Struggling to push aside her grief to focus on getting her daughter back, Sadie finds herself slipping deeper into despair. The growing list of suspects weighs heavily on her the secretive teacher, the registered sex offender, the delusional neighbor, the disgruntled ex-wife, the evasive principal—everyone seems to have a connection to Emma. And a surprising grudge to bear.

A riveting enthralling thriller that had me on the edge of my seat.
The Last Morning completely ensnares you in its hold from the very first chapter.
If you think this is just an easy to guess thriller, you are mistaken. The story is intrinsically woven with many other storylines and every single one could have easily carried out the kidnapping.
If you enjoy a fast paced, emotional, every one is a suspect, dark story then this is for you.
This is my first read of a book by Camden Baird, but it definitely will not be the last.

Review of The Last Morning by Camden Baird published 16 September 2025 by Thomas & Mercer.

Debut thriller by the author - a great addition to the market.

The story is told from several viewpoints, centred around a child, Emma, going missing on her first day of Kindergarten, with secrets, twists and plenty of mystery.

Perfect for fans of psychological thrillers.

The story follows a family in North Carolina. Emma who is starting her first day of kindergarten goes missing somewhere between being put on the bus and arriving at school.
This book keeps you guessing. Who’s hiding something and who can you believe? When I thought I had it figured out I was so wrong.

I received an eARC from NetGalley

This book was incredible! It deserves more than 5 stars! I was at the edge of my seat with every turn of the page blaming everyone that I thought was to blame! Never in my mind did I think of the actual outcome. Well played!

Thrilling and hard to put down. A 5 year old girl goes missing somewhere between being on the school bus and entering the actual school's kindergarten. Everyone around her is a suspect, and her mother doesn't know who she can trust.

the last morning by Camden Baird is a New Adult mystery thriller that is set to be released on September 16th, 2025.

The book includes Povs of multiple characters to help get a glimpse of every character's thoughts and motives. That exact addition had helped add to the thriller part in my opinion.
I'm usually not phased and don't scare easily by thriller books. But when A thriller book actually hit my nervous system and makes me question my whole surroundings and be afraid of my shadow then i know that the book is thrillering. And i had experienced such feelings while reading this book.
I was actually left with trust issues that could fill a river, and the fact that we got multiple povs and i still wasn't able to detect the person responsible IS ACTUALLY INSANE BECAUSE WDYM?

At first i wanna make sure to mention that the VIBES WERE VIBING. i was absolutely attached to the story from start to end and i kept moving to the next chapter needing more and more. And i guess what helped the most with getting me so engaged was that the chapters were relatively short to a decent length which helped me go through different versions of the story.

NOTE: mystery and thriller alike are tricky and reading them isn't like watching. I was left confused at some points ngl but it was just because i needed to see these characters in front of me to better judge (that sounds irrational i know but HEAR ME OUT)

I did infact not expect the plot twist at the end even though i was making my best to crack the mystery before the end comes to prove that i am stronger than the mystery books (i have clearly failed but still i tried at the least)

However, as an emphasis to a point i wasn't so fathom of, i was ultimately confused at some points due to the excessive multiple POVs and how tricky they got at some points. As much as it is fun to get a glimpse through every characters brain, at some points it got crowded and it felt like so much was happening at once. I of course don't know if this was the aim behind having such a technique with so many point of views to actually hide the Person of Interest and to cloud the readers judgement to not biased.
I have to admit it was such a beautiful move if that was the aim behind it but i guess that my brain isn't used to that much chaos in one place.

(2.5 stars)
"We could live for years and years in this hell. Spiraling and spiraling into canyons of despair. Never learning the whole truth, whether she's dead or alive." The best thing I can say about The Last Morning is it's a fast read: if you think of it as airport fiction you'll probably like it more than I did. Author Camden Baird travels down a well-worn road, writing about the hunt for a missing kid, but tries to mix it up by explaining what's happening from a range of different perspectives.

There's a lot of telling, from a thin and annoying cast of characters (caricatures?) who don't really behave like normal people, and not a lot of showing. I wasn't convinced by mother Sadie Wilson's anguish, she sounded like a helicopter mum to begin with: "But a mom can't be too careful these days. Everybody knows that. It doesn't matter where you life. Scary people are everywhere." She's pretty fake, including about loving her step-son, Forrest: "Loving Forrest feels right. It's the natural course of things with family. That's what holds my heart open." Wanting to love a step-kid because you think it's what families do, is actually different from loving them.

Her husband, Allen, is a cheating douche, clearly leading his ex-wife on: "He meets my gaze and sensation hums through me like an old familiar song. One I'm desperate to hear again". She's frankly a bit weird, deciding that her future happy family will include a kid who has another parent... It's all kind of incestuous and wrong. Which makes you kind of stop caring who's taken Emma. Nobody seems to deserve her.

The most poorly drawn character is Kate, who keeps talking to Katherine in her own head, in such an obvious and stupid characterisation of dissociative identity disorder. "People liked Kate and she liked herself as Kate more too. So Katherine agreed to back down and let Kate have the first and final say." Cringeworthy, no? There's also a random woman who invites Emma over for a play date despite her kid being dead: "The gist is she wanted to pretend she was someone's mom again, if only briefly, not that she intended Emma any harm." Lots of reviewers mention the 'twists' and 'turns' this book takes. I felt they were all a bit arbitrary. Without filling out the characters, the plot was kind of nonsense.

When you go into a genre where there are thousands of existing books, if you don't add anything new, you're very easily outclassed...

