This is my first Gillian McAllister book but certainly won’t be my last! This was a fresh and creative thriller unlike any book I had ever read before. I found the mystery element completely unputdownable. I loved the hostage negotiator POV and the premise of the novel. It had poignant thoughts on motherhood and relationships. This is sure to be a huge hit in February!
Thank you to NetGalley, William Morrow and author for allowing me to be an early reader. All thoughts are my own and I loved it!

Loved this book!

Picture you are a new mom, going back to work today after maternity leave. You have to leave your baby at daycare, which sounds so hard, especially after very little sleep night after night. Where is hubby? Why did he leave early without saying anything on this morning of all days?
He's not answering his phone or texts, so infuriating! Oh well, off to work as planned.

But wait, why are the police arriving here at work and so many sirens are going off out there? What they tell her is so not her hubby, but she seems him on TV, with a gun! What is going on and how could he do this to her/them?

The story goes on to cover not only the initial incident, but years later, too. It keeps you wanting more and more....

loved it, thank you NetGalley for an advance copy. Honest opinions expressed here are my own and are freely given.

Wrong Place Wrong Time by a review by a girl who is obsessed with plot twists!

This book really was EVERYTHING I was craving right now!

This book feels like a wonderful 90s style book/movie that really captures all the feels of the 90s babies!

I love, love, love - fractured and confused timelines, memory loss and all those devices that so easily hide the plot twists! This book was fantastic in the plot twist department! It satisfied my craving for a well-developed plot! Great plot twists are so rare to come by and all ends are so nicely tied up in the end of this book! Both of these are my obsessions in books!

There are two different types of plot twists - ones that reveal the evil in the human nature and ones that reveal that humanity still prevails. That love brings out the humanity in us. I won’t say which one is written all over this book….. but I will say that the second type is always far superior for me in books! And even more rare!

Love? Yes, of course. It was a beautiful unconventionally told love story, frighteningly relatable for me on so many levels and yet so intriguing!

This book mirrored so many feels, emotions, and brought on so much gratitude for the present day!

I don’t come often enough by a story that has a powerful love, wonderful plot twists and a great intense, well-developed story! These stories are treasures!

Best titles are the ones that are meaningful to the plot! The ones you understand only after having read the story! This was definitely that kind of a read!

Even though this comes out in February, this is also the perfect summer/beach read. One of the twists was pretty obvious but the overall story was engaging.

4.5 stars.

Having read both Wrong Place, Wrong Time and Just Another Missing Person, I was excited to receive this ARC.

Gillian McAllister had be wondering where this book was going to go right up to the very end. I liked that it was not your typical thriller, and really brought to light the message of how far are you willing to go for your loved ones.

Every time there’s a new Gillian McAllister available, I drop EVERYTHING and read. I’ve yet to be let down, and this book was no exception!

FAMOUS LAST WORDS may possibly be my favorite of hers. To take a book that starts with such an action-packed and chaotic BANG, and somehow keep that tension alive while telling a beautiful love story?! Only Gillian could make that work so flawlessly!

Her books remind me just what a gift it is to read. I absolutely loved this book, the dual narration, the characterization, the twists (you’re always guaranteed one solid “WHAT!!!!!!!” with her books!), all of it! Cannot recommend this enough!

4.5
Camilla’s Deschamps awakes to find her husband, Luke, already gone. Of all days, this is her first day back from maternity leave to her job as a literary agent and their daughter's first time going to daycare. She can't imagine where he could be and is more than a bit miffed at his absence. She does find and odd note that he left for her, but it really makes no sense to her. His being a writer (mainly ghostwriter) you would think he would have communicated more effectively
.
Cam's morning goes from harried to terrifying as she finds police at her office telling her that Luke has taken three hostages and the hostage negotiator wants her to answer questions about Luke. She knows of nothing that would turn her loving, easy going husband into the one she now sees holding a gun? She now questions the meaning of all of his actions, everything he has said to her and the last words he left her.

The second section of the book is driven by Niall. the hostage negotiator. This outcome of this event haunts him and he cannot rest until he unravels what really happened and who all the players are. He wants justice and redemption. Not necessarily in that order.
The third section brings it all together, Although paced a bit slower than the first two sections, Cam and Niall

Gillian McAllister has written another well paced suspense novel that will keep you keep you questioning everything. She is so skilled at threading the smallest of details throughout the story and peppering with enough twists to keep things interesting. I will always pick up a Gillian McAllister book without hesitation and with great anticipation. The only bad thing about reading a new Gillian McAllister book is knowing you now will have to wait for the next one.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Gillian’s books are always quick reads for me - this was no exception. Every time I turned the page I wanted to keep reading and keep reading. It was a challenge to put this book down!

What a wild concept, obviously that Luke was not the initiator from the start, but still had unpredictable twists and turns. There were of course some more predictable parts, but I love how this story unfolded.

I was rooting for cam and Luke the entire time, although I did find myself forgetting about their child frequently.

B/3.75 ⭐️

I am a huge fan of Gillian McAllister! I've read both "Just Another Missing Person" and "Wrong Place Wrong Time," rating them four and five stars, respectively. So, when I discovered her latest release, I couldn't wait to dive in! It did not let me down; the story starts off with a bang. The first part unfolds in a hostage scenario, featuring the gunman's wife and the hostage negotiator, creating an atmosphere full of suspense. Then, we transition to the second part, where years later the true mystery starts.
There were some a few plot points that were predictable, more so than I recall from her previous books, which I figured out early on; however, this didn't take away from my enjoyment of the story in the least. If you enjoy thrillers this is for you. Solid 4 star! Thank you NetGally! And of course, my thoughts are mine! Thank you!

