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The Last Word by Taylor Adams

Thriller

The Last Word

Repeat author

Taylor Adams is back at Book of the Month – other BOTMs include No Exit.

by Taylor Adams

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Quick Take

While house-sitting, Emma Carpenter starts encountering eerie things after posting a negative review of a horror novel.

Good to know

  • Illustrated icon, Fast_Read

    Fast read

  • Illustrated icon, Creepy

    Creepy

  • Illustrated icon, Rugged

    Rugged

  • Illustrated icon, Writers_Life

    Writer’s life

Synopsis

After 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.

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?

Content warning

This book contains mentions of suicidal ideation.

Why I love it

Every author gets them. The dreaded one-star review, often accompanied by a line or two of snark. (My most memorable: a simple, brutal “LOL no.”) Most of us try to ignore them. Many of us fixate on them anyway. And in the relentlessly paced The Last Word, one scathing review ignites an online feud that spills over into real life. The twist? The critic is the hero—and the author just might be a psychopath.

The amateur reviewer is Emma Carpenter, a woman going through a rough patch who opts out of society by house sitting on the Washington coast. The author is H. G. Kane, whose violent and sadistic fiction hints at a real-life cruel streak. Oh, and he hates getting bad reviews. When Emma gives his latest book one star, it makes him angry enough to track her down in her remote beachfront cottage and force her to change her opinion. (Between this and Megan Miranda’s The Only Survivors, it’s been a banner spring for thrillers set in isolated beach houses.)

What happens next is so diabolically clever that to give away any more plot would risk spoiling the delicious surprises lurking inside The Last Word. Because this is a book by Taylor Adams, whose No Exit sent everyone’s heads spinning, you can expect a doozy. Or two. Or twelve. There’s also dark humor, nail-biting suspense, and a heroine worth rooting for. My review: LOL yes.

Creepy
Sleep Tight
Dearest
House of Glass
Hum
Made for You
The Haunting of Velkwood
My Darling Girl
Starling House
The Last Word
The Writing Retreat
What Lies in the Woods
The Devil Takes You Home
Daisy Darker
The Maidens
Too Good to Be True
The Survivors
The Wife Upstairs
The Hunting Party
Pretty Little Wife
Invisible Girl
The Guest List
The Wives
The Great Pretender
The Family Upstairs
Imaginary Friend
The Chestnut Man
The Whisper Man
The Other Woman
The Winter Sister
Watching You
The Silent Patient
Sweet Little Lies
Our Kind of Cruelty
Creepy
View all
Sleep Tight
Dearest
House of Glass
Hum
Made for You
The Haunting of Velkwood
My Darling Girl
Starling House
The Last Word
The Writing Retreat
What Lies in the Woods
The Devil Takes You Home
Daisy Darker
The Maidens
Too Good to Be True
The Survivors
The Wife Upstairs
The Hunting Party
Pretty Little Wife
Invisible Girl
The Guest List
The Wives
The Great Pretender
The Family Upstairs
Imaginary Friend
The Chestnut Man
The Whisper Man
The Other Woman
The Winter Sister
Watching You
The Silent Patient
Sweet Little Lies
Our Kind of Cruelty