Looking for a book that’s more horror than mystery? This book has all the chills, all the scares, and a high creep factor. Check out my Review of The Last Word by Taylor Adams
The Last Word by Taylor Adams: Overview
- To be published on April 18, 2023 by William Morrow Books
- Other books by Taylor Adams: His best-known and most popular book is No Exit (2018), which was made into a 2022 movie on Hulu.
- He’s also written Hairpin Bridge (2021), Eyeshot (2014) and Our Last Night (2015).
- This was on my list of Books I Can’t Wait to Read in 2023!
- It’s also on my list of Mysteries and Thrillers about Writers
Review of The Last Word by Taylor Adams
I have not read Last Exit, as I decided it sounded too scary.
So I am not sure why I didn’t realize that The Last Word veers towards horror. (Edited to add: I got a LOT of Instagram comments telling me that I MUST read Last Exit. So I will.)
Still, after peeking to see if anything bad happens to Emma’s dog (spoiler: she’s fine at the end), I did enjoy The Last Word, which feels a little like Misery meets Home Alone meets The Woman in the Window.
Emma is staying alone in a house on the rainy Washington coast with only her dog, Leika, for company. She also trades written messages (read via telescope) with her distant neighbor, Deek.
Emma doesn’t have a lot to do, so she reads. After trying out a book that Deek recommended, she leaves a one-star review. Soon she receives an unpleasant email from the author asking her to remove it. She refuses, and he threatens her, but she doesn’t back down. After all, he’s just an over-sensitive author and how would he possibly know where she is?
But .. she’s living alone in an isolated house. By herself. With a crazy guy threatening her.
There isn’t a huge amount of mystery in The Last Word, only because there are very few characters. But there are a LOT of twists and turns, and a LOT of horrifying, creepy happenings.
Though The Last Word was pretty gory in parts, I enjoyed not having to solve anything and just sat back and watched the mayhem play out.
Should I read No Exit? Are you reading this? Talk to me in the comments!
I don’t read this genre all that much anymore but this does sound really good.
Me either. It was a bit of an accident haha. But I enjoyed it!
Now that sounds fun. An author stalker…I love that premise.
I think you might like this one, Mary!
“It was strange enough for this author to bicker with her online about a lousy review; could he be stalking her, too?”
Uh…it says something that this doesn’t seem preposterous AT ALL 😬😂.
Glad you were able to brave this one!
Yes, having lived through the great Author Stalker drama of the 2010s, it seemed VERY real!!
rated this 3 stars; I alternated between hating and liking Emma. There are so many twists in the story, it’s almost dizzying. Not a remarkable book but a good three hours spent.
It was a lot. And I totally agree – a fun read but not anything I’ll think about for a long time!
I absolutely LOVED “No Exit.” Read it!
Hahaha I will do that!!
Please explain the last sentence to me??
Hi – not sure what your book says but in my book it’s pretty straightforward. He wants literally wants to meet her halfway from where he is to where she is. I am taking it at face value!