Publication Date: February 25, 2025
“This novel blindsided me with twists and surprises that had me gasping…and with a poignancy about relationships and love that one rarely finds in the genre. A brilliant, brilliant book.” —Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author
From the author of Reese’s Book Club Pick and New York Times bestseller Wrong Place Wrong Time comes an addictive thriller about a new mother’s world upended when her husband commits a terrifying crime. How well does she truly know the man she loves? And what danger does she face if her entire life has been built on a lie?
It is June 21st, the longest day of the year, and new mother Camilla’s life is about to change forever. After months of maternity leave, she will drop her infant daughter off at daycare for the first time and return to her job as a literary agent. Finally. But, when she wakes, her husband Luke isn’t there, and in his place is a cryptic note.
Then it starts. Breaking news: there’s a hostage situation developing in London. The police arrive, and tell her Luke is involved. But he isn’t a hostage. Her husband – doting father, eternal optimist – is the gunman.
What she does next is crucial. Because only she knows what the note he left behind that morning says…
Famous Last Words is the story of a crime, a marriage, and more secrets than Camilla ever could have imagined. This novel cements Gillian McAllister’s reputation as “the best at putting her characters in impossible situations and making her readers not only contemplate but feel what it would be like to find themselves in those situations.” (Emily Henry)
With two gunshots, Camilla’s carefully built life is destroyed. In spite of intense police efforts, her husband, Luke, disappears without a trace.
Author Gillian McAllister uses this as the foundation for Famous Last Words. The first section of the storyline walks readers through the events leading up to and immediately after what is referred to as the siege, while the second part takes place seven years later. The story alternates between Camilla and DCI Niall Thompson, along with an unknown narrator.
Camilla’s character provides the right mix of confusion, uncertainty, and disbelief as she is inundated by accusations that her husband is involved in a hostage situation as the instigator rather than a victim.
DCI Niall Thompson is still haunted by the failed hostage event that derailed his career as a hostage negotiator. His new discovery changes everything we thought we knew about that fateful day.
Woven into the story is Camilla’s love for books. As a literary agent, she deals with a number of authors. It was interesting to see how this factors into the story in a big way.
Famous Last Words delivers a powerful psychological thriller featuring a sinister threat biding its time.
Gillian McAllister is the New York Times bestselling author of Reese’s Book Club Pick Wrong Place Wrong Time, Famous Last Words, Just Another Missing Person, Everything but the Truth, The Choice, The Good Sister, The Evidence Against You, How to Disappear, and the Richard & Judy Book Club pick That Night. She graduated with an English degree before working as a lawyer. She lives in Birmingham, England, where she now writes full-time. She is also the creator and co-host of the popular Honest Authors podcast.
