The Last Word

By: Taylor Adams

4/5 ⌨️⌨️⌨️⌨️

Spoiler Alerts Below - Read with Caution

Reading is an escape, and no one knows that more than Emma Carpenter. After a particularly devastating life event, Emma has run away to housesit in the middle of nowhere, Washington. The beachfront property is a wonderful place for Emma and her dog, Laika, to heal. The best part? Her closest neighbor is miles away—the two can only communicate with whiteboards and telescopes.

Finding himself particularly humorous one day, Emma's neighbor recommends a horror novel. Emma takes the bait and reads the novel; however, she absolutely abhors the writing and plot. In an out of character moment, Emma writes a negative review on the novel's Amazon page. This one-star review leads to a battle of words between Emma and the author HG Kane, with Kane insisting Emma will regret her review.

A few days pass and Emma starts to notice strange happenings in the secluded property. At first, she brushes off her suspicions; however, it soon becomes apparent that HG Kane is a problem that cannot be ignored. Emma digs into his life and his other novels to try and save herself, but will it be enough?

I absolutely ate up this story! And before you go further-spoiler: Laika the dog is perfectly fine in the end. Knowing this early on would have helped me enjoy the book all the way through instead of putting it down when Laika scenes came up. Adams choice to alternate between the real events and what the newest horror novel's author was writing was absolutely tantalizing. It was hard to know who to trust! Similar to No Exit, the suspense in this story was insannne! I was constantly devouring the pages, and any time I got interrupted, I couldn't stop thinking about the story. (Likewise, any time I took a break thinking Laika was going to pass, I couldn't stop thinking about the story as a whole!)

I honestly don't know how to write a review that doesn't just spoil every little thing. The plot twists were some of my favorite out of all the books I've read. Each time I thought I knew the direction the story would take, I was proven wrong. My only complaint was the ending. Honestly, it almost felt too neat. Again, though, I can't be more specific in my criticisms without spoiling the story. I'll just say that I think it could have ended earlier and left more to the imagination. It got a little too... cookie cutter for me. Overall, however, the ending is such a small portion to an otherwise nail-biting read!