Rounding up a 3.5 for Goodreads. The first half of this book was binge worthy but second half slowed down for me. I couldn’t wait to see how it ended tho

On her first day back to work after her maternity leave, Camilla tearfully leaves her baby at day care and goes to her office. She did find it odd that her husband wasn't there to help or see her off - just an oddly worded note on the counter, and her texts to him have gone unanswered all day. While at work the police come to get her, there is a hostage situation and her husband is not the hostage, but the gunman. How does a loving and caring husband and father change so dramatically into a gunman, did she miss signs? Camilla is determined to find out.

I really enjoyed the dual POV of Camilla and the hostage negotiator, the insight was informative, dramatic and the perspective added additional elements to the story. I was thoroughly engrossed in this book and really did not want to put it down. While I did predict a lot of the events, it did not diminish the read at all. This is my first read from the author and I am absolutely putting her other books on my TBR.

4.25 stars

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for the ARC to review

I did a 'buddy read' of this with a friend, and we were doing 5 chapters a day. It was SO hard to stop at only 5 chapters!!! I know she said she read ahead a time or two also. It may be a good thing that we read it this way though because otherwise I would have devoured it so quickly that I wouldn't have had as much time to enjoy the storyline. I definitely recommend this to anyone who likes thrillers!!

Cam's first day back to work since maternity leave. Her husband, Luke, left a cryptic note. Cam hears the breaking news about a hostage situation with a gunman and her husband does not respond to her text.

Later, the police arrive at her door. She finds out that her husband is in the hostage situation and he is the gunman. She can't believe it since he was such a kind husband.

This final twist of this book is crazy and nothing you can imagine! Pretty much secret after secret, dark evidence, and a thrilling ride! The story builds as the puzzle pieces fall into place.

Mystery, Addictive Thriller, and Twisted! 3.5 stars!

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy! This book will be released 2/25/25.

Famous Last Words had me engrossed from the very first words to the final! Tore through it in a snowy 24 hours. Such a suspenseful mystery/thriller, but I loved that the characters and relationships were so integral to the overall plot so it added depth to the story. Can definitely see this one adapted into a movie. Can someone make that happen?
Thank you #NetGalley and #WilliamMorrow for the ARC.

Despite being jet lagged and exhausted, I devoured Famous Last Words in 24 hours, publishing this Monday Feb 25th. Cam’s life is flipped upside down when her calm and funny husband suddenly goes missing on her first day back at work from maternity leave, and learns that he has apparently taken active hostages. Only the first quarter of the book is focused on the hostage situation with the remainder detailing what comes after everything you thought doesn’t turn out that way. Can you accept that your intuition and what you believed was wrong? Told from multiple perspectives, this one was fantastic!

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC of this book.

What if the person you know and love the most suddenly left you with no notice or explanation. And then, was being accused of holding people hostage at gunpoint?

This one was a slow start for me, but once I reached a certain point, I had to know what was going on and what was going to happen. Lots of twists and turns.

Gillian McAllister is an auto-buy author for me. She writes the best thrillers and this one had me on the edge of my seat. Great twist and turns and interesting characters.

I received an arc from netgalley and the publisher.

FAMOUS LAST WORDS
BY: GILLIAN MCALLISTER

I have been reading all of GILLIAN MCALLISTER'S mystery/thriller novels since she was first published and she always delivers a compelling family drama situation that never disappoints and always delivers, and this one was no different. You think you know your husband after you've been married for the amount of time they have been. Think again here with this one as young mother Camilla is getting up to take her baby named Polly to daycare and she reads an oddly worded note from her sweet husband Luke. She thinks it's odd but it's her first day back to work at her job as a Literary Agent on the longest day of the year June 21, the Summer Solstice. She's back to work on her first day leaving their baby named Polly at day care after a maternity leave so she doesn't dwell on her cheerful husband Luke's note even though it is puzzling.

While Cameron is at work two police officers show up at her job and she takes them inside the conference room only to be escorted home with her sister picking up her daughter for her at day care. Her sweet husband Luke is involved in a hostage situation and Camilla can't believe it when she hears that thoughtful Luke has taken three people hostage. The other main character is Niall who is the hostage negotiator who this case will haunt him. He tries to be good at his job by showing an act of goodwill that by no fault of his own backfires.

