I struggled so much to put this book down once I got started! An absolute page turner.

Told from multiple points of view (which I LOVE) there were twists and turns all over the place. The characters are likable, and relatable. Niall was my favourite - I really enjoyed his story.

I went into this with high expectations, being a big Gillian McAllister fan and I was not disappointed. I'd recommend this to anyone that enjoys thrillers!

Camilla's first day back at work after maternity leave, she receives a phone call that her husband is in a hostage situation... But he is the gunman. Can Niall, the hostage negotiator find a solution before things get out of hand?

Did I enjoy this book?
I couldn't put this book down, totally bingeable!!! The twists were incredible and unexpected, it had me on the edge of my seat and staring at the wall at points questioning how such good plot twist could be included!!!

The plot developed SO well! There was some incredible character growth and I enjoyed having the multiple POVs of Cam Niall and the "anonymous source" 👀


Would I recommend this book?
Omg yes, it's definitely one to read if you love a twisty thriller full of suspense and plot twists!!
It's released on 30th January so not long to wait!

Thank you William Morrow Books / Netgalley for the advanced digital copy

Book tropes:
Hostage
Family trauma
Crime
Missing person
Plot twist
Police investigation
Police procedural
Revenge
Suspense
Tension
Therapy
Trauma
Whodunnit

Camilla Deschamps, a new mother to Polly, thinks she and her husband Luke have it all. Life is good, although Cam is a bit unsettled that Luke has left the house early and is out of contact on the day of her return to work after maternity leave, a day when she thought she would have his support. Cam's life is about to be turned upside down when the news breaks that a gunman is holding three people hostage. Luke is the alleged gunman.

I don't want to give away spoilers about the outcome of the siege so there isn't much that can be said about the plot of Famous Last Words. It is an original plot, and the events surrounding the siege lead on to a story full of twists and turns, which takes Cam years to fully understand.

This is a somewhat epic thriller, and one that engrossed me throughout. Cam, who works as an agent in the publishing industry, reflects on the immersive quality of a good book, which can cause you to fall into another world after reading a few pages. This novel is a prime example of such a book.

I have only one critical comment to make, and it concerns a very small plot point. Surrogacy is a controversial industry to which there is growing opposition; please see Stop Surrogacy Now UK. There is a very uncritical reference to surrogacy in this book which would go against the grain with all my feminist friends, which is why I have answered that I would not give this book as a gift.

It’s the first day back after her maternity leave and Camilla is a bundle of mixed emotions. It doesn’t help that her husband Luke has left early and isn’t answering his phone. As she tries to settle back into her job at the literary agency her calls to Luke continue to go unanswered. And then the police arrive, looking for her..There is a hostage situation and Luke is the hostage taker.

This is my third book by Gillian McAllister and I am always amazed at the originality of her plots and the depth of her plotting. This book starts with a huge shock and I don’t think the reader fully recovers until the very last pages! The author poses an unimaginably difficult scenario - what would you do if your partner suddenly committed a terrible crime. Camilla is torn between cooperating with the police to help end the hostage situation and her natural instinct to protect the man she loves. The narrative is mainly told through Camilla and Niall who is the hostage negotiator. Niall is a rather interesting character and it was particularly fascinating to look at the scene through his eyes. The author keeps Camilla and her reader guessing and the desire to unlock the puzzle as to why a gentle home loving father and husband would take three people hostage and hold them at gunpoint doesn’t diminish.

I really enjoyed this book and thought the author did a fabulous job of building and sustaining tension. There is plenty of detail for those who love police procedural and lots of book discussion via Camilla’s role as a literary agent. Personally I found the last scenes wrapped very quickly and I would have liked a little longer to absorb all the details. I look forward to more by the author.

With many thanks to Netgalley and Michael Joseph for my digital copy of this book.

I received an E-ARC with a request for my honest review.

This gripping thriller follows Camilla who is about to return to work following her maternity leave.

When she wakes her husband has already left for work, she continues with getting ready for her first day back, not knowing her life will soon change forever.

Later that morning, she hears of a hostage situation involving her husband as a suspect, but Camilla doesn’t believe what she is hearing and soon has many questions but not many answers.

Why would her husband be involved? Where is her husband now, and is he dead or alive?

This thriller had me gripped and I didn’t want to stop reading, there was plenty of suspense and mystery throughout.

It seemed so out of character for the husband to commit this kind of crime, so you wanted to find out along with Camilla what was going on.

Another great read from this author, I will be reading more in the future.

Overall, a gripping thriller where Camilla must work out if she really knows her husband.

A must read book of 2025. It's absolutely effing PHENOMENAL. From the first page to the final jaw dropping twist, gripping, unputdownable. It's an INCREDIBLE thriller, with amazing relatable characters & the twists are just WOW!. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, BLOODY LOVED IT. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for approving me for an ARC of Famous Last Words.

I will unashamedly admit that I love Gillian McAllister. I’ve not yet come across a book written by her that I didn’t like. This was no different.

The premise is amazing. Imagine your husband taking people hostage out of nowhere and for no apparent reason! I would be as perplexed as Cam!

