She Treads Softly: The Last Thing He Told Me

Sunday, April 11, 2021

The Last Thing He Told Me

The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave
5/4/21; 320 pages
Simon & Schuster

The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave is a highly recommended domestic thriller.

Hannah Hall and Owen Michaels have been married for one year and they are happily living on a houseboat in Sausalito with Owen's sixteen-year-old daughter, Bailey. When Hannah receives a note from Owen saying simply "Protect her," Hannah knows that something is wrong because Owen is devoted to his daughter and he is not answering his phone. Owen is a coder at The Shop, a tech firm, and Hannah hears on the news that his boss has just been arrested by the FBI. When Bailey finds a bag full of cash that Owen left in her locker at school, the two are even more flummoxed. Hannah and Bailey have had a rocky relationship, understandable for a new stepmother and a teenager, but they know Owen is a good man and they need to work together to find out what happened.

When a US marshal and later federal agents arrive at their home, Hannah knows that something is seriously wrong. The US Marshall says Owen is not a suspect in the FBI investigation and he just wants to know Owen's whereabouts. She doesn't know who she can trust, so she contacts an old friend, a lawyer, who discovers that Owen isn't who he said he was. It is obvious that Hannah must try to work with Bailey to uncover what exactly is going on and who Owen - and Bailey - really are.

Hannah is a well developed character while Bailey is less developed and portrayed more as a stereotypical teen with an attitude. They both have some advancement in their character development. Seeing Hannah and Bailey work together, learn to trust each other, and form an honest connection helps keep the plot interesting, especially when Bailey's early childhood memories lead them to Texas.

The Last Thing He Told Me is well-written, although a little uneven in some sections. Chapters in the narrative follow the present day search for the truth and alternating chapters offer glimpses into the past relationship between Owen and Hannah. The past chapters provide insight into the current situation as well as providing some clues for Hannah and Bailey to follow. Hannah as a novice investigator is a bit less believable and the final denouement is a little improbable, but the lead up to it helps make it all work together to create an enjoyable novel with a touching final scene. This is a satisfying and effective domestic thriller that will hold your attention throughout.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Simon & Schuster in exchange for my honest opinion.

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John Updike's six rules for reviewing:

1. Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.

2. Give him enough direct quotation--at least one extended passage--of the book's prose so the review's reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.

3. Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy precis.

4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending.

5. If the book is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author's oeuvre or elsewhere. Try to understand the failure. Sure it's his and not yours?

To these concrete five might be added a vaguer sixth, having to do with maintaining a chemical purity in the reaction between product and appraiser.....Review the book, not the reputation.... Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys in reading, and all our discriminations should curve toward that end.