protagonist, a ridiculous self-absorbed sister, a diabolical daughter, and a rich family full of entitled assholes. Characters don't have to be likeable, but something needs to be likeable. Nothing about this was. Not the plot, not the events, not the people. Oh, and not the ending. (Well, other than it was in fact, over.)

I wanted to DNF early on, but was able to listen at 2.0 speed, so I persevered. Should have listened to my gut.

John Pirhalla narrates. It was fine. I disliked the book to notice anything about it- I can say it did not add to my dislike.

I received an advance audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

I listened to “The Last One At the Wedding” in one sitting. I went in blind and didn’t even know what the storyline was about, but I think I anticipated more of a thriller than this panned out to be.

This story follows the heartbreak of a father as he prepares to give away his estranged daughter at a wedding he strongly opposes. I initially didn’t like the voice narrator of the audiobook, however as the story went on, it fit the father perfectly. The story perfectly described so many dads and created a total like able and relatable character.

Overall, the story was well written, well paced, and intriguing- if not truly a “thriller”. Maybe more general fiction with suspense? Very well done. Thank you NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for this ALC

The Last One at the Wedding really delivered on the thriller audiobook front! I wasn’t expecting it to be from the father of the brides POV and that added a fun twist! I listened in a day so saying I couldn’t put it down was an understatement!

Wow! This domestic family drama will leave you hooked from page 1! Shocked and ready to reread this book from the start. You will never guess the ending but I promise it’s that good! No spoilers just TBR it and thank me later! I can’t wait to recommend this book once it hits the shelf!


Thanks Netgalley & Macmillan Audio for this Advanced audiobook.

I normally dislike books set at a wedding but this one was immediately chilling and suspicious. The pace was excellent and the reveal surprised me! I liked this one better than Hidden Pictures.

The Last One at the Wedding by Jason Rekulak

This book just didn't do it for me! The story was good overall but a lot of it dragged on and on. There were parts that were very predictable and parts that weren't. One of the characters was a bit pathetic all the way through and that was frustrating for me. By the last quarter I was ready for the story to be wrapped up!

Thank you NetGalley for selecting me to read/review this book as an ARC. All opinions are my own.

I enjoyed Hidden Pictures, so I was excited to see that the author had released another book. However, Frank, the main character, was just absolutely insufferable to me. He is the epitome of a grown man with no self-awareness and treats people as he sees fit, like a literal 10-year-old child. Unfortunately, Frank’s male character was too spot-on for people I had to work with daily during my undergrad, and I think that rubbed me the wrong way. Still, I’m sure this will be an excellent popcorn thriller for some people. Yet, it just didn’t work for me.

Thank you, MacMillan and NetGalley, for this early copy!

This was a really good book! I was hooked right from the beginning. The plot was unique and I wanted to keep reading the whole time! There were some good twists that caught me by surprise. I listen to the audiobook and enjoyed the narration.

2.5 ⭐ 0 🌶 4 🎧

I'll be honest, I was fairly disappointed in this story. While overall it's decent, it is not what was promised as an edge of my seat thriller, and certainly didn't carry over the horror vibes of Hidden Pictures. It was hardly suspenseful and had vibes more on part with a domestic drama.

While we did get one major twist, it was at a point in the story where I expected things to get wild and unhinged, but they just fizzled out... The secrets were far more entertaining than the twists. Little pieces I was excited to see come into play had barely an impact, and at one point during the conclusion Jason skips entirely over the action and instead jumps to an epilogue that honestly left me scratching my head a bit.

The audio was a saving grace. John Pirhalla did a wonderful job with the narration and I very much enjoyed listening to him tell this story.

4.5 stars!

If you're like me and LOVED Hidden Pictures - know that this book is a very different genre - not horror - more general fiction/drama. But that being said, it is another amazing book from Jason Rekulak! He has a way with writing that makes me dive into the story like I'm watching a movie. This was not a book I wanted to read a few chapters a day - Once I started it, I was eager to continue and finished the book in a day and a half. The point of view was from an older man, father of the bride, who was sort of set in his ways. Stereotypical "dad" - ornery but with the best intentions. I was both smiling and rolling my eyes for most of the book because of his typical dad shenanigans. No big mysteries but definitely a couple of smaller "twists" I was not expecting. I enjoyed the closure at the end. Endings are always so tricky and I'm a picky reader when it comes to the conclusion of the book but I really felt this one was well done.

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator, John Pirhalla, was absolutely amazing!! He sounded so natural in the role of older dad. Tone, speed, annunciation were all perfect. I genuinely have zero complaints about the narration. It really made this book easy to listen to and a big part in why I couldn't turn it off and finished it so quickly.

Overall great read!!

3.75/5.
I loved his other book Hidden Pictures. This book was very different than that book.
I enjoyed this book but it took a while to get going. There wasn’t much action until 50% into the book.
I did like Frank as a main character and how he never let go of his morals. I just wish this book was a bit more thrilling.