So, this setup is a really exciting premise- Cam starts her day (a stressful day already as it's her first day back after maternity leave and dropping her daughter off at nursery is STRESSFUL) with her husband gone, having left just a note, and before too long, she learns that her husband is in the middle of a hostage situation- no, strike that. He appears to be the hostage taker. So the first third or so (Part I) does feel like a thriller, as we are taking each piece of information in while this unfolds. We meet a hostage negotiator, Neill, and his group of investigators trying to quickly bring this hostage situation to a halt.
And for a while after? ehhhh, the mystery/thrill of it kind of fell flat for me. The middle 1/3-1/2 was more of a romantic mystery if at all, but it was a bit slowly paced, and there were two big reveals that felt pretty obvious to everyone but Cam herself, who narrates half of it. What I *did* like about the second half or more of the book is how it almost turns into more of a romance and journey of growth for Cam- and even somewhat for Neill. Anyway, I thought it was an interesting story and was woven together really nicely, but many of the twists just felt obvious, so the story, fallign a bit flat, gets a 3/5 from me.
But, as an added bonus, I had the benefit of getting to enjoy this story as an audiobook. The narrator (Emilia Fox) was fantastic- often, I don't love when there are multiple POVs written but only one narrator, but this woman was able to bring a lot of emotion and depth to each perspective. I think her pacing was great, both with narrative sections and with dialogue scenes. Even at times when I felt the story was dipping in pacing, I held on in part because of Emilia's emotional narration. Her hope and perseverance with Camila, even when she feels so lost with everything Luke is/was accused of doing.
Honestly, Emilia's narration adds a level to this story, so I'm rounding up to a 4/5, especially as this review is primarily for the audiobook, not just the story itself. If you are someone who wants a romantic mystery and doesn't mind if isn't as thrilling/fast paced, and want an audiobook? this is for you. You'll love this narrator!
I want to say a huge thank you to Harper Audio and William Morrow for the Advanced Listener Copy, and this was my honest review.

Happy pub week to Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister! Wrong Place, Wrong Time is one of my favorite thrillers of all time, so I’m always excited to have the opportunity to read something else by the author. I’m so grateful to @williammorrowbooks for a e-arc and to HarperAudio (@harpercollins) for an ALC of this one. It comes out tomorrow!

On the day new mom, Camilla is supposed to go back to her job as a literary agent after maternity leave, her life changes forever. Her sweet, easygoing ghostwriter husband Luke is involved in an armed hostage situation and the authorities tell Camilla Luke is the one holding the gun.
That’s the set up and I don’t really want to say anything else about the book. It’s kind of a hard one to talk about without giving away plot points. What I will say is that I think McAllister excels at writing love stories masked as thrillers. Which is not to say this is a romance. It isn’t. There are plenty of twists and turns—some I saw coming, some I didn’t. But the beating heart of the novel is Camilla’s love for Luke and her quest to figure out if she was wrong about the man she fell in love with.

I loved the characters and I loved the writing. McAllister really has a way of creating characters that stick with me long after I finish the book and I’m not sure any thriller author creates a sense of yearning in me quite the way she does. It didn’t surprise me to see that Emily Henry had written a blurb for this book because, even though their books are completely different genres, they are both masters of that yearning element. In terms of plot, there were a lot of moving parts and I’m not sure I believed all of them. But I will absolutely remember Camilla and Luke.

Emilia Fox narrates the audiobook for this one, and I always love listening to books set in England. The narration was wonderful and it immediately grounded me in the story. I would definitely recommend the audiobook!

Camilla wakes up following her last day of maternity leave and realizes her husband isn't home, only leaving her a cryptic note. Though odd, Camilla continues on with her busy day. But her life drastically changes later in the day when her husband is identified as the gunman in an active hostage situation. From there, the book follows Camilla dealing with the backlash of the event and trying to figure out what really happened that day.

The book started out really good and captured my attention. Unfortunately, around mid-way through or so, it became a bit dull. Towards the end, it became a bit predictable. I hate to say it even dragged a little bit. I tend to enjoy books that have more surprising twists at the end. It just wasn't my cup of tea.