Psychological thriller
Kidnapped child
Several suspects, you read each chapter from each characters perspective until they finally start piecing together during the last chapter.
I really enjoyed the guessing during each chapter, but I felt like the ending was a little out there and would have enjoyed it without the final twist.
4/5 stars

The book consist of every parents nightmare, I braved myself to read this.
I like the story where it easy to read and I'm eagerly to know who took Emma and what happen to her? Reading the book I cannot seat properly just to worried and thinking what happen to Emma.
The only thing that disturbed me was there's more than 3 POV characters so I get irritated by that.
Overall its and easy 4 star read for me. Thank you.

4.5⭐️! I absolutely devoured this book! The missing child plot hooked me in from the very start and I was swept up trying to determine who did it. The story follows a few main characters where you gain some much needed perspective on where each person was and how they connect to the story. I was so unsure throughout the whole story who actually did it and when they revealed I was shocked to say the least. There is most certainly and revenge plot in the mix and I was curious to see how they were going to tie it all together to make sense and not seem too outlandish. I think the author did a great job and I truly had such a good time reading this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for the ARC of this book!

Thank you, Thomas & Mercer, NetGalley, and of course Camden Baird for this incredible read.
A fast-paced plot that keeps you guessing until the very last page. There are so many twists and turns in this story you never see coming!
Allen and Sadie Wilson are the doting parents to Emma, a young girl starting kindergarten. Sadie is terrified to send Emma off, but does against her instincts and watches her get on the school bus and drive away. Little did she know that her little girl would be taken ripping her life apart instantly.
Police begin diving into their lives, and there are a surprising number of people who have bad blood with the Wilson’s. With suspects ranging from neighbors, the ex-wife, the half son, the teacher, the bus driver and even the grocery store bagger and the parents themselves, the author keeps you gripped in the search for Emma taking you on a wild ride not knowing who to trust, and who is a perfect liar.
The book centers around one premise: Revenge. And the end shocks you with who ends up with justice. A crazy read, 5 stars!

First of all, thank you so much to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer and ofcourse the author; Camden Baird for providing the ARC for this book. I truly appreciate the opportunity to read and review it.

Okay, so this is exactly the kind of thriller we readers deserve. From the very first page, the book throws you straight into the plot, which was incredibly satisfying. There’s no slow build-up. It grabs your attention immediately and it makes you want to read the whole book in one sitting. The pacing is spot-on, keeping you on edge the entire time.

One of the things I loved most was how well the book builds suspense. The stakes are high, the tension is amazing, and the dark, twisted reality it creates completely pulls you in. The author does an amazing job of making you question everything and everyone. Just when you think you have things figured out, another twist throws you off balance.

And that ending—wow! I genuinely did not see that coming. It was shocking in the best way possible, leaving me thinking about the book long after I had finished. If you're a fan of gripping, unpredictable thrillers, you should read this book.

This is definitely going to be a highly recommended book. The thrill of the different people that are associated with one person, is shocking. This book has all the right elements a thriller book should have. Could there possibly be a second book?

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | A Tense and Intriguing Thriller

The Last Morning by Camden Baird is a gripping thriller that kept me hooked from start to finish. Told through multiple points of view, the story unfolds with an intense premise, allowing readers to see different perspectives that add layers of tension and mystery. Each character brings something unique to the narrative, making it even more compelling as secrets unravel and unexpected twists emerge.

Baird does a great job crafting a moody, atmospheric setting that enhances the suspense. The pacing is strong, and while some moments felt a bit slower than I expected, the payoff was worth it. The characters were well-developed, though I wished for a little more depth in some of their motivations.

Overall, The Last Morning is an engaging read that delivers solid suspense, making it a great pick for fans of psychological and mystery thrillers. While it didn’t quite hit that five-star mark for me, it’s definitely a book I’d recommend!

Thank you Net Galley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book was amazing, it had mee hooked immediately. I rushed to continue reading it whenever I had a chance. I will highly recommend this to all of my fellow readers. Hold on tight it's a great ride.

The book is interesting, not dragged out, and very easy to read. However, I did find some flaws in it. Why wasn’t a five-year-old child searched for by the entire town? The parents just sat there, waiting for the police to do something. Okay, the mother at least made some attempts to find the child, but the father? He just sat there, doing nothing. And this is his hometown, where he’s lived his whole life—he could have turned the whole place upside down, reached out to everyone he knew, searched every corner. But no, he just waited for the police to act.
Allen annoyed me the entire time. His character managed to both frustrate me and remain underdeveloped. I feel like there should have been more about his past.

This story is a parent's worst nightmare! With multiple POVs I couldn't begin to guess who the culprit was and there were a lot of tense moments. The pacing was great and I enjoyed the author's writing style.

A mom and dad worst nightmare: 5 years Emma gets kidnapped on the first day of school. I was absolutely hooked from the beginning because I wanted to know who took her. This book is told in different people point of view which I absolutely loved. I wanted a little more of a background info in all the characters but I really enjoyed it.

#TheLastMorning #NetGalley
Sadie Wilson’s heart stops the moment the phone rings. Deep in her soul, she knows what’s coming, and the voice on the other end only confirms her fears: Emma never made it to school. Her sweet, scared five-year-old climbed onto the bus for her very first day of kindergarten…and then vanished. Struggling to push aside her grief to focus on getting her daughter back, Sadie finds herself slipping deeper into despair. The growing list of suspects weighs heavily on her mind: the secretive teacher, the registered sex offender, the delusional neighbor, the disgruntled ex-wife, the evasive principal—everyone seems to have a connection to Emma. And a surprising grudge to bear. Thankfully Sadie’s got her loving husband, Allen, by her side. But she can’t help feeling he’s hiding something too.
Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for giving me an advance copy.