It's June 21st, the longest day of the year, and a day that would turn out to be the longest day of Cam's life. It is Cam's first day back at work and her daughter's first day at daycare, but unexpectedly, her husband, Luke, is absent to see them off. She then discovers an unusually cryptic note from him, which is quite out of character, especially considering his profession as a copywriter. It is even more perplexing that he has been offline since shortly after 5:00 AM. She has made numerous attempts to contact him by phone and message, but without success.

Then, at work, she hears a commotion outside and a breaking news story is on the television. A siege is underway in central London where a man has taken three hostages in a warehouse. Before she can fully comprehend this, two police officers enter the office, and she knows they are looking for her.
For the first time, she is questioning her husband. Did she truly know him? The more she learns, the more upset she becomes. Luke has erased his laptop's contents, he was dishonest about reporting a home invasion, and he has taken three people hostage.

June 21st was also a pivotal day in the life of DCI Niall Thompson, the hostage negotiator called in to assist; his decisions would significantly impact the situation and potentially shape his career.

WOW!! This is one of my favourite books that I have read so far this year! I realize the year is still young, but it was so captivating that I couldn't put it down.

Thank you to NetGalley and Michael Joseph for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion

The first properly good thriller I've read in ages!

Famous Last Words starts on a relatively ordinary day: Camilla's going back to work after maternity leave. But when she wakes up, her husband has already headed out without saying goodbye. It's a little odd, but she tries not to worry until the police arrive at her workplace. A hostage situation is unfolding in a warehouse - and it looks like husband Luke is the one who's taken prisoners, with zero hint that he might ever do such a thing. There's a hostage negotiator on the ground (another main character), and while his gut tells him there's something off about the situation, the other cops are not in the mood to listen. Soon, it all goes wrong.

I found this a refreshing read after so many thrillers that involve horrible people or follow the same predictable format with 'shocking' twists. (There are some twists here, but they made narrative sense to me).

I really felt for Camilla's situation - trying to hide who she is, having to explain to her daughter where her daddy is, being tactful around her sister who is desperate for her child. She's also under pressure to move on from her life with Luke, and I thought this was nicely and realistically handled. She knows the evidence looks bad, but she loves him. She doesn't think he can be a bad person, but she's got no other explanation for what has happened.

Where there's love, there's hope, and she starts imagining she's seeing Luke again, years after the hostage event. Could it be true...?

An intriguing page-turner with great writing and a lot of heart.

From the very first page, I was absolutely hooked. The pacing is insane and the twists? They just keep coming. Gillian McAllister knows exactly how to keep you on the edge of your seat!

The suspense is relentless, and I couldn’t stop reading, always needing to know what happens next. It’s gripping, emotional, and packed with surprises.

If you’re a fan of psychological thrillers and heart-pounding mysteries, you won’t want to miss this one!

Famous last words is a gripping thriller. It follows the lives of Cam and Luke, new parents whose lives are about to be turned upside down.

A brilliant plot that has twists and turns a plenty. There is one detail that I think doesn’t quite stack up but it is minor and doesn’t detract from the story.

The book deals with the question of who is good and who is bad; we always tell ourselves it is easy to work it out, but is it? When you are forced to question whether you got it right or not what do you do?

Can never gives up on her search for Luke and her belief that he is good. Is she right to do so?

We also follow Niall the hostage negotiator and how the events the upturned Cam’s life also upturn his.

A book of good and bad, life and love, family and loss.

I loved it.

Gillian McAllister’s Famous Last Words is an intricately crafted, emotionally charged thriller that kept me glued to the pages. With her trademark ability to weave tension and humanity into every chapter, McAllister delivers a story about secrets, regret, and the complexities of relationships. The twists are sharp, the stakes high, and the ending hits hard. A gripping read that’s perfect for fans of smart, character-driven suspense!

I was hooked from the start of this book with its gripping opening scenes! But then it skips forward in time and loses some momentum for me.

I found some of it predictable, and other parts implausible as a lot of the story relies on mistakes happening and some silly decisions.

But I still enjoyed it overall. I didn't want to put it down and I was fully invested, I just had some niggles with the plot.

I'm a huge fan of Gillian McAllister's work and have read every book she has written (I can say this about only a few authors).
I have waited with bated breath to read this book after reading her last novel within days of its release.
I instantly loved Cam and felt for her, after her life changing beyond recognition only 9 months earlier (the birth of her baby), it then changes again in such a dramatic way (the siege).
I loved the relationship between Cam and her sister, it was such a strong bond, even if they didn't always appreciate that.
I also loved the very tense emotion expressed from Niall to Jess.
I don't want to give anything away so will not say anything more except if you only read one book this year, make it this one.

