From the bestselling author of Hidden Pictures comes a breathtaking work of suspense about a father trying to save his daughter from a life-altering decision that will put everything he loves on the line.
Frank Szatowski is shocked when his daughter, Maggie, calls him for the first time in three years. He was convinced that their estrangement would become permanent. He’s even more surprised when she invites him to her upcoming wedding in New Hampshire. Frank is ecstatic, and determined to finally make things right.
He arrives to find that the wedding is at a private estate—very secluded, very luxurious, very much out of his league. It seems that Maggie failed to mention that she’s marrying Aidan Gardner, the son of a famous tech billionaire. Feeling desperately out of place, Frank focuses on reconnecting with Maggie and getting to know her new family. But it’s difficult: Aidan is withdrawn and evasive; Maggie doesn’t seem to have time for him; and he finds that the locals are disturbingly hostile to the Gardners. Frank needs to know more about this family his daughter is marrying into, but if he pushes too hard, he could lose Maggie forever.
An edge-of-your-seat thriller that delves deep into the heart of one family, The Last One at the Wedding is a work of brilliant suspense from a true modern master.
Frank Szatowski is shocked when his daughter, Maggie, calls him for the first time in three years. He was convinced that their estrangement would become permanent. He’s even more surprised when she invites him to her upcoming wedding in New Hampshire. Frank is ecstatic, and determined to finally make things right.
He arrives to find that the wedding is at a private estate—very secluded, very luxurious, very much out of his league. It seems that Maggie failed to mention that she’s marrying Aidan Gardner, the son of a famous tech billionaire. Feeling desperately out of place, Frank focuses on reconnecting with Maggie and getting to know her new family. But it’s difficult: Aidan is withdrawn and evasive; Maggie doesn’t seem to have time for him; and he finds that the locals are disturbingly hostile to the Gardners. Frank needs to know more about this family his daughter is marrying into, but if he pushes too hard, he could lose Maggie forever.
An edge-of-your-seat thriller that delves deep into the heart of one family, The Last One at the Wedding is a work of brilliant suspense from a true modern master.
Title: The Last One at the Wedding
Author: Jason Rekulak
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Expected Publication Date: October 8, 2024
Review:
Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for providing me with an audio galley of this book to listen to and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
I heard really great things about another book by this author and thought I'd check out what his writing was about.
I jumped into this one thinking it will be a bit of a mystery, thriller. However, it turned out to be more of a mystery/family drama than anything else. There was no suspense at all. No edge of the seat thriller with this story.
I enjoyed the narrator. He definitely brought the personality of the main character alive. I laughed in many places and was also a bit shocked in others at the things he said or thought. However, I really found Frank rather chauvinistic and full of entitlement. Perhaps this was the purpose of his character, though.
The dynamic between the main character, his sister, his daughter, and the other supporting characters was a mix of odd and tender. I didn't relate to any of the characters, though. Nor did I find any of them really likeable so I wasn't truly invested in where this story was going. They were also very underdeveloped.
A lot of craziness happened during the book which I thought for sure would turn it to more of a thriller. But it didn't get there. The mystery was meh at most. I almost felt like this one was more satire than mystery/thriller as it's billed. I was actually a bit bored at times. There seemed to be a lot of repetition happening with the way things would come to fruition. I ended up speeding up the narration as I found myself losing interest less than half way through the book.
And I hated the ending. It just kind of ended with no real true resolution to anything regarding the feelings of the characters. It was totally unfulfilling. Talk about anti-climatic. I almost wonder why the author wrote it in the first place if there wasn't going to be a good wrap up. And don't get me started on the title. I don't even know what it means or how it relates to the story besides there being a wedding in the plot.
All this being said, the book was just not for me. However, given the higher ratings I have been seeing, I seem to be in the minority. After speaking with some other readers who read Hidden Pictures by this author and then this one, I see a tendency to agree this was nothing like the other book. So don't jump into this one thinking it will be similar.
Author:
'm the author of three novels: HIDDEN PICTURES, THE IMPOSSIBLE FORTRESS, and (coming in October 2024!) THE LAST ONE AT THE WEDDING. For many years I was Publisher of Quirk Books, an indie press headquartered in Philadelphia, where I ghost-wrote many odd books that may or may not surface on this page, depending on the metadata. I live in West Philly with my wife and children.
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