The Last Word by Taylor Adams

Genre: ThrillerFormat: Print, HardcoverPages:Start Date: May 10th, 2023End Date: May 12th, 2023
My RatingsOverall: ★★★Character Development: ★★★Ending: ★★★Suspense Level: 🔪🔪🔪Pace: QuickRecommend: YesTriggers: Animal endangerment, fertility struggles, child loss.
Summary - GoodreadsAfter posting a negative book review, a woman living in a remote location begins to wonder if the author is a little touchy—or very, very dangerous—in this pulse-pounding novel of psychological suspense and terror from the critically acclaimed author of No Exit and Hairpin Bridge.
Emma Carpenter lives in isolation with her golden retriever Laika, house-sitting an old beachfront home on the rainy Washington coast. Her only human contact is her enigmatic old neighbor, Deek, and (via text) the house’s owner, Jules.
One day, she reads a poorly written—but gruesome—horror novel by the author H. G. Kane, and posts a one-star review that drags her into an online argument with none other than the author himself. Soon after, disturbing incidents start to occur at night. To Emma, this can’t just be a coincidence. It was strange enough for this author to bicker with her online about a lousy review; could he be stalking her, too?
As Emma digs into Kane’s life and work, she learns he has published sixteen other novels, all similarly sadistic tales of stalking and murder. But who is he? How did he find her? And what else is he capable of?
My Thoughts - Contains Spoilers, Continue at Your Own RiskI'm wary to even write what I think about this book . . . Taylor, are you reading this? Please don't murder me, k thanks. But seriously, when I read that opener I thought to myself "this book is either going to be a huge cheesy disappointment OR it's going to blow my ever loving mind". It ended up falling kind of in between for me. It was mostly predictable, but not immediately if that makes sense. Now this didn't ruin the book for me, I usually lend my superior guessing ability to the amount of thrillers that I read. Ha!
OF COURSE he was the son - the author laid the ground work so clearly, the mention of the bedroom - the scent - the decor even. The ending was a bit of a surprise for two reasons. One: so heartbreaking that her & her husband had fertility issues & when they were finally rewarded with their miracle child, they lost her. Two: I had a suspicion that the neighbor wasn't a good guy, but I figured he only wanted to use Howie as a pawn to write a book - I didn't think that he'd try to finish the job himself.
I'm Curious

1. Did you find the book predictable? Even just in portions like I did?
2. What did you think of Howie? We're you at all saddened for the boy/man that seemed to only want to be loved & accepted? Do you truly think he was a villain?
3. What did you think of Emma's attachment to her dog? Did you think the dog was needed for the story or do you think it was a distraction?
4. If your actions resulted in the outcome of losing someone you loved, how do you think you'd react? Do you think you'd act similarly to Emma?

Next Book: It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey