It’s common knowledge that artists can be sensitive about their work. In The Last Word, Taylor Adams zooms in on this and creates a fast-paced, action-packed, almost campy, good, old, wackadoodle time of a novel.
This is the first book I’ve read by Taylor Adams and it won’t be my last.
Book’s Premise
Emma Carpenter is house-sitting in an isolated area of Washington state. She participates in various time-filling activities, being in her head, leisurely walks on the beach with Laika, and reading and reviewing books. Of the many books she has consumed, one is a suggested read. She negatively reviews it and the author requests that she remove the review. Emma says no, 10 toes down, and pulls a NeNe Leakes by expressing that ‘she said what she said’. Period. The author doesn’t like it and won’t let it go. This tête a tête between author and reader eventually leads to paranoia and a host of unsettling feelings, culminating in a night to remember.
Just some quick thoughts, then I’ll leave you to read an actual book 😉
- I enjoyed each character’s enthusiasm in response to each other. No one said “Nope, get somebody else to do it” or “Forget it, I’m out.” If matching energy were a book, this is it.
- Emma is a force to be reckoned with and the author is something else.
- My overall rating is 4 out of 5. It would have been 5 if the ending wasn’t as drawn out and if Laika didn’t go through so much. Laika has my heart and I can only hope to have a relationship as fortified as hers and Emma’s. These two take the phrase ‘ride or die’ literally.
I know this review is shorter than usual, but I don’t want to spoil the story. The less I say, the better.
Huge thank you to Tandem Literary and Taylor Adams for the gifted copy. My review/reaction is voluntary, all thoughts are mine and unbiased, and receiving a gifted copy does not influence my rating and/or recommendation.
***Note: There are affiliate links in this post; if you click on them and make a purchase, we will earn a commission. We appreciate your support and thank you in advance.
BUY NOW
Publish Date: April 25, 2023
Publisher: William Morrow & Company
Genre: Fiction, Thriller, Suspense
Page Count: 352
Description
After posting a negative book review, a woman living in a remote location begins to wonder if the author is a little touchy—or very, very dangerous—in this pulse-pounding novel of psychological suspense and terror from the critically acclaimed author of No Exit and Hairpin Bridge.
Emma Carpenter lives in isolation with her golden retriever Laika, house-sitting an old beachfront home on the rainy Washington coast. Her only human contact is her enigmatic old neighbor, Deek, and (via text) the house’s owner, Jules.
One day, she reads a poorly written—but gruesome—horror novel by the author H. G. Kane, and posts a one-star review that drags her into an online argument with none other than the author himself. Soon after, disturbing incidents start to occur at night. To Emma, this can’t just be a coincidence. It was strange enough for this author to bicker with her online about a lousy review; could he be stalking her, too?
As Emma digs into Kane’s life and work, she learns he has published sixteen other novels, all similarly sadistic tales of stalking and murder. But who is he? How did he find her? And what else is he capable of?
***Book Description is from Goodreads***