Thanks Harper Audio Adult, NetGalley, and Gillian McAllister, for the eARC audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Wow! The twists in this were so unexpected! I had such a good time trying to figure out where this was going and how it would end, but I was so very wrong! The narrator was also so talented, and I'd love to listen to more books by them. Thank you so much to NetGalley and to the publisher for my audio ARC!!

There were times when I loved this book and then times when I really just started to zone out because it was just bland. The times I enjoyed, were when Cam was first finding out what was happening with the hostage situation, the big resolution of that situation, and then Niall, the hostage negotiator doing his best to get everyone out of the situation alive, and then getting involved in the case again years later. The thing that I did not enjoy, was just Cam and her personality and how one-dimensional she was, while also being repetitive in her "my husband did it, but didn't actually do it even though he was visible doing it on camera and then disappeared for years" mindset.

The first half of the book was way more interesting than the second half as well. During the hostage situation, I was constantly on edge, even though I was annoyed with Cam, I wanted to keep paying attention during this part of the book. However, in the second half of the book, we just end up jumping forward in time, a few years, while also skipping over a lot of the immediate fall-out and consequences of what happened. I just feel like that part could have been delved into a bit more, and shortening the last part of the book. It just fell flat after the hostage situation and I was disappointed in that.

Thank you to Gillian McAllister, HarperAudio, and NetGalley for the eARC of this book. This is my honest review.

This is a smart, twisty, and suspenseful thriller. The main character is easy to root for and empathize with. I liked the multiple perspectives and the depth the characters had. The story was skillfully told, it definitely kept me guessing and turning pages trying to figure out the mystery. I'll be recommending it.

Gillian McAllister is one of my must-read authors, but Famous Last Words is without a doubt my favorite yet. No spoilers with this review, but the way that Luke communicated with Cam is pure genius. Not only did I love that aspect, but also the fact that even though you can watch something on video, can witness it with your own eyes, everything isn’t always as it seems. I love this well-crafted twisty thriller.

Wow, what a great read it had everything: wonderful characters, lots of plot twists and it was about the book world, Cannot give it any more praise. Another great read from Gilliam McAllister!

Book Review: Famous Last Words
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4 out of 5 stars)

Famous Last Words is a thrilling ride that kept me guessing until the end. I’ll admit, I didn’t quite see the puzzle pieces coming together the way they did, and that twist was brilliantly executed. The author masterfully weaves a fast-paced narrative that keeps you on your toes, making it hard to put down.

The story’s suspenseful atmosphere and clever plotting make it a standout in the thriller genre. If you’re looking for a captivating read with unexpected turns, this one is definitely worth picking up.

Famous Last Words captured my attention from the beginning! I loved that McAllister jumped right in with the tragic and suspenseful events that unfolded throughout the book! This was not a "keep me awake at night scared to sleep" suspenseful book, but a gently unfolding tale of something is not quite right. McAllister's characters were full and her writing created depth in each, giving me a true picture of who they each were.

The narrator did a beautiful job of bringing McAllister's words to life! Looking forward to future works from both!

Oh.my.goodness! This book kept me hooked the whole storyline. I don’t want to give spoilers but this was such a good story. I felt bad for Cam and you wanted to hate Luke but you couldn’t he seemed so good. Something was weird about how the hostage situation played out. I did figure out about the “one reporting back to brother.” The mystery and twist……..WOW. Loved!

I really enjoyed the intrigue around the why for siege - everything seems out of character for Luke but the police are just see what’s directly in front of them and believe he has just snapped and taken hostages. I liked that Cam’s love for Luke shows up throughout the book as it echos the idea that people who care for you never truly give up on you.
I believe this is my second Gillian McAllister book and I enjoyed this one even more than the last!
Thank you NetGalley and HarperAudio for the advance audio of this book!

My first book by Gillian McAllister and my first 5 Star rating of the year.

The incident that the book centers around happens right smack in the beginning. You spend the rest of the book following clues and figuring out the truth with the characters. I think some may consider this a slow burn suspense because there wasn't a lot of action. This book was definitly character driven. A huge page turner for me, I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen next. Now it's time to go read the author's back log.

