I couldn't wait to begin this one! I had seen Cars' previous novel doing the rounds on social media when it was published, didn't read it at the time but I do remember thinking to myself that I really did need to get my hands on her novel! I obviously didn't take my own advice and ended up not reading her first novel and went diving into the second book, completely unawares; major fail.

'Last Witness' is the sequel to 'Wrong Number', SO, it would be extremely beneficial for you to read the first book BEFORE you begin 'Last Witness'. Please don't do what I did, even though I genuinely had no idea that the books follow one one another which meant that I spent a lot of the book going 'errrrrr, what did I miss?'. I must admit, I was pretty disappointed. However, from the last quarter of the storyline to the very end, I was able to sink my teeth into the unravelling plot and really get a feel for Amanda Thorne's edgy personality. She really is a feisty little minx isn't she!

If I were to review this novel overall, excluding the initial confusion and sequel issues, I would confidently say that this storyline has one gritty, and dark plot with some rather questionable (yet intense) characters to go with it. I could see where Amanda was coming from in terms of being a woman scorned and wanting to stand up for what she believed in! I would hate to ever get on the wrong side of her or those close to her, that's for sure!

Carys Jones' suspenseful and dark writing style really caught me off guard (in a good way), as I really didn't have a clue what to expect as she was a completely new author for me. In my opinion, Jones knows how to grab the reader in 'Last Witness' because of the intense storyline and manipulative characters, whilst also keeping the plot line believable and not over the top. However, due to spending most of the book feeling as though I was missing out on vital information, I couldn't seem to gel with the lacking progression within the storyline as much as I would have liked.

Based on the suspenseful circumstances and heart pounding moments of the last quarter of the novel, I really did enjoy what I read; it really does hold a lot of promise. I am looking forward to her next release as I find her writing style intriguing and full of grit. Can't complain at that really, can you!

Thank you Aria.

great read and easy to follow story line. look forward to reading more from this author.

This review is written with thanks to Aria and Netgalley for my copy of Last Witness.
At the end of Wrong Number, we read that Amanda Thorn's husband, Will, had been killed by his nemesis, Greg McAllister. Will left behind a young son, Ewan, and was living in fear that McAllister would also come for Ewan. Ewan is now in the care of Amanda and her friend, Shane, but she cannot be sure that Ewan is safe. To ensure his safety, Amanda and Shane set out on a quest to avenge Will's death.
Last Witness starts at the point where Wrong Number ended, and as a result, the reader is thrust straight into the action. It is assumed that the reader has already read Wrong Number, as there is no preamble or descriptions of characters, but this is no bad thing. The immediacy with which Jones writes gives us a sense of the danger that Amanda, Shane and Ewan are in, and the tension which this created kept me on the edge of my seat.
Although there are no descriptions of the characters in Last Witness, that does not mean that the central characters do not develop; in fact, I was very impressed with the way that Jones builds on what the reader already knows about them and allows us to delve deeper into their lives to create an even stronger understanding of them. Jones frequently includes flashback scenes, both of Amanda's life with Will, and her relationship with Shane as a teenager, and these are effective in helping the reader to see what makes Amanda tick and connect with her emotionally.
Throughout Wrong Number, I was fascinated by Amanda's use of the Darknet and this continues in the sequel. Once again, Jones has researched this area of Amanda's life thoroughly, and I enjoyed the extra element of mystery it added to the novel.
Despite the incredible build in tension as Last Witness reaches its conclusion, the climax itself is quite short and unfortunately, I found it slightly predictable. Nevertheless, I felt it was gripping and easy to read and I look forward to reading more from Jones.

4 stars Gripping Thriller- But must read book 1 (wrong number) first.

My reasoning for 4 stars was due to the fact I didn't have the opportunity to read the first book.

Although it explained the back story I feel by not reading the first book I lacked the feel of background build up and anticipation.
I have since reading the book seen other reviews stressing the need to read the first book.

 I wish i had read the reviews first.
As I think this has the potential to be 5 stars and above.

Don't get me wrong I did really enjoy Last Witness it was exciting and dangerous. Just what I love in a thriller.
I just felt I was missing the climax from the first book.

The main character Amanda sets out to protect the son (Ewan) of her deceased husband who is murdered.
She is determined to keep him safe no matter what. Even if it means walking into danger.

Amanda embarks on a journey into the murky and very dangerous criminal world in order to find her husband's killer and seek her revenge.

The story was fast paced and kept me interested the whole way through.
It was gripping, exciting and dangerous everything you need in a thriller.

There was also the blossoming connection between Amanda and her ex Shane. Who was by her side helping her to uncover the truth.

I would most certainly recommend this book, providing you have read the first book (Wrong Number).

First, I must say that I think you should read book number one before this one if you haven't. Book number two picks up right after the last one left off. It also completely spoils the first, so you won't get much enjoyment out of Wrong Number if you read it after this one.

I felt like we were headed toward the ending conclusion in the middle of this one and was surprised to see I was only halfway done. It definitely packs a lot of action into just 300 pages! The romance aspect seemed very rushed and kept it from earning more stars from me, but that's just personal preference. I know a lot of people prefer their suspense mixed with a hefty dose of romance.

Amanda doesn't have time to mourn the loss of her husband and wrap her head around his death. She didn't even know the real name of the man she shared a bed with. Now he's been murdered, and the man responsible is still out there. She's terrified that he'll return for her husband's son. Though she just learned of the little boy's existence, she's now all he has. She's determined to protect him by any means necessary... whatever she has to do.

She's again accompanied by her old flame Shane as she uses her computer skills and darkweb knowledge to find McCallister. Brave to the point of being reckless, she begins to insert herself into his world to get closer to him and find information that would put him away forever. But how deep will she have to go, and will she be able to find her own way back out?

I received an ARC of this book from Net Galley and Aria, thank you! My review is honest and unbiased.

Thank you Netgalley and Aria for this digital ARC for an honest review.

Part two of the Wrong Number series begins with a confused Amanda trying to fathom how she should feel about her husband Wills death. After all he wasn't Will - he was Jake. And Jake was not the loving husband she knew. He belonged to an altogether darker world. And he left her, and lied to her....and he loved her. So Amanda isn't sure how she should be mourning. And so she decides mourning is for suckers and goes for revenge. But not just revenge - survival is key as she worries Wills killer will come after her and his son. So with her ex Shane in tow she heads to Glasgow to ensnare a cold hearted villain...

I enjoyed the first part of this but I did worry if the plot had legs enough to stretch into another installment. And I was kind of right. The plot isn't hefty enough to carry more than one novel but it's still an enjoyable read. I especially liked the Amanda's flashbacks that showed us in a quite implicit way how her train of thought works. I like the relationship between her and Shane although its redevelopment seemed a bit rushed. But most of all I liked that despite her anger Amanda never becomes a sort of middle class vigilante.....she's a normal woman who sees no choice but to take the law into her own hands. All in all I liked this book a lot more than I thought I would.

I'm on the book tour for this one and I'm thrilled.
I read book 1 which was really good, so was happy to pick up book 2 and dive into it right away.

The first book was fast paced and kept my attention and juices going, I had high hopes for this one too.
I can honestly say that I throughly enjoyed getting into this one too.

It was great to catch up with the next revelation in this plot. The characters were the same and because of what I'd previously read it was easy to get engrossed.

Once you start this book, be prepared to get nothing else done.

My thanks to Aria via Net Galley for my early copy.

You will DEFINITELY want to have read the first one, Wrong Number, or you won’t get the full context of the story and if you go back to read it after having read this it kind of ruins some of the suspense in that novel.

If you loved the first then you will love this because it has the same fast paced, thrilling suspense that will have you turning pages so fast you’ll be at risk of spraining the joints in your hand. Carys Jones knows how to write a female character that practically rivals the scariness and determination of the one from Basic Instinct only thankfully she’s trying to use those qualities for a good reason. She has to be strong in order to face everything she must on her road to revenge.

Turn off the phone, stay away from social media and just let yourself dive full on into this book because it’s worth the trip.

Loved how this seamlessly flowed straight from the first book, great fast paced on the edge of your seat read.

What a great easy read.. I was so on her side wanted what happened to happen sooner. Loved how it went between stories of past and present.

Thank you for allowing me a early release read Netgalley

I loved Wrong Number and this was a great sequel. I enjoyed reading it but there were occasions when the plot just didn't quite ring true for me. So many "no ways" but still a great book.

Thanks Netgalley. I enjoyed this book but really felt that I could not understand some of the characters and wished I had read the first book

Regular readers will recall that last year I review Carys Jones' first novel, Wrong Number, telling you that the book just stopped right in the middle of the story. Last Witness is the sequel and it's fair to say I think that it starts as abruptly as Wrong Number finished. There is no preamble, no building the story back up, we're just thrown right into it; so it did take me a couple of chapters to acclimatise myself with where we were in the tale.

I also felt that it did suffer a little from the same faults that Wrong Number gave me. The plot wasn't exactly slow, but it seemed to take Carys Jones a while to get into her flow - once it does get moving it's enjoyable, but it felt a bit like wading through mud for the first chunk of the book. I thought it also read a little 'Hollywood' at times, with McAllister the tough-guy baddie of the film. I don't know if I would go so far as to say it was far-fetched, but sometimes I felt like I had to suspend any disbelief and just go along with it so as not to spoil it. The whole darknet felt a tad reminiscent of a couple of episode of 24, but then I'm happy to say I'm not that familiar with the seedy underworld of the internet, so I'm happy to take it as fact!

And now I'm vaguely aware of the fact that I've done pretty much nothing apart from moan; please don't let my negativity put you off. As I said, once it gets underway Last Witness is really quite enjoyable. I am happy to suspend disbelief and any stretches of the imagination don't distract from the joy of reading in this case. Our heroine, Amanda, is a likeable and plucky character so I did care about what happened to her throughout and that is of course very important. Once Carys Jones gets into it, the action is thrilling and suspense-filled, so the book becomes a definite page-turner that is more than worthy of the relatively short space of time it takes to read it. A good follow-on to 'Wrong Number.

Wow this book was great, I loved it. It sucked me in right from the first page and didn't let me go until I had finished it. I really couldn't put this one down. A solid 5 out of 5.

I didn't understand the darknet or all of the internet hacking, and the story was just too far-fetched to be possible......... But I loved it and read it in record time !

Oh what a great sequel to Wrong Number I loved Last Witness just as much, so much so that I've read it in a day I was hooked from the first few pages and couldn't put it down. I just needed to know if Amanda got her revenge on her husbands killer and the twists kept me wanting more. Another fab book by Carys and I'm just so disappointed that I've finished the book.

The first book I found intriguing and clever, sadly this book just feels like the author got carried away with a bad idea.
A completely over the top, unrealistic, unbelievable plot line, although well written is too far fetched to be in any way authentic.
Finally, the premise that Shane is supposed to be a murder detective really is a twist too far.