loved the twists and turns in this book. loved that they were chatting by Spotify playlists and were able to figure things out on this long day. family was interesting.

Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister is a very highly recommended thriller/novel of suspense full of twists and surprises. It is a story about a marriage, a crime, and so many secrets.

Camilla (Cam) is returning to work as a literary agent after nine months of maternity leave. Her husband Luke has already left for the day. He left a note, so she tries to contact him via texts and continues on to drop their daughter Polly off at daycare. While at work the news breaks about a hostage situation in London. The police arrive, and Cam learns Luke is involved. But he isn't a hostage, he is the gunman - and he escapes. This turns her world upside down. How well does she know her husband and was her life built on a lie?

This is a well-written, excellent, and satisfying thriller packed full of twists, clues, and secrets. The narrative is told through three parts, and unfolds through the point-of-view of Cam and Niall, a police detective/hostage negotiator. After a fast-paced start, the middle part slows down the pace a bit, but it also provides all manner of clues and hints to pick up. Then the pace quickly picks up again to a surprising ending. You have to set some disbelief aside while reading, but the twists, secrets, clues, and reveals are worth it.

Cam and Niall are fully realized, believable characters with strengths and flaws. Both are introspective, intelligent, thoughtful characters. The hostage situation affected both Cam and Niall over the years and as the search for Luke continued. Cam's love of reading books will resonate with many as will her devotion to Luke in spite of everything.

Famous Last Words is an excellent, twisty thriller. Thanks to William Morrow for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The review will be published on Edelweiss, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

I have loved Gillian McAllister's previous two books and was so excited to receive an early copy of this one. I couldn't put it down -- it is such a page turner and I had to find out how it was going to resolve.

I loved Cam's character -- I felt for her as a mother and really enjoyed her as a person, and especially her relationship with her sister. I loved seeing Polly grow up and become a quirky kid as well.

I am sure some people feel this one is unbelievable but those parts didn't bother me -- I really was along for the ride and enjoyed every bit of it. I loved the end and while I saw some of the twists coming, it didn't take away from it for me.

I would recommend this to anyone who likes slightly stressful, fast=paced thrillers!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

Famous Last Words had the most compelling opening and premise I've seen in a long time! The first 15 percent gripped me right away. That being said, the middle seemed to drag. Not much was happening plot wise, and I struggled to stay invested. The final 15 percent picked up and held my attention, and I found the ending to be really satisfying.

My first McAllister book, definitely not going to be my last. So many great characters and story telling!

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collin’s

This fast-paced thriller hooks you from the very first page, starting with a tense hostage standoff and unraveling into a story packed with twists, danger, and heart. What begins as a simple night of driving his baby around to sleep turns into a life-changing moment, forcing a father to make an unthinkable choice to protect his family.

The author masterfully creates a vivid atmosphere—you can practically hear the city streets, feel the tension, and sense the weight of every decision. The characters are easy to connect with, making their struggles feel real and urgent. Just when you think you know what happened that night, the story takes another unexpected turn.

It’s an engaging and suspenseful read, perfect for fans of mysteries and detective work, but also those who appreciate deep themes of love, family, and trust—even when the evidence suggests otherwise. A must-read for anyone who loves a thriller that keeps you guessing until the very end!

Just wow. I don’t even know where to begin because this story completely wrecked me—in the best possible way. It was all thriller with soul, and I felt every second of it deep in my bones. It wasn’t just about the tension, the danger, or the unpredictable twists (though those were perfectly executed). It was about the people. They weren’t just characters; they felt real—flawed, human, making mistakes, trying their best, sometimes failing, sometimes surprising me in ways I didn’t see coming.

And that’s what made this so gripping. Both sides—because yes, there were sides—were messy, complicated, neither fully good nor fully bad. That moral gray area? It made everything so much more intense because I cared. I cared so much that my heart was pounding, that I was holding my breath, that I was right there with them, feeling every ounce of fear, hope, regret, and desperation.

