Review: "The Last Word" by Taylor Adams

Quick Summary

Type: Novel

Genre: Thriller, mystery, horror

Back Cover: "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?"

Read Time: 2 days

Rating: 3.75 stars

Review

This was just a very easy thriller to get into. It wasn't the best written, but it was a lot of fun.

Most importantly, before I get any further: the dog survives. I probably wouldn't have rated it as highly if the dog had died. One thing I can say about this book is that this dog was extremely well-written and I was very interested (primarily interested) in her survival.

The premise is a little silly (woman gets stalked by an author who doesn't like that she negatively reviewed his book) but on the other hand, I've watched those Authors Behaving Badly videos on YouTube and I know that it's not out of the realm of possibility (see: Kathleen Hale and Richard Britten). So it was a fun little nod to those stories.

The cheap horror was fun, and the twists - while all a little predictable - were fun to read through anyway. The final twist is not one I would have expected at all, and requires a little suspense of disbelief to get through, but on the other hand I'm glad both Emma and Laika (the dog) survive so I'm gonna go with it.

Bref, this was easy fun, and I enjoyed it even if it isn't the best or most original thriller ever written.