The Last Night Out

The Last Night Out by author Catherine O’Connell is a dark thriller/mystery with a domestic feel to it. I was so excited to be approved for this novel and it did not disappoint! I can’t recommend this book enough, coming May 2019!
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an arc copy of The Last Night Out in exchange for an honest review.

I loved The Last Night Out! At about the 60% point this afternoon, I intended to put it down to get some errands out of the way, and I just couldn't do it. Spent the next couple of hours devouring every word to the last.

Catherine O'Connell's novel takes place in 1988 when five lifelong girlfriends are together for a bridal shower. Maggie (the bride-to-be), Angie, and Suzanne aren't ready for the fun to end when the shower is over, so they head over to Rush Street in Chicago for some heavy drinking and dancing. Suzanne and Angie leave Maggie on the dance floor when Angie has been way overserved. The next morning Maggie wakes with a bad hangover and her dance partner of the previous night in her bed! She's awakened by Suzanne with the news that Angie has been found in a park, murdered. All the remaining four girlfriends' lives are upended in the following two weeks, and the reader is immersed in trying to discover the murderer.

O'Connell does a fantastic job developing all of her characters. Each of the five friends' histories, character strengths and faults, and motivations truly come to life. Best of all for a thriller, I was completely baffled by who had murdered Angie and why until late in the book when the truth becomes clear. I also loved how the novel ended. Not only was the murder solved, but we get a complete synopsis of what happened to each of the friends in the following 25 years. All except one lingering question . . .

I highly recommend The Last Night Out. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I live a pretty vanilla life; a husband, two cute kids, in bed by 9pm...that type of thing (which I love). For my bachelorette party I went wine tasting in a limo with some girlfriends and called it a wrap. Maybe that’s why I sometimes gravitate to juicy reads that offer drama and scandal? I gotta get it somewhere to shake things up once in awhile! Well, I definitely found it in abundance with the book Last Night Out. This was a crazy ride! So much sh*t goes down when a few friends wake up post bachelorette party to find that an some very horrifying events took place. This is sort of like the dark version of The Hangover. The story takes place in the late 80’s and being a 90’s baby, I found this to be a fun and interesting point. I was glued to the pages in suspense and had to know how it would all end! Read this with a glass of your favorite wine or cocktail in hand and be ready for some thrills.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
I enjoyed this book, it had a lot of twists and turns that kept me guessing until the very end.
I would definitely read another book by this author.

THE LAST NIGHT OUT is a fantastic, seedy, darkly humorous thriller set in Chicago in the 1980's. I was hooked right from the start of this story where a group of close friends go out partying in advance of one of them getting married in two weeks. Each one of the friends have problems going on in their life from either before, or because of that night, and one ends up murdered.

Catherine O'Connell has a way with words that kept me deeply engrossed in this novel. The characters are well developed...I found myself caring for each of them and what happened to them throughout the book. The story is filled with drugs, sex, and violence, and some nice twists that really made it hard for me to put down. I cannot wait to read more from O'Connell. Highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley, Catherine O'Connell, and Severn House Publishers for an ARC.

"When I think of how my life turned out in the aftermath, there is always a twinge of guilt."

Six friends. Three secrets. One murder.
Maggie is destined to marry the perfect man in two weeks. Desperate for a last wild night on the town before the big day, she gathers six friends for a night to remember. Only things go wrong, horribly wrong.

Angie’s body is found in the park the following morning and the night to remember quickly becomes a nightmare they wish they could forget. Under police scrutiny, how far will Maggie and her friends go to keep their secrets—far enough to protect a killer?

This really is a dark, twisty thriller! It makes you think and the ending is so good, I didn't see it coming. I can't wait to read more novels from this author!

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC #Blackthorn
Pub Date: 02 May 2019

Wow, The Last Night Out by Catherine O'Connell had so many twists and turns that my head is still spinning. Each time I thought I had the killer or plot figured out, the author would throw the reader down another winding path. Each character was well-developed with storylines that had you shaking your head at the absurdity of their decisions but also thinking "would I have done the same thing in their position?"

The ending and epilogue were brilliantly done, making you think you know what happened, but then not knowing. It was a great ending because it wasn't a nice, neat bow that wrapped everything up. This book had such good writing and believable narrative arcs for each of the leading players.

I was sad to see this book end as some of the characters were quite enjoyable to read about and get to know.