Skip to main content

Book Review: The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave


 

Book: The Last Thing He Told Me 

Author: Laura Dave 

Pages: 320 

Read on: Kindle 

Read in: 3-4 hours 

Plot Summary: 

We all have stories we never tell.

Before Owen Michaels disappears, he manages to smuggle a note to his beloved wife of one year: Protect her.

Despite her confusion and fear, Hannah Hall knows exactly to whom the note refers: Owen’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Bailey. Bailey, who lost her mother tragically as a child. Bailey, who wants absolutely nothing to do with her new stepmother.

As Hannah’s increasingly desperate calls to Owen go unanswered; as the FBI arrests Owen’s boss; as a US Marshal and FBI agents arrive at her Sausalito home unannounced, Hannah quickly realizes her husband isn’t who he said he was. And that Bailey just may hold the key to figuring out Owen’s true identity—and why he really disappeared.

Hannah and Bailey set out to discover the truth, together. But as they start putting together the pieces of Owen’s past, they soon realize they are also building a new future. One neither Hannah nor Bailey could have anticipated.

Things I Liked:

1. I really enjoy books about secret pasts and new identities and the threat of exposure of sand new identities! That's what the premise of this book promised and I was so excited to get into this book! There is a nice thread of suspense that runs through most of the book. We wonder who Owen Michaels really is, what had he done to assume a new identity and why did he want his daughter protected more than anything else? The book does a great job of unravelling these mysteries one by one. 

2. I really liked Hannah. She is calm, collected, smart and very good at following the barely-there breadcrumbs her husband had left her. She follows her gut and does everything she can to keep Bailey safe. I read that Julia Roberts is playing her in the TV adaptation of this book and I am so ready to watch that! I loved how Hannah took seemingly small and casual mentions that her husband had dropped and used it as a starting point for her quest to find his true identity in order to assess what kind of danger Bailey was in. 

3. The actual "mystery" of the book is also nicely done. It was not too dramatic and entirely plausible. I like when that happens in books of this genre! 

4. I also liked the "solution" that Hannah comes up with in order to protect Bailey and Owen (as much as it was possible to do so) in the end. I think you'll like Hannah even more for doing that. 

5. This is a great book. There is a nice mystery, a nice mystery solving process and some nice characters. 

Rating: 4/5 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Review: The Magic of the Lost Temple by Sudha Murthy.

Book: The Magic of the Lost Temple Author: Sudha Murthy Pages: 163 Read On: Paperback How Long it took Me To Read: 1 day Plot Summary:   City girl Nooni is surprised at the pace of life in her grandparents' village in Karnataka. But she quickly gets used to the gentle routine there and involves herself in a flurry of activities, including papad making, organizing picnics and learning to ride a cycle, with her new-found friends. Things get exciting when Nooni stumbles upon an ancient fabled stepwell right in the middle of a forest.Join the intrepid Nooni on an adventure of a lifetime in this much-awaited book by Sudha Murty that is heart-warming, charming and absolutely unputdownable. General Thoughts: Ah! A happy little Children's Book! I wanted it the minute I spotted it in the bookshop. And I started reading it pretty much immediately. :)  I read it after reading a beyond dull and boring and soulless book. This book just cured my bookish blues. I l

Book Review: The Room on the Roof by Ruskin Bond.

Some snippets of the stunning art inside the book!  Book: The Room on the Roof Author: Ruskin Bond Illustrator: Ahlawat Gunjan Pages: 171 Read On: Hardback How Long It Took Me To Read: 3 days or so. Plot Summary:   Rusty, a sixteen-year-old Anglo-Indian boy, is orphaned and has to live with his English guardian in the claustrophobic European part in Dehra Dun. Unhappy with the strict ways of his guardian, Rusty runs away from home to live with his Indian friends. Plunging for the first time into the dream-bright world of the bazaar, Hindu festivals and other aspects of Indian life, Rusty is enchanted … and is lost forever to the prim proprieties of the European community.  General Thoughts: This book is super special. Not only this 60th anniversary edition an absolute beauty. This is also a signed copy I picked up from Mussoorie when I was in Landour earlier in the year. This is perhaps one of Ruskin Bond's most well kn

Review: Grandma's Bag of Stories by Sudha Murthy.

Book: Grandma's Bag of Stories Author: Sudha Murthy Pages: 176 Read On: Paperback How Long It Took Me Read: 2 hours Plot Summary:   When Grandma opens her bag of stories, everyone gathers Around. Who can resist a good story, especially when it’s being told by Grandma? From her bag emerges tales of kings and cheats, monkeys and mice, bears and gods. Here comes the bear who ate some really bad dessert and got very angry; a lazy man who would not put out a fire till it reached his beard; a princess who got turned into an onion; a queen who discovered silk, and many more weird and wonderful people and animals. Grandma tells the stories over long summer days and nights, as seven children enjoy life in her little town. The stories entertain, educate and provide hours of enjoyment to them. So come, why don’t you too join in the fun? General Thoughts: I've read quite a few Sudha Murthy books this year and really enjoyed them. I find them soothing, simple a