Although the story did slow down a bit in the middle section, it was always setting the building blocks together for the brilliant ending I didn’t see coming!

Rated 4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ just due to it being slightly slow going in the middle section. But I would definitely recommend!

Gillian McAllister is one of my go to authors so I did have high expectations for this new book - which didn’t just meet them, it hit them well and truly out of the park. Famous Last Words grabs its reader right from the very start with a hostage situation that goes wrong for Camilla and her family. It has an interesting cadence where it starts high octane, settles in the middle which actually built up the tension as I was left feeling that if all that happened in the first few chapters, what the heck was to come?! I did not see what came….at all!

This was an absolute thriller of a read, full of twists and turns. I enjoyed seeing the unfolding story through the perspective of Camilla whose husband did an unthinkable thing on that day as well as Niall, the hostage negotiator who’s life also imploded on the same day.

Another solid thriller from Gillian McAllister and looking forward to the next one.

Having read several books by Gillian McAllister I knew I was in for a good read BUT this book drew me in from the first page - it was a riveting read from the first page. Cam learns a whole new side to her husband Luke - a side she finds impossible to believe but has to accept. She spends the next 7 years hoping for his return but accepts it is time to move on.
Luke's actions not only affect the life of his family but also the life of the hostage negotiator who failed to avert the death of two men.
A fascinating tale
Four and a half stars for me
Many thanks to Netgalley/Gillian McAllister/Michael Joseph Penguin for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister opens with an intriguing premise: Camilla returns to work on her first day back after maternity leave, only to find her husband, Luke, missing—his only trace an unfinished note. Soon, breaking news reveals Luke is involved in a hostage situation, but he’s not a hostage—he’s the gunman. The story quickly builds suspense as Camilla works to decipher the clues in his note.

The book starts strong, drawing you in with its tension and mystery, but my initial excitement waned as the pacing slows in the middle. There’s a lot of internal dialogue and emotional turmoil from both Camilla and the hostage negotiator Niall, which at times feels repetitive and slows down the action. The subplots, especially the one involving her relationship with her sister, also feel unnecessary and don’t add much to the central story.

While the twist and ending are satisfying, they became a bit predictable, which dampened the overall impact. Famous Last Words has a lot of potential but ultimately falls short of delivering the thrill I was hoping for after the strong opening. It’s not a bad read, but it didn’t fully live up to its initial promise.

You know how people say that a book kept them reading late into the night? Well, Famous Last Words, the brand new thriller from Gillian McAllister really did. So much so that my cat had to come and slap me on the head several times the following morning to get me up to make its breakfast. A hostage situation, murder and, believe it or not, books. What more could a girl ask for?

I really enjoyed this book, was sucked into it from the very start. Gillian McAllister tells us the story of Camilla, a new mum about to embark upon her first day back in the office as a literary agent after her maternity leave ends. She has a wonderful life, a beautiful daughter, a husband she adores and life feels good. But, as if leaving Polly at nursery wasn't hard enough, nothing can prepare her for what is about to come. For part way through the day Camilla receives a visit from the police to tell her that her husband, Luke, is caught up in the hostage situation that is currently all over the news reports. Only Luke isn't a hostage - he's the hostage taker. Talk about a rough first day back.

Now, as you might expect, nothing about this situation is straight forward, and Camilla, along with me as the reader, had to wonder just what would make the seemingly perfect husband and father snap to such an extent that he would suddenly hold a group of people - possibly strangers, at least to Camilla - at gunpoint? This is just one of many questions that gets raised and, eventually, answered in this tense and completely addictive thriller. The story is packed with mystery and suspense, and littered with clues that you really do need to pay attention to spot. Not a line in this book is wasted, and if you think that something might have relevance later on, hold onto that nugget as it may come in handy if you want to test out your Jessica Fletcher credentials.

I really liked Camilla and the author has done a great job of creating a character who really is stuck in a position of turmoil. She cannot believe the worst of her husband and her faith in him in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary is endearing, even is most would consider it naive. There is only one other person who believes there is more to Luke than his simply being a killer and that is the police Negotiator, Niall, who, along with Camilla, provides the key perspective in this third person narrated thriller. There are some sections from an additional point of view, but these lack absolute context, or identification, in the early part of the book, and it is really Camilla and Niall that we rely on to help navigate the story. There are other characters, daughter Polly of course, and Camilla's sister, Libby, who add colour and context to Camilla's world, but none draw our focus away from the lead characters' stories.

I enjoyed the structure of this book, told over three parts - the day of the siege, seven years later as Camilla is ready to move on with her life and declare Luke legally dead, and, to a much lesser extent, some years onward again, showing us what happens to the characters in the end. nGillian McAllister has created a very real world in which to draw us as readers, and allowed her characters' emotions, as well as a gently pulsing sense of threat to feed and drive the narrative. The real heart of the mystery - why Luke did what he did - really doesn't start to emerge until the second part of the book, an inciting event which on the surface seems fairly innocuous leading to what will become a very tense and threat filled finale.

I enjoyed every minute of this book, smiled at some of the bookish references that will mean much to many readers, and loved the suspenseful way the story played out. It's perhaps not the fastest paced book I've read of late, the threat not as overt for the most part, but it intrigued me, made me not just want but need to know more, and I love a book that can do that. Definitely recommended.

