About The Book
Book: Famous Last Words
Author: Gillian McAllister
Standalone or Series: Standalone
Publisher: Penguin Michael Joseph
Publication Date (UK): 30th January 2025
My Review
Whilst racking my brain over how to avoid spoilers in this review, and I found the perfect line on Goodreads: “I wrote this book. I hope you enjoy it, a love story set in a hostage situation.” Leave it to Gillian McAllister to sum it up so perfectly!
This book truly is a love story within a thriller — a suspenseful narrative with plenty of action and mystery, yet deeply rooted in complex, fractured relationships. And for someone who isn’t typically drawn to romance, rest assured: this is a touching story, executed beautifully and still packed full of thrilling elements and suspense.
The story unfolds across four acts and is told from three perspectives — Cam, Niall, and a mysterious third narrator. We meet Camilla, or “Cam” for short, who is happily married, recently welcomed her first child, and is eager to return to her job as a literary agent after maternity leave. Her husband, Luke, is a ghostwriter: charming, loving, and a devoted father. So, when Luke vanishes one morning, it feels all the more out of character. Cam finds a note, with “If anything” struck out on one side, and on the other: “It’s been so lovely with you both. Lx.” He isn’t answering his phone and his WhatsApp shows his last seen online time as 05:10.
Unable to reach him, Cam drops her daughter at nursery and heads to work – where a breaking news broadcast reveals three people are being held hostage. And Luke is the one holding them.
From here, the twists and turns come thick and fast. Why has Luke taken hostages and who are they? I loved how everything in the book is meaningful, with details that circle back. So you really can guess along as you read. Crime fiction fans will appreciate the clever nods to the genre woven through Cam’s profession as a literary agent, too!
Thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph and NetGalley for the ARC.
🛒 Purchase Famous Last Words: Amazon, Kobo, Bookshop.org, Waterstones.
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Beth Reads Crime 
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