Gillian McAllister has cemented herself as one of my favorite authors with this one. Her books are fun to read, but she doesn't compromise moments of beautiful prose for the plot. She did a particularly good job of capturing the emotions one might feel — and the questioning — if a person you love deeply does something you never saw coming, and the faith it would take to hold onto the hope there's something else going on.

Gillian McAllister, what a clever mind you have! FAMOUS LAST WORDS grabbed my attention from the first page and held it in a vise grip until the mind blowing conclusion. McAllister makes me think I know what’s coming and then blindsides me with an unexpected resolution tying together all the little clues in a way I could never imagine..

Camilla has an idyllic life; darling baby, doting husband, and a job she loves (reading books!) - until she doesn’t. Her world is turned upside down when her charismatic husband is suddenly in the middle of a horrific crime and then disappears. Left with many questions and no answers, Cam tries to put her life back together.

Niall is a hostage negotiator whose career and marriage fall apart at the same time. Haunted by both failures, he is determined to redeem himself both personally and professionally.

The mystery surrounding one fateful day will unite them as they seek to piece together clues seven years after the crime.

Yes, yes, yes, Ms McAllister. Lead me down your twisted path with dizzying speed just to leave me marveling at your cunning and creativity. I will follow you anywhere.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow Books for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Cam’s first day back from a lengthy maternity leave was already stressful for the new mom. She had hoped her husband, Luke, would be there to assist but he is nowhere to be found. Instead she finds a cryptic note from him. She tries repeatedly to call him, but he doesn’t answer. She takes her daughter to her first day of daycare and heads to work where she is a literary agent. She sees on TV that a hostage situation is happening in Central London. When the police arrive and tell her that her husband is involved is automatically assumes he is one of the hostages. What Cam didn’t expect to hear is that her kind, quiet, agreeable husband is the hostage taker!

The is a wild ride with twists and turns I never saw coming. Very likable characters, a few red herrings and good bit of action. Carve our your day with reading time because you will not be able to put this one down. I highly recommend Famous Last Words!

Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister was an absolute joy of a book to read. I was captivated from the first page and only reluctantly put it down when life called. The twists and turns had me caught of guard, the plotting was brilliant, and the characters well developed.

I started reading this one during the last events of a swim meet, and had to go to a team dinner afterward, meaning I couldn't just focus on this story obsessively--other than telling absolutely everyone the premise via the first chapters throughout the night--but that may have turned out for the best because at least I was fed before diving back into the gripping narrative? Every time I had to be interrupted to deal with "real life" was torture, but also helped me savor this title. Hands-down one of my favorite reads of 2024. I will forever be a fan of McAllister anyway, but this one catapulted to my new favorite of hers. If you want to disappear, not eat, call in sick to work, ignore your children (okay, maybe don't do that? But mine are all of age and can fend for themselves, so.), and just get *lost* in a story? This one is for you!

My thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the opportunity to read this title in exchange for my honest opinion.

I really enjoyed this one! It was the kind of book I couldn't put down because I just had to know how everything would unfold and if it would all come together in a satisfying way. As I read, I came up with all kinds of wild theories, which made the experience even more fun. While I didn’t love it as much as some of the author’s other books, it was still a fantastic read that kept me hooked all the way through.

The story is split into three parts, and I feel like this really affected the pacing. The beginning is super intense and high-energy, pulling you in right away. The middle section slows down a bit, feeling more introspective and sluggish as the characters process everything that’s happened. Then the ending completely flips things with a wild twist that ties everything up—though it does require a bit of suspension of disbelief to fully buy into it. But, overall, it was a satisfying conclusion that made the ride worth it.

Gillian McAllister outdid herself with her latest book "Famous Last Words". What would you do if suddely the husband that you know to be a good person suddenly does the unthinkable and takes people hostage and eventually kills two of these hostages? Would you be able to reconcile the happy life you led with a crazy new reality? This is the situation that Camilla finds herself in and somehow even seven years after the fact - she is having a difficult time moving on because the pieces never really fit. Likewise, Niall who was the hostage negotiator can't believe that he read the situation so wrong. This book takes you on Camilla and Niall's journey to find out what really happened all those years ago so that they can move on into the future. There are a lot of surprises and in the end it all makes a lot of sense! This was a very enjoyable read!

She pictured her morning going differently….

Cam successfully navigated her daughter’s inaugural daycare drop-off & is attempting to focus on all the work she has to do on her first day back after maternity leave, when the police arrive at her office saying her husband is currently involved in a standoff with the authorities & he’s NOT a hostage: he’s the gunman.

We meet Cam on the worst day of her life, & eventually fast forward to her new normal - seeing how she picked up the pieces & is starting to try & get on with her life while being plagued with questions about the circumstances that led to events that day. We also follow Niall the hostage negotiator as he searches for answers. I loved “Wrong Place Wrong Time” & I loved this book, too! I’d say it’s equally as twisty, which is an accomplishment. I could definitely relate to all the life changes involved in new motherhood, & it was really fun to read snippets of other books that Cam was looking at in her job.

Thank you very much to NetGalley & William Morrow for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I really liked this book. It was fast paced and a great page-turner! The ending was fantastic! Gillian McAllister is brilliant as usual!

McAllister doesn't miss. This novel was a worthy binge read and I wasn't ready for it to end. The twists are unexpected yet believable and the plot is well-paced.

This book was one that took me a little bit to get into but was worth the effort - once it picked up, I couldn't put it down! There were so many twists with what was going on with Luke that took me for a tailspin every time I thought I had it figured out. Despite being such a thrilling storyline, I did feel like the book went on a little longer than it needed to - the big twist didn't have as big of a punch because at that point I was kind of ready for it to be done. Thanks for the ARC!