The latest Gillian McAllister book does not disappoint. Grips you from the very start, great characters and plenty of twists and turns!! How life can change in a split second!!

Camilla is all set for her first day back at work after maternity leave but Luke, her husband, is no where to be sent. She was hoping that he would be there to help with the drop off to nursery and just for encouragement but all she has is a cryptic note from him. Where is he? How could he miss this morning?

After arriving at work Camilla becomes aware of a breaking news story, totally preoccupied by her missing husband she doesn’t pay much attention. BUT then the police are at her work, asking for her ……… they seem to think that Luke is caught up in the breaking news story ……. a hostage situation. Camilla can’t believe it but it could explain why she can’t get hold of Luke. The police then tell her they think Luke is the hostage taker and he has a gun!!!! Camilla can’t believe it but is it true? How much does she really know about her husband, the father of her child?

This is a book with a great storyline and some interesting characters. I found myself hooked from the very first chapter and the twists and turns will keep you hooked to the very end. If you love Gillian McAllister books then don’t miss this one …….. a great book for anyone that loves a good suspense.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Brilliant and clever read

What a brilliant book! I raced through this and couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen.

This is a story of a hostage situation but so much more than that. It is also the story of a young family who are caught up somehow in this and the story is told in the pov of both the young mother Cam and the hostage negotiator Niall. Cam and her husband Luke are clearly in love and have a baby daughter they adore. On the day of her return from maternity leave Cam awakes to find a strange note from Luke, which begins a difficult time starting with a visit from the police. Hostage negotiator Niall is in charge of the situation and clearly loves his job, sadly for him his wife decides on this day that his work means more than their relationship and she moves out.

Over the next 7 years both Cam and Niall find themselves thinking about what happened and why and the two are excellent narrators of their stories. There are lots of clues and plenty of intrigue and I found myself rooting for both of them to have a happy ending. This is a great read and I would highly recommend it to those who enjoy a good thriller with a healthy dose of romance and intrigue thrown in. The ending was climactic and not what I was expecting; I’m sure I gasped at some points towards the end.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

An exciting crime thriller that starts with a respectable loving husband and father taking three hostages at gunpoint. Written from the viewpoint of Camilla, the wife and Nial the hostage negotiator and an anonymous character, the story is fast paced, full of twists and turns. The clever writing and nuanced characters kept me hooked til the end. One of the best thrillers of the year.

A cross between a love story and a murder mystery, this novel sucks you in and keeps you wondering. Nothing too gruesome in the murder department but hope and patience in the love story department create a good balance. Thank you to Netgalley for the advance reader copy.

The gripping novel Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister will captivate you from the first page. The world is shattered for Camilla, a new mother, when she goes to work after her husband Luke commits a crime and disappears, leaving only an enigmatic, incomplete note. The disclosures that follow are a wild ride. Camilla discovers details regarding Luke's departure that cause her to re-evaluate every aspect of her marriage. The plot advances at a dizzying rate, with new surprises that will leave you speechless in every chapter. This isn't your typical mystery though. It's a good five-star book that demonstrates why McAllister is quickly rising to the top of the thriller genre.

Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister
I give this book 4.5 stars

It’s Camilla’s first day back at work, her daughter’s first day at nursery.But husband Luke is nowhere to be seen.
Then it starts.Breaking news: there's a hostage situation developing in London.The police arrive: Luke is caught up in it.But he isn't a hostage.
What Camilla does next is crucial. Because only she knows what the note he left behind says, and the clues it might hold . . .

Another standout read from this author, just her name is enough for me to buy the book I don’t need to know what it’s about.
The plot is compelling, twisty and suspenseful and not what I was expecting. The writing style had me reeled in from the first chapters and kept me reading just a little bit more until I had finished it in record time (a sure sign it’s a winner) Told mainly from Cam (wife) and Niall (hostage negotiator) POV’s, but also interspersed with the intriguing anonymous. I loved how the book spans the siege, then 7 years later. Then 7 years after an incident and 7 years after that.
I highly recommend this gripping page turner.
With thanks to Netgalley,Gillian McCall and Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House for my chance to read and review this book.

Another masterpiece from Gillian McAllister. I loved how the plot twists on through the story without giving anything away. It’s a real mystery and there didn’t come a point where I thought I’d worked it out. The best mysteries are those where the plot isn’t revealed until the last few pages and this book kept me guessing right until the end. I particularly liked the character of Niall because of his faith in the ultimate good of people.
A superbly written book and very well worth reading. Can’t wait for the next one.

When Gillian McAllister first announced this novel - publishing on 30 January 2025 - I had to get a copy. Like Just Another Missing Person, which I read in 2023, Gillian pulled the rug from under me again with a brilliantly constructed story that I *had* to race to the end of.

Cam and Niall - two central characters in the story - are raw, believable and are expertly written, carrying the narrative from the siege to the satisfying final moments of the book.

I fully expect to see this book dominate the list of 2025’s best books a year from now.

Thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph and NetGalley for my ARC.