The Last Thing He Told Me – Book Review

IT WAS THE LAST THING HE TOLD ME: PROTECT HER

Before Owen Michaels disappears, he manages to smuggle a note to his new wife, Hannah: protect her. Hannah knows exactly who Owen needs her to protect – his sixteen-year-old daughter, Bailey, who lost her mother tragically as a child. And who wants absolutely nothing to do with her new stepmother.

As her increasingly desperate calls to Owen go unanswered, his boss is arrested for fraud and the police start questioning her, Hannah realises that her husband isn’t who he said he was. And that Bailey might hold the key to discovering Owen’s true identity, and why he disappeared. Together they set out to discover the truth. But as they start putting together the pieces of Owen’s past, they soon realise that their lives will never be the same again…

No. of pages:- 319 pages

Date published:- May 4th 2021

Publisher:- Viper

Genre:- Psychological Thriller

Rating:- 4.5 /5 stars

This was the one single thing he told her before he disappeared — Protect Her.

Amazon and Goodreads rated this book as one of the best thrillers with the book soon will be made into a TV series. I only have one word–this book is definitely worth to be made into a TV series.

Hannah is a forty something year old woman married to Owen and living in a floating house in Sausalito, California with Owen’s sixteen year old daughter Bailey. Hannah is trying hard to maintain a good relationship with Bailey. But one day, the place, called the Shop was raided by FBI and the police and made to the national news, with the owner being arrested, Owen goes missing as he is an employee of the Shop. Not only that, he leaves a single message to Hannah with two words – Protect Her. And he leaves Bailey a bag filled with money. With no idea to what happened to Owen and where he disappeared, Hannah decides to try to find answers with the help of her friend Jake in New York. But Hannah makes a startling discovery–Owen is not who he really is. In fact, there was no Owen who graduated from Princeton or lived in Seattle and this makes Hannah feel as if she really knows her husband or not. Realizing that Owen has some connections with Austin, Texas, Hannah along with Bailey goes to Austin to find the real truth.

The plot is intense and gripping–I felt as if I was watching a cat and mouse chase game and watching it on the TV instead of reading in the book! That’s how I feel as Hannah is looking around to find the truth about Owen. The story changes back and forth from past to the present–the past being the first time Hannah met Owen in New York, and small, small things about Owen that Hannah has overlooking in the past but is now willing to look at it in a different angle. And besides FBI, what does U.S. Marshal, Grady wants with Owen? I like how the author manage to grab the reader into the story, keeping the reader on the edge of the seat with a heartbeat racing to find out who is the real Owen. Kudos to the original and unique plot! The problem with the plot is not too realistic to me and as I said earlier, I felt this was like a fast paced action packed movie with twists and turns you didn’t expect coming! (which is of course a good thing!) I also think the ending was a bit too rushed. I actually yearned for more!

Now about the characters, Hannah is seemingly a strong protagonist and it was nice of seeing a strong female protagonist. She is desperately trying hard to get along with Bailey and would do anything to protect her and find the secret that Owen has left behind. Bailey sounds a bit spoilt and whiny though I suppose that’s what most teenagers are though I do like how their relationship developed slowly because of this situation.

The writing was truly engaging–it was actually a unique writing with no chapter numbers, except the chapter is written more like a title, which is to me is original as I have never seen a book starting with a title and not as a chapter. The suspense in the book was there, making the reader feel interested and keeping the reader at the edge of the seat. I couldn’t even put this book down and I devoured this book as I was so focused on the book.

Overall, this is a fast paced action packed thriller, unputdownable filled with twists and turns that you wouldn’t expect, and would take you on a roller coaster ride!!! Worth 4.5 stars.

Laura Dave is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Last Thing He told Me, Eight Hundred Grapes and other novels. Her work has been published in eighteen countries and five of her novels, including The Last Thing He Told Me, have been optioned for film and television. She resides in Santa Monica.