And at the end? After all the chaos, all the heart-stopping moments, all the impossible choices—they left me feeling. I was devastated, but my heart was warm, too. Because somehow, despite everything, there was something human in it all. Something real. Something that made every pulse-pounding moment worth it.

This was perfection, not because it was flawless, but because it wasn’t. It had imperfections in all the right places, just like the people in it. Just like real life. And that made it unforgettable.

I love a good thriller, and this delivered for me! I loved wrong place wrong time by this same author, so I was excited to read something new from her. I enjoyed a lot of aspects of this book, including the dual perspective, the plot, and the conclusion. The pacing was definitely heavier on the latter half of the book, I feel like the plot could not even begun to be solved until around 60 percent through, but the beginning of the novel laid the groundwork for the development of the story. I enjoyed how the story was laid out, what hints were given along the way, and ultimately how the story concluded. As a book nerd, I also ended up really enjoying that this had an undertone of publishing and was wrapped up in the publishing industry. Overall, really solid and enjoyable thriller!

Thank you to William Morrow Books and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I received this as an arc from netgalley. This was a book you wanted to continue to read and see what would unfold. A few connections made and realizations that weren’t expected but not surprising. When left with an open mind it was definitely a really good book. If you already went in with a thriller book readers mind then you may have had it figured out. Some parts I did and some I did not. Would definitely recommend reading.

Famous Last Words is the newest thriller by Gillian McAllister. It’s a standalone, but if you enjoy it, you should read her other books too!

Cam is a new mom. On the morning that she is bringing her baby to daycare for the first time, she wakes to find that her husband has already left. Her sense of unease builds through the day until, finally, the police show up. They think her husband is holding hostages in a warehouse.

As the story unfolds, it alternates between Cam’s point of view and that of the hostage negotiator, Niall. It follows the years after the siege as both Cam and Niall try to get to the bottom of what happened on that fateful day.

I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review. Thanks to the author, published, and Netgalley. If you like a good page-turner, this is the book for you.

Camilla doesn't know what to make of Luke's note that he left her. When a siege takes place in her hometown later that day, Camilla is shocked when the police turn up at her door, telling her that her husband is the gunman.

This book had me hooked right from the first page. It was intense, well written, hard to put down and had twists I didn't see coming. It had everything I love in thrillers and is definitely one of the author's better books. My only downside is that I found the ending to be a little too unrealistic but this seems to be the case in many thrillers so it isn't too big of a negative.

Gillian earned herself an automatic read for me years ago so I went into this book without even knowing what it was about. I expected it to follow her more recent format with backward timelines. Instead, after a slower start, I was greeted with a tale of hostages and murder and unanswered questions.

How does a wife move on without answers? What really happened to her husband and what is going on now? The further into the book I got, the more immersed I became. It was a thrilling race to the truth where love flowed as the undercurrent which was really cool to see in this type of story.

Cam wakes one morning to find her husband is already gone, so she drops their child off at daycare and heads to work; business as usual. Or is it? Cam has this nagging suspicion that something is off...Luke never leaves without saying goodbye and it's her first day back to work after maternity leave. Surely Luke wouldn't skip out on such a big day. Cam's nagging feeling comes to fruition when she learns Luke is part of a hostage situation except he's not a hostage, he's the gunman.

The ending was a bit much and I wasn't a fan of the side romance plots, but overall I enjoyed this!

Thank you to NetGalley, William Morrow, and the author for an advanced copy in exchange for a honest review.

I would like to thank both William Morrow and Netgalley for my ARC in exchange for an honest review of the book. I will admit that I was all in for this book. Loved Ms. McAliister take on the situation which is one that we often do not hear about. I was disappointed with the ending and lackluster reveal of who knew what, when and why. There were not enough bread crumbs to care about the ending. Her time jump in the final chapter just left me sad. She denied not to write the hard stuff and leaned into the time jump to tie up the loose ends.