I have read most of Gillian McAllister’s books and was intrigued by the premise of her latest novel, Famous Last Words, publishing on 30th January 2025. Her last few books haven’t really been for me so I was hoping to like this one.

Camilla is a Literary Agent, about to go back to work after maternity leave. When she finds a note from her husband, Luke, she assumes he’s gone to work early and expects to see him later that day. When she can’t contact him she becomes concerned, and the concern is even greater when the police show up at her work and tell her that there’s a hostage situation, and her husband is involved. Expecting him to be a hostage, she’s shocked to find out he’s the one holding three innocent people at gunpoint in a warehouse.

The story follows Camilla seven years on, trying to move on with her life, and the hostage negotiator, Niall, who believes Luke didn’t set out to kidnap anyone. Neither Camilla or Niall are convinced that Luke is a hardened criminal, and despite the Met dismissing the case, Niall continues his investigation, and Camilla never gives up hope.

I didn’t really connect with any of the characters in the story, but I still wanted to find out what was going on. I felt a couple of parts of the story were a bit predictable, one part I had worked out early on and the reveal was quite underwhelming. However I hadn’t worked out everything and there were still twists to keep me guessing. Just when I had decided to stop at the end of a chapter, I had to keep reading and it resulted in a couple of late nights! It’s the kind of book you want to read in one sitting, and if I’d had the time that’s what I would have done.

The story is certainly readable and will keep you turning the pages. I enjoyed it overall and feel it’s a return to form for the author. If you like a read that will keep you gripped and on the edge of your seat, then I recommend this book. If you’re a fan of Gillian McAllister’s books you’ll likely enjoy this one too.

I've read several of Gillian McAllister books previously and was looking forward to reading Famous Last Words, I wasn't disappointed.
Camilla and Luke on the face of it have a perfect life with their young daughter Polly. Camilla wakes up one day to find a cryptic note from Luke, and try's to contact him to no avail. The police arrive to tell her Luke is involved in a hostage situation and he is the instigator not a hostage. Camilla's live changes forever at this point.
The book is divided into different 'acts' at seven years intervals. This psychological thriller is a tense, edge of the seat read with twists I certainly didn't see coming.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Michael Joseph for the ARC.

I thought Famous Last Words was going to be a psychological thriller but it was more of a mix of genres between a romance and a straight thriller. I was quickly hooked on the main premise but then struggled through a lot of the book which was dense with innermost thoughts and little dialogue in comparison. I skim read a lot of the middle of the book, reading mainly the dialogue.

It starts with Cam(illa), her husband Luke and their baby Polly seemingly being a normal, happy content family. It is Cam’s first day back to work as a literary agent after maternity leave but she wakes up and finds Luke missing having left a cryptic short note. During the day Cam hears of a siege taking place in Bermondsey with three hostages having been taken by a gunman. Since Luke’s co-working space is in Bermondsey, Cam is immediately worried that Luke is involved but then it all gets much worse as she finds that he is indeed involved but not in the way she feared.

A hostage negotiator, Niall, is brought in and the rest of the book alternates between Cam and Niall’s points of view with a seven year gap in time at one point.

About 2/5th into the book something happened that I guessed was significant and indeed was as I thought so the ending wasn’t such a surprise to me. I was also a little irritated at one of the main character finding a piece of paper with a username and password on lying in a bowl on someone’s kitchen counter. The contents of the website these details accessed was completely explosive and central to the plot. In short, the short of user details you would have well hidden and written in code too – not on a slip of paper in a bowl on your kitchen counter. And if you had written it there you certainly wouldn’t leave the room with an uninvited guest in your kitchen. This tried my limits of credibility in the plot greatly.

The ending got my full attention back but was over too quickly for my liking.

Not my favourite but thanks to NetGalley and Michael Joseph for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This kicks off to an explosive start when Camilla’s husband Luke takes three people hostage with a gun on the day Cam returns to work from maternity leave. With no indication of why this is happening and what Luke has seemingly been hiding, Cam is distraught with a million unanswered questions. Bring in the negotiator Niall who has his own chapters alongside Cam and the story just keeps snowballing, lots of suspense and racing through the pages to find out what’s going on.

I’m already a fan of Gillian Mcalister, I’ve always liked her writing and her edgy plots so was super excited for this one. It is definitely a tense one!

Many thanks to NetGalley, publisher and author for my eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Another 5 star book from Gillian! Although this may be her best one yet!

Impossible to put down!
Terrifyingly real
Absolutely loved it

I really enjoyed this story and it was a firm 5 stars until the last 10-15% where I found it lost momentum and I found the ending disappointing and rather random. The whole journey was fast paced, exciting and scary but, for me, the ending wasn’t great. I did overall enjoy it, I would recommend it to others. I just wish the ending had been more exciting.

A very good read, it hooks you in right from the start. Yes, it’s a bit flabby in the middle and is wrapped up a little too quickly; but that doesn’t take away from a great story.

I've heard so much about this book over the last few months and it did not disappoint! This is a high concept thriller that takes the premise of a hostage situation and turns it completely on its head, considering the view of the people on the periphery rather than those immediately involved. The characterisation is excellent, especially main character Cam as she negotiates her way through a living nightmare.

This book got its hooks into my very quickly, such that I devoured it in two sittings, one night after the other. I loved the subplots involving Cam's daughter and sister, and the familiarity of characters working in the publishing industry. I also loved the setting - I'm not familiar with that area at all, but I could see it clearly as a result of Gillian's immersive text.

The plot itself was really well-placed, retaining tension throughout but never to the extent where I felt the need to stop and breathe. An excellent book that I'm so pleased to have read and enjoyed, and highly recommend to other crime and thriller readers.

Another cracking Gillian McAllister book.

Fast paced at the start and end with just a few bits of lull in the middle this really is an increasing-suspense thriller.
The only negative point I would make is that I do feel the author missed a trick at the end by not having a period where people (being deliberately vague) had reached certain conclusions and there was more of a period where you were left wondering what was going to happen next. It all got wrapped up a bit too quickly for my liking as a consequence for the last 10% of the book. However, I did enjoy it throughout - even in the lulls.

The characters were believable, the story was strong and there were plenty of twists to keep everyone satisfied.
Couldn't put it down at the end as so much was being unravelled at once.

4 stars from me.

When Cam’s husband, Luke, takes hostages on a seemingly random summers day, she’s left feeling. He’s a good man, isn’t he? So why is he doing this?

‘Famous Last Words’ follows Camilla and DCI Niall Thompson seven years after the hostage situation, as they fight to uncover the secrets of the unsolved mystery surrounding the siege.

My first Gillian McAllister book, and certainly not my last! There were moments in this novel when my stomach dropped like I was on a rollercoaster, a physical reaction brought on by the authors ability to weave in unexpected twists.

The plot itself went from incredibly fast paced in the beginning, slowing down to then picking back up later on in the book. I find the characters to be relatable with their flaws, worries and actions which always adds an extra layer to a thriller book for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Michael Joseph for allowing me to read this book ahead of publication. I really enjoy Gillian McAllister's work and 'Famous Last Words' was no exception.

In her unique style, McAllister blends the emotion and minutiae of romantic and familial relationships with a gripping suspense element, to provide a very satisfying read. The reveals are clever and carefully seeded. I enjoyed living in Cam's head as the wife of the hostage taker and found myself wishing I could discuss books with her over a cup of coffee - a very believable character and I was firmly on her side (I loved Niall too!) The child character Polly was actually likeable and not annoying; a tricky thing to pull off in fiction - particularly in psych-thrillers.

'Famous Last Words' blurs genre boundaries being at once, contemporary, romantic, domestic, and suspenseful. It is a book about a siege, a crime, but it is also a book about a marriage, about parenthood (touching also on what it means when becoming a mother isn't straight forward) It holds the love vs. career debate up to the light and makes one wonder whether it isn't one or the other, that in fact we do what we love because of the people we love or our experiences of love and being loved.

I think this is my favourite Gillian McAllister book to date. She certainly know how to reel you in. I couldn’t turn the pages quickly enough.

This book needs to be made into a TV crime series.

Massive five stars.

I really enjoyed this latest thriller from Gillian McAllister, one of my favourite authors.
I don’t really know how to review this, as it’s definitely one of those books that it’s best to go in blind, so you can enjoy the twists and reveals.
The book is told from Cam (Camilla) and Niall’s (the hostage negotiator) points of view, in alternating chapters. I liked both characters, as well as Cam’s sister Libby. I loved the references to Cam’s work in publishing, and how she wanted to do nothing more than to escape into a good book whenever she had free time.
The big twist came quite late in the book, and it was really good. There were also a few reveals towards the end, one of which I’d guessed early on, but it didn’t spoil the story at all.
Once again Gillian McAllister has put family dynamics and relationships at the heart of the book, something that she does so well and that I always look forward to.
Highly recommended if you enjoy thrillers or police procedurals.