If you enjoy audiobooks with an accent, the narrator, Emilia Fox, was fantastic.

This is my 3rd book of Gillian McAllister's that I have read. It had a lot of twists and turns. I was left me wanting to know what would happen next. I will read more of these books and I am hoping it will be just as good.

Hmm, didn't really care for this one. Too slow. Didn't care enough about the characters. I would call it boring.

4.5 stars. A love story set in a hostage situation. Cam is going back to her job as a literary agent after a 9-month sabbatical. She had her first child, Polly, and has been living in an idyllic bubble. However, her husband Luke is nowhere in sight as she's getting ready to go. And she finds a strange, cryptic note. The day goes from not great to way worse FAST. The police show up at Cam's job and inform her that Luke is currently in a hostage situation. However, Luke is the one holding the gun and terrorizing people. After the Siege concludes, 2 people are dead and Luke is in the wind.
The second part of the novel focuses on Cam moving forward. Even the hostage negotiator, Niall, has received serious fallout from the situation. But Cam hopes that Luke is still out there. And she still can't come to terms with him being the terrorist.
Clever and twisty.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and HarperAudio for this digital audio e-arc.*

Gillian McAllister’s “Famous Last Words” captivated me with its intriguing premise. Camellia’s return to work after maternity leave is upended by a cryptic note from her husband, setting the pace for a spiraling story.
Emilia Fox’s captivating narration keeps you engaged throughout the book. Highly recommend

Thanks to Netgalley and Harper publishing for this ARC. I really enjoyed this book. The storyline was clever and the way in which Gillian wrote it was very unique; different than a lot of mainstream thrillers. I did anticipate one of the twists but there were several I didn’t see coming and the way she wrote her characters had me emotionally invested and on the edge of my seat. All in all, a great thriller by a great author.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

TL;DR: This was not for me. The characters were annoying (in my opinion), and the plot seemed ridiculous and cheesy. What started as a solid premise quickly turned into a silly story that I struggled to engage and connect with. Even the twists were somewhat predictable, and I just found the whole thing relatively boring.

This started out so promising! And I am obviously an outlier. [book:Wrong Place Wrong Time|59947696] has been on my reading list for a long while, so when I saw this on NetGalley and needed a new audiobook, I was excited to test this author out. I was disappointed... I'll still try <i>Wrong Place, Wrong Time</i> at some point, but I'm not sure this writing style was for me.

The premise - a woman's husband takes three people hostage - was really interesting. I was initially caught up in the story, although Niall (the hostage negotiator)'s point of view kind of felt awkward and jarring (this continued throughout the story - while I understand why his perspective was included, I didn't enjoy it). And I was engaged for the first 1/3 of the book - and then I just stopped caring as much.
Part of it was because I didn't care much for Cam. The plot between her and Libby was honestly the most interesting to me - I didn't really care about what happened with Luke, even though that was the mystery. Niall started to really irritate me and his plot was dumb. The story just slowed down for me, and I could not find interest.

I also thought the end was a bit predictable (I called two of the three major plot points early on), and very cheesy. Minor spoiler if you haven't read the book - <spoiler>the words 'my enemies' started to drive me seriously nuts and I COULD NOT handle it</spoiler>. It was ridiculous, to be honest, and if I had not been listening in the car, I probably would have just stopped reading at the 80% or so mark - which is generally not something I do. I usually stick with a book if I've gotten past 50%.

Overall, this would be a better fit for someone looking for a domestic thriller that is more domestic than thriller. Also, if someone wants a story that's more about love, and doesn't need it to be LOVE, this might work for them. It didn't work for me, though.

Famous Last Words was a fabulous listening experience written by Gillian McAllister. I have listened to all of her novels and have yet to be disappointed by her storytelling. Camilla is on her first day back at work after a nice long maternity leave. She successfully maneuvers the daycare dropoff of her baby but has yet to hear from her husband, which she finds odd. Suddenly the police show up at her office asking questions about her husband and how he might be connected to a hostage situation. The story leaps forward almost a decade and we learn the outcome of the hostage situation and how it impacted Camilla's life. The reader of this audiobook does an excellent job narrating and providing distinct voices for the characters. Read and enjoy!