Pub day : Feb 25th!

⟡ 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 :
•slow burn suspense
•hostage situations
•crime thrillers
•family drama
•dual POV
•books about authors/literary agents
•twists on twists

Gillian McAllister has done it again!! She has the most amazing way of layering her stories with characters that feel so real, suspenseful drama, twists that are unexpected yet totally believable & endings that are so satisfying.

Famous Last Words is equal parts crime thriller & domestic suspense, told in dual POV between the wife of the perpetrator & the hostage negotiator. Cleverly plotted, suspenseful, & hard to put down - I feel like this story would make an excellent movie!

If you enjoyed her other books Wrong Place Wrong Time & Just Another Missing Person, you should definitely add Famous Last Words to your TBR ◡̈

Thanks to @gillianmauthor, @netgalley + @williammorrowbooks for the opportunity to read this ARC ◡̈

After loving Wrong Place Wrong Time, I was so excited to receive this as an ARC! I read this in two sittings, could not put it down. Absolute page turner.

During the siege, I kept imagining my reaction if my husband did something like this. It must be scary to realize you don't know your spouse like you think you do.

It was crazy to think about how the police were able to continue to have surveillance on the FMC years after the siege, without her knowing.

Being a book lover, having the FMC be in publishing, complete with name drops of publishing houses, was fun!

TW: infertility and IVF story line

TW: infertility and several failed rounds of ivf

This was such a unique thriller! It really is part hostage situation and part love story. There are also several mentions of early motherhood that are very relatable (Gillian wrote this with a newborn at home)
I haven't read all of Gillian's backlist yet, but one thing that's unique about her thrillers is her great characters. They feel like real people you might actually know. I really loved how Luke and Camilla had special words between the two of them, kind of like their own slang. It was a fun detail! I mainly read thrillers, so I find myself predicting them a lot of times, which was the case with 2 parts of this book. However, it did not detract from the book and I still really enjoyed it. Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for the opportunity to read early.

I really wish I was here to give this one 5 stars but honestly, this book was underwhelming. Although the initial siege scene was captivating, the pace slowed significantly thereafter.

Rounding up from 2.5 stars.

The majority of the book focused on themes of grief, relationships, and moving forward, which felt disconnected from the initial murder mystery. The subplots involving the sister's infertility issues and the negotiator's relationship troubles seemed unnecessary and detracted from the main storyline. I had expected a more thrilling whodunit, but instead found a pretty implausible, mystery. The pacing was also an issue, with certain scenes feeling overly drawn out.

I skimmed thru the last 20% - really just focusing on the dialogue between the characters.

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m such a fan of this authors books that I was excited to see I was accepted to receive an ebook arc to read Famous Last Words and review. Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity.

If you’re a fan of a fast paced, racing against the clock, crazy thrillers like I am, this one is for you. I was at the edge of my seat from chapter 1 til the very end. There were so many twists and turns and confusion as to why things were happening that I couldn’t get enough!

You follow Cam, the main FMC and Niall who was the hostage negotiator, their lives spin upside down in a matter of hours. The story line itself was so captivating, but the way McAllistar writes is just exquisite. The way she sucks you in and makes you question every character. Each character had a purpose, the character developments was so well down.

I’m normally not a fan of time jumps, but the way she wrote it made it work effortlessly. It jumps 7 years twice throughout the book. You get to see what happened, how it was handled and the aftermath.

And let me tell you, the way she uses writing as a way to crack what actually happened was so clever. I recommend adding this one to your tbr!

* I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this book. All thoughts are my own.

This was pretty fast paced and pulled me in right away! I kept wanting to pick up the book and find out what happens next. The time jumps were not my favorite. It just seemed like a whole lot of time to be spent on a thriller. I like when thrillers will do a Now vs. Then but I didn’t really care for the seven year jumps to the new “now“.

Would recommend.