Synopsis: When new mother Camilla gets a phone call that her husband is involved in a hostage situation, she is shocked to learn that he is not a hostage, but the gunman.

Thoughts: How well do we really know the people closest to us? Camilla has to grapple with this question as she faces her new reality of life as a single mother after her husband shoots two hostages and then disappears. Told through her perspective and that of the hostage negotiator who can’t let the case go, the story follows them seven years later, still trying to solve the mystery of her husband’s disappearance. Camilla can’t believe he really did what he was accused of, and the hostage negotiator can’t shake the feeling that all wasn’t as it seemed. I love Gillian’s writing and smart storytelling. I was able to figure out most of the twists fairly easily, which is the only reason this is getting four rather than five stars.

Read this if you like:
🤳 hostage thrillers
🤳 dual pov
🤳 missing husband

As soon as I saw Gillian McAllister was releasing a new book I knew I had to read it. I read Wrong Place, Wrong Time in 2023 and really enjoyed it. Overall, I think this lived up to the previous book. The author has a way of building characters that makes you want to learn more about them. I loved the juxtaposition of a bookish introvert wife and a more outgoing extrovert husband. But also how the impact of the siege changed that. I love how the story was woven in such a way that each twist made things come together a little more. While some of the twists were a little predictable, I don't think it took away from the story. The ending did feel a little rushed and I don't feel like all of my questions are answered. That is what keeps it from being a 5 start read for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

TLDR review - the author describes this as a love story set in a hostage situation and that’s spot on. Unfortunately I didn’t see that before I read it and I’m so not a love story kinda gal. So while it was good not great for me, I think others will love it!

Full thoughts -
I’ve loved several of McAllister’s other books and while this one was good and I really liked aspects of it, there were some pacing issues and I predicted several of the twists.

It’s very well written and an easy to read style with characters you can root for which I always love. There are two POVs which provide a different look at the events, but because both are searching for the same answers, you don’t get a lot of information until the later chapters.

While this is a domestic suspense, there are romance plot lines as well as a focus on motherhood, grief and infertility as well. The pacing dragged in the middle of the book with most of the action taking place in the first 20% and the last 20%. It’s more of a character driven introspective slow burn with a lot of internal thought which isn’t my fav style, but might just be what someone else loves about it!

I predicted several major aspects very early on, one seemed very obvious to me and felt like it should have been very obvious to the MC too. I did enjoy how everything wrapped up, though I was a bit confused on one major aspect.

While this wasn’t my favorite by the author, I am still looking forward to reading whatever she comes out with next! 3.5⭐️ rounded up

Thanks William Morrow Books and NetGalley for the DRC!

"Famous Last Words" by Gillian McAllister is my first book from this author but it will not be my last. I loved her writing style and how she captured my attention from the very first chapter. Camilla and Luke are a happily married couple with newborn daughter. They complement each other perfectly, She couldn't ask for a more devoted husband and father. However, on June 21st, everything is about to change as Camilla takes her daughter to daycare for the first time and returns to her job as a literary agent. The next day, she wakes up to find a cryptic note from Luke, and then everything is forever altered. Breaking news: a hostage situation is developing in London. When the police inform her that Luke is involved, her whole world collapses as she learns that Luke isn't a hostage but is, in fact, the gunman. This shocking suspense thriller had me on the edge my seat, and what I found most terrifying is how your life can be upended by the very person you trust the most. A must-read!
Thank you Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Another great page turner! I loved the concept of this thriller, the switching POVs with a mystery 3rd POV, and all the twists that came to be. I found myself wanting to keep reaching chapter after chapter to solve the mystery, completely hooked. I also love a good “where are they now” epilogue!

I absolutely loved this book! I have read parts of Gillian McAllister’s other books but none of them totally stuck with me until this one. I read it feverishly in 24 hours. Didn’t see the twists coming and loved how everything was thoroughly explained because there were quite a few characters (and crimes!)

I think this may be my favorite book by this author! I loved it and wasn’t able to guess the ending!

