The Last One at the Wedding: A Novel

Nope.

This book is in my top 5 best thrillers this year! The plot is gripping and will have you on the edge of your seat.

We follow Frank Szatowski who is a UPS driver and lost his wife a few years ago. He has a daughter named Maggie that he is estranged from for the past three years. So Frank is very surprised when Maggie calls him out of the blue to invited him to her wedding in a few months. All he can think about is how he wants to spend time with Maggie and catch up from the time that they were not speaking.

Frank is unaware that Maggie is marrying Aiden Gardner, the son of Errol Gardner the Tech Billionaire. That is until he arrives in New Hampshire and pulls to the guard gate and sees this massive estate. He knows that he is way out of his league. But his main focus is to spend time with Maggie on her special week end. Frank tries to get to know his new in-laws, but everyone seems tight lipped. Frank had a run in with some locals and they did not seem to keen on the Gardners. They told Frank about a missing local woman, and they seem to think that the Gardner family is covering something up. Now Frank is determined to find out what kind of family Maggie is marrying into.

I had a great time reading this book. So much suspense and twisty turns that I made quick work of it. There were so many “WHAT!!” moments that I did not see coming. I was questioning where this book is headed, whether in a good or bad way, because it was so unpredictable and turned you in many different directions. I feel that this is a must read this year! I love Hidden Pictures and now The Last One at the Wedding is right up there as well.

Great twist! I didn't expect the ending.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

📚Book Review📚 The Last One At The Wedding by Jason Rekulak Published: October 8, 2024 ⭐️⭐️💫 Where do I begin? That’s right, the cover!! I wouldn’t say it’s a beautiful cover, BUT it sure hit the mark by giving the reader the spooky, mystery/ thriller vibes this story is supposed to bring. It definitely appears like someone is distantly stalking a cabin resort located deep within the woods… and who really knows what’s lurking out there!! So, did the story deliver? In my opinion? NO! This story was such a disappointment for me. After reading the synopsis - an estranged father who is invited to his daughter’s wedding, but discovers numerous dark and buried secrets about her soon to be in-laws - I was really expecting a ton of family drama, suspense, thrills. So where did Rekulak fail? Well, personally I thought his writing was clean and easy to read, but unimpressive and my lord was it slooooow! There didn’t really seem to be much depth to the story, not to mention the author made sure to throw in a bunch of the widely used stereotypes of today, which I am so sick of. 🙄 Let’s not forget that absolutely all of the characters were so unlikable, that I nearly DNF’d the book a couple times. I only kept reading in hopes there was some remarkable twist that would make it redeemable, but that didn’t really happen either. Then, the entire story was written in a single POV, which made it even worse! Were you ever in a situation where you were stuck in the presence of someone you’re not too fond of and they just keep blabbing on and on about their life and were extremely rude and negative about everything? Yeah, that was the MMC Frank (the father). Ugh, so annoying… but then again, his daughter Maggie (pretty much a gold digger and scammer) and his sister Tammy were just as bad. Then there was Abigail, the completely out of place, 10 year old foster child, who acted more like an annoying 5 year old. The whole novel was just simply filled with a bunch of immaturity. It literally felt like one of those cheesy Lifetime movies, but even some of those have a better storyline. Overall, I found no mystery or excitement in this book, just a bunch of irritation. 👎🏻