The police are questioning Camilla about whether she knew that Luke kept a gun in their home to which she was completely clueless. They haven't really been married to the seven year mark and it turns out that she had her husband all wrong by how this turns out. I kept thinking about how loyal she was trying to be to Luke, when being questioned weighing her answers carefully not wanting to make things worse for Luke, and carefully considering how much she told them, while she nor I would have ever guessed he would be capable of doing what he did, but suddenly that note made sense. You never want to believe the worst about someone you love and I could feel her shock and understood why she felt that she didn't want to make things worse for him when this trip escorted home by the police still gave her an idea of things as she considered her loyalty towards her husband hoping but at the same time knowing Luke was in the middle of blowing up they're domestically happy existence.

This was laden full of shock and suspense for me as a reader as things progressed to the point that both for her and their baby daughter and Niall things would never go back to how they were as things played out. I think that most people will find this one a thriller that has suspense, and be surprised in the direction it takes. I think the title is perfect for this as most will reflect about the title and Luke's note, and think about how grateful they are to have the stability that comes with really knowing their husband, and crave the peace and tranquility that comes from predictable long term marriages.

Publication Date: February 25, 2025

Thank you to Net Galley, Gillian McAllister and William Morrow for generously providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#FamousLastWords #GillianMcAllister #WilliamMorrow #NetGalley

Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister, 336 pages. William Morrow, 2025. $24.
Language: R (80 swears, 36 “f” + British swears); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG13
BUYING ADVISORY: ADULTS - OPTIONAL
APPEALS TO: SEVERAL
Camilla wasn’t sure whether to dread or embrace the day she took her baby to daycare for the first time to return to work—but Camilla certainly didn’t want to do it without seeing her husband, Luke, all morning. Wondering where Luke could be and why he wasn’t answering her messages, Camilla went to work anyway, where police officers came looking for the wife of Luke Deschamps, the man currently holding three people hostage in a warehouse.
Following both the wife of the criminal and the hostage negotiator, McAllister unfolds the story skillfully, giving readers tidbits of information from one character that shifts the possible outcomes of the other’s actions. I enjoyed how complex and real so many of the side characters are, how they affected the main characters unintentionally in significant ways. There is a lot of grey area in this story for readers to wrestle with—between justice and doing the right thing, making decisions of who to trust and build relationships with, learning to give second chances or just move on. The end is about more than happily ever after—it’s about making a life you can be happy in now despite the imperfections of the past.
The majority of characters are implied British. Niall is described as having a Northern Irish accent. The mature content rating is for alcohol use, mentions of drugs, kissing, illegal activity, and innuendo. The violence rating is for gun use, mentions of terrorism and suicide, and murder.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

Camilla’s husband, Luke Deschamps has always been an incredible man and loving father. She is shocked and horrified when he takes 3 hostages and murders two of them then disappears.

I have really liked Gillian McAllister’s other books so I was super excited to get an ARC of this and it did not disappoint. Camilla was a very relatable main character and I often found myself wondering what I would do in her situation. It was interesting getting Niall (the hostage negotiator’s) POV and I felt it added a lot to the story. It took a little time for me to really get invested in this story but once I did I really enjoyed it!

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow publishing for the ARC!

Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister
🌟🌟🌟🌟
This is an entertaining and suspenseful thriller!
Cam is excited to go back to work after maternity leave, but things take a crazy turn when she wakes up in the morning and her husband isn’t there.
I enjoyed the premise of this story! It’s original and the book is well written.
The book has multiple POV’s, which help to keep the story exciting. It kept me engaged from beginning to end with lots of intense moments throughout! However, the middle did slow a bit for me.
Overall, it was a very fun and exciting read.

Thank you to NetGalley for an arc of this enjoyable book!
*It comes out February 25th*

I really liked this one! It's such a deviation from her last two, while still proving to be a unique plot.

Luke and Cam, a couple seemingly perfect for one another. Enter a baby, and while Cam is overwhelmed, Luke seems to help and support his wife. Sleepless nights lead to some distance between the two, so when Luke starts to act slightly "off", Cam chalks it up to the normal shift that might take place in a marriage. But then, she gets a phone call she never expected --her perfect husband is involved in a hostage situation -- and the police want her to help talk her husband, off a ledge, so to speak.

What follows, is a mystery -- why would he suddenly become this criminal? Where had he gone? Is he dead? Nothing makes sense anymore. 7 years later, not sure what her feelings are anymore, Cam is trying to rebuild her life -- she even begins to date again. But is she safe?

Read on to find out...

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing eCopies for our bookclub to read early and help promote! This was a page turner!

I was really excited for this book because it sounded like such an interesting plot line...but I was pretty disappointed in it overall. The whole first part is this big lead up to what felt like a let down of an event. Then we keep time jumping and it's the characters just massively speculating and then happening to be correct all for it to just have a happy ending. I can't say I will recommend this novel to others.

4.5/5 stars

Thank you William Morrow for the advanced reading copy!

This book started off sooo fast paced and gripped me from the start. Though this did become more of a slow burn than I was expecting, I was still really intrigued the entire time and couldn’t put it down! I liked having the perspectives of the wife and hostage negotiator — such interesting points of view that have us some really unique insights as the story unraveled. While I did have some sense that everything wasn’t as straight forward as it seemed (which is actually not straight forward at all 😂) I was super shocked by the way everything unfolded right down to the wire. Really enjoyed this one overall — it will certainly keep you on your toes!

The future of Camilla's life is about to shift. When she wakes up from maternity leave, a literary agent discovers her husband Luke has left her an unfinished note. Cam starts doubting everything she believed to be true about her husband when the police show up at her door to tell her that he is a hostage. When I learn that a new book by Gillian McAllister is coming out, it goes straight to the top of my list. Her books are always satisfying, after all. I was totally captivated by this book from the first moment I started and couldn't put it down until the very end. As in actually couldnt put down until i was at the last page. The best thing about her books is you think you know where she is going in the storyline, but then you get to the end and you are wrong.

Cam is a new mom heading back to work after her maternity leave, but when she wakes to find her husband gone a cryptic note left she feels a bit unsettled. Then she sees on the news a hostage situation is ongoing nearby and the police alert her that her husband is involved. In fact, he is the one who has taken the hostages.

The book alternates POVs of Cam and of Niall, the hostage negotiator, and is split into four parts- before/during the seige, seven years later diving into how Cam and Niall try to move on with their respective lives, the same time period but as new info comes to light, and finally another seven years later.

This was my first book by this author, but certainly won't be my last! I loved the alternating POVs and the time blocks. The book begins to trail off a bit around 45%, but picks back up at 65%. Some of the twists were a bit predictable, but I loved the way everything fit together in the end.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the free e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I will start with the fact that I am a huge fan of Gillian McAllister and this installment does not disappoint!

Cam is a new mother returning to work after the birth of her daughter. When she left, she hoped her husband, Luke, was nowhere to be found. She later discovered a note he had left, simply saying, "Thanks for everything." Assumed he had gone to his office, needing some space to focus on his manuscript. Cam is shocked to learn that hear on the news that a hostage situation is unfolding at the building where Luke works. But Luke is not a hostage...he is the gunman!

In classic McAllister style, this is a suspenseful thriller that takes you on a wild ride! The characters are full and relatable. The writing draws you in, and the twisty suspense will hook you from the start! Who can you trust? Can you trust your instincts, especially when love gets into the way?

Another exceptional read by McAllister!! Highly recommend!!!!!!!

I was totally hooked on this interesting suspenseful story! This was a great mystery with great twists, some I did not see coming at all. I love this author's works and this is another great one. I was not sure where this was going to go after the initial events of the story and it was so well told with red herrings throughout. It really made you think and pay attention to the story even more. Brilliantly written story that I highly recommend if you are a crime thriller fan!

I really enjoyed this read. I enjoyed the writing style, the characters, and the suspense elements throughout the book. However, this wasn't an all-time favorite, but that's okay. I would read Gillian McAllister's books again in the future.