Cam believes she has the perfect life with her husband Luke and their new baby Polly, that is until the day she returns to work from maternity leave. When she wakes, her Luke isn’t there, and in his place she finds a very short and disturbing note. She tries to call him but no answer. Confused she heads to drop Polly off at daycare and then her job as a literary agent. Once at work, shes still not able to reach Luke, Cam catches a glimpse of a T.V. in the background and it’s covering a hostage situation. Suddenly the police are asking to see her and they show her a CTV video and its husband holding three people hostage. Soon two wind up dead and the Luke disappears before the police are able to capture him. Cam cannot understand what would cause her husband to do this!
Fast forward and it’s seven years later, Cam is trying to raise Polly alone and still confused by Lukes actions that day. She is about to sell their home now that she can have Luke confirmed dead, but she still hold out hope she still plays for his phone and sends texts to his phone saying “I miss you”. When new evidence resurfaces Cam finds herself being watched we soon uncover secret after secret, cryptic notes and the dark web uncover some darker evidence. Can soon finds her own life and the life of her daughter in danger can she uncover what led up to what happened seven years ago before it’s to late?

Couldn't get into this one even though I really liked the premise and it had so much going for it! Took too long to figure out the whole twist, and there was so much fluff along the way I didn't care about. Especially her sister's whole storyline. I was just bored honestly. Bummer!

Camilla is anxiously preparing to return to work after maternity leave. Her life has been blissful, with the perfect husband and now a new baby. But lately her husband has been acting strange. Then, one day, he leaves their house in London and becomes the center of a hostage situation. The book follows Camilla and the hostage negotiator's POVs in the aftermath, as they both try to solve the mystery of that day.
This book was gripping, and I hated to put it down. Camilla is a book agent and I loved the publishing aspect of this book, as well. I loved this and highly recommend!
Check it out when it comes out in February!
Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC.
ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Summary:
Cam's husband is holding three hostages and she is in shock. By the end of the day, two unknown people are shot, one is released, and her husband has disappeared. This part of the book was intense in all the right ways and I felt engaged entirely. Then we fast forward seven years and we are in Cam's new life without her husband and seeing how she's putting her life back together. Niall, the negotiator and police officer is nothing short of obsessed with this case and still wants to keep police eyes on Cam. He eventually uncovers the truth behind the siege at the same time Cam does. Luke, her husband is back...

Thoughts:
The first part of the book was super interesting and I was happily engaged and didn't want to put it down.
When I reached part two I was pretty bored. Most of part two was dragging and unnecessary details, I felt this could have been easily 50 pages less and still contain all the detail needed. At the end of part 2 I was back into the story and enjoying it again. Part 3 was when things got crazy and all was revealed. Finally part four was the happy ending stuff. It was predictable, I knew it was the new BF the entire time keeping tabs on her and I was pissed that I was right. It felt really frustrating like are police really that bad at their jobs?

THIS BOOK WAS SO GOOD! Oh my goodness I couldn't get enough of it. This was a plot that kept me on edge the entire time. I couldn't put it down! I enjoyed the dual POVs and the mystery behind it all. There were a lot of twists and turns and boy! My jaw DROPPED when one was revealed. Thanks so much for the book, NetGalley and William Morrow!

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for this copy of "Famous Last Words."

I was hoping this would be another thrilling "not everything is as it first appears" books and it definitely was! Author McAllister is one of my favorite authors for this kind of "dig deeper to find out what really happened" suspense.

Camilla is a literary agent and she's returning to work after maternity leave when police show up to ask her about an ongoing hostage situation. She's destroyed to find that her husband Luke may be the gunman.

Hostage negotiator Niall isn't successful in saving two of the hostages and Luke disappears.

Will they ever find out the truth of what happened in the locked room?

I've read a number of books by Gillian McAllister and this was not one of my favorites. The setup was interesting but the story was too long and drawn out and stretched credulity. I'm hopeful for further titles from this author.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this digital ARC.

