She Treads Softly: Our Last Resort

Sunday, June 29, 2025

Our Last Resort

Our Last Resort by Clémence Michallon
7/8/25; 320 pages
Knopf Doubleday

Our Last Resort by Clémence Michallon is a very highly recommended mystery/thriller following two cult survivors embroiled in a murder investigation. This is an excellent second novel after her debut novel, The Quiet Tenant.

Frida and Gabriel are on a vacation at the luxurious Ara Hotel in the secluded desert of Escalante, Utah. The two shared a traumatic childhood as they live in a cult under fanatical leader Émile until they escaped fifteen years ago when they were 18. They consider each other brother and sister. Ten years earlier Gabriel's wife Annie went missing and was found dead. He was the main suspect. Nothing connected him to the crime, but tabloids had a field day trying to indict him. The two drifted apart after this but are trying to reconnect.

Late one night Frida overhears a fight between wealthy, aging tabloid tycoon William Brenner and his very young, beