About the Book:
Before Owen Michaels disappears, he smuggles 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 federal 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. But as they start putting together the pieces of Owen’s past, they soon realize they’re also building a new future—one neither of them could have anticipated.
With its breakneck pacing, dizzying plot twists, and evocative family drama, The Last Thing He Told Me is a riveting mystery, certain to shock you with its final, heartbreaking turn.
My Review:
“Einstein said, So far as the theories of mathematics are about reality, they are not certain; so far as they are certain, they are not about reality.”
I loved everything about this book! Don’t miss it. I always loved Rebecca Lowman’s narration of ‘The Red Lotus’ and she did a great job with this book as well.
How well do you really ever know someone? That is the question at the heart of this fast-paced and very smart thriller. The book has already been optioned for Apple TV starring Julia Roberts, who will be perfect as the main protagonist Hannah.
Hannah is an artist who is happily married to the brilliant Owen Michaels. Their picture-perfect life in Sausalito has just a few prickly bumps including Hannah’s strained relationship with her teenage stepdaughter Bailey. Hannah cares for Bailey and has tried to build a relationship with her but Bailey keeps pushing her away.
Their lives change in an instant when Hannah receives a note from Owen with the simple message “Protect her”. These two words become the driving force of all of Hannah’s actions from that moment on. Owen’s start-up company The Shop is being investigated by the SEC and the FBI for fraud and soon the CEO and founder is taken into custody. Hannah and Owen’s friends and colleagues turn against her and assume Owen is guilty, too, because of his sudden disappearance.
“Part of me still wants to hold on to this one last moment – the moment where you still get to believe this is a joke, an error, a big nothing; the moment before you know for sure that something has started that you can no longer stop.”
The book rushes forward at top speed as Hannah searches for clues to help her locate her husband. The FBI and a federal marshal are breathing down her neck so she must act fast. Hannah simply cannot believe that her loving husband and devoted father to Bailey would simply abandon them both. Hannah searches for anything from Owen’s past that might shed light on his whereabouts and even turns to Bailey’s childhood memories to help.
“This is the thing about good and evil. They aren’t so far apart—and they often start from the same valiant place of wanting something to be different.”
Besides being a top-notch thriller, this novel is also an enthralling domestic drama. The evolution of the relationship between Hannah and Bailey was riveting. The plot twists were unpredictable and the locales were well-researched and realistic. I enjoyed everything about this audiobook and could not stop listening! The ending was completely unexpected! Bravo to Laura Dave for this fantastic story.
“It’s a terrible thing to know everything about someone long after you want to.”