4.5 stars rounded up.
From the beginning, this book has you hooked. I immediately knew this was going to be a hard one to put down.
Camilla returns to her first day of work when she finds out her husband is involved in a hostage situation. What happens next has her questioning her husband and their whole lives together.
I truly enjoyed this book so much, Gillian McAllister just does such a great job with her suspenseful thrillers. I think this could get you out of a reading slump.
Thank you to Netgalley and William Morrow for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book hits the shelves on February 25, 2025.

Famous Last Words is a thrilling, high stakes mystery centering around Camilla, whose husband is absent one morning (her first day back from maternity leave, so not the day to disappear!). She later gets word that he is involved in a hostage situation. Assuming he is a hostage, imagine the shock when she finds out he is the one taking hostages. Nothing is as it seems. I really enjoyed this story. We get dual perspectives of Cam and Niall, the hostage negotiator. I didn’t see the ending coming. Highly recommend.

Camilla, a mother of a nine month old, is dropping off her daughter for the first time after her maternity leave. Her husband Luke wasn’t there when she woke up, but a cryptic note instead. Camilla is informed of a hostage situation that her husband is the gunman in.

This novel was fast paced and left me trying to figure out what was happening. Most of my guesses were wrong. I enjoyed the two different POV, one being Cam and one being Niall, the hostage negotiator.

Thank you to Gillian McAllister, William Morrow, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, the Publishers, and Gillian McAllister for an ARC of Famous Last Words! Honestly, you can’t go wrong with a book by Gillian. I couldn’t wait to find out what the twist was and while figuring one of them, I had didn’t see the other ones coming! I love how descriptive Gillian’s books are and like the book, I felt I was taken away by the fiction and into this world she has created. It was a battle between not wanting the book to end and had to see what was lying ahead. Cam is a new mother and is about to drop her daughter off at nursery for the first time and go back to work. She’s excited for the day and also nervous - but when she wakes up her husband isn’t there. She’s done the morning routine and heads off to work and there she finds out her husband isn’t where he should be - he’s at a warehouse with hostages. But he isn’t one of the hostages.. what could her extrovert, loving, dependable husband be doing taking hostages?

Thank you to Netgalley and William Morrow for my e-ARC!

𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔
🤫 have a secret language with your SO
💍 married a good one
📖 read books for a living
👀 enjoy multiple POVs

• 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐓’𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓

It is June 21st, the longest day of the year, and new mother Camilla’s life is about to change forever. After months of maternity leave, she will drop her infant daughter off at daycare for the first time and return to her job as a literary agent. Finally. But, when she wakes, her husband Luke isn’t there, and in his place is a cryptic note.

Then it starts. Breaking news: there's a hostage situation developing in London. The police arrive, and tell her Luke is involved. But he isn't a hostage. Her husband - doting father, eternal optimist - is the gunman.

What she does next is crucial. Because only she knows what the note he left behind that morning says... 

• 𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒

I loved absolutely everything about this story. I was hooked right away from the unique way the first part of the story was told. I loved seeing things through not just Cam’s eyes, but Niall’s as well. Just having two POVs really helped with the overall flow of the story, especially because Niall would pick up where Camille left due to his police background. I never saw the twist coming until much further into the story and I started to make some guesses. But wow, this was such an awesome thriller. It really had everything - that hostage situation was absolutely wild! I really need to read her backlog now. I have at least three others of hers just waiting for me!

I had a hard time getting into this book for some reason.
I love Gillian McAllister and have read many of her books.
Maybe it was just a wrong time type of thing because Gillian's writing is always great.

Thank you William Morrow and NetGalley for the ARC!

I have read Gillian McAllister's work before and was excited to read this one! I enjoyed the premise and the plot, but the pacing is where it fell flat for me. The chapters alternated between extremely short and extremely long and it didn't seem consistent or clear. The plot picked up, but it was still somewhat slow towards the end. I did enjoy the ending and how it all came together.

Thank you again for the ARC!