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Famous Last Words: A Suspenseful Domestic Thriller with Shocking Twists, Unravel the Deception

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“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)

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Published Feb 25, 2025

332 pages

Average rating: 6.84

166 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

Cookingwithmonny
Jul 01, 2025
8/10 stars
Great mystery, I couldn't really put this one down.
Mmarostegui
May 16, 2025
4/10 stars
Cam is just about to go back to work as a literary agent after maternity leave, and she's dropping her baby daughter off at daycare today. When she wakes, her husband Luke isn’t there, and in his place is a cryptic note. She then finds out that her husband is holding hostages at a warehouse in London. It turns out that Cam's husband, Luke, was not the perpetrator of the crime, but was defending himself against two hitmen (the victims). It turns out that the husband of one of the hostages (Isabella), set up the hit, along with his wife, because he knew that Luke had seen two men fighting one night, and one shot the other, and in trying to pull him off the other one, the other one fell back and hit his head on the ground, killing him. It was revenge of the parents against Luke that started the entire thing; and Cam has a manuscript that she's reading that was anonymously written by her husband while he was in hiding (for SEVEN years). This part is somewhat unrealistic, and the reason that I rated it so low on the thriller scale.
Clead
Apr 06, 2025
8/10 stars
Good mystery! Nice plot twist. Easy read.
TaylorReadsBooks
Jul 26, 2025
6/10 stars
Overall, I enjoyed the book. I liked the manuscript being written by Cam's husband, Luke—I thought that was quite unique. There were some interesting characters that came in at the end of the story that I would have liked to have seen more developed in the earlier part of the book. Lots of loose ends were tied up at the very end of the book but those details would have been nice to read about throughout the book. I wanted to know how Luke actually survived for seven years on the run, perhaps some of the story could have been told from his point of view as well. I also wanted to know more about the person—his brother—who kept tabs on Cam. I humbly believe better pacing would have made it even more enjoyable a read. Essentially, I liked the story, I just would have liked more details.
SlickRachel
Jul 25, 2025
5/10 stars
I think the plot was good, but the pacing dragged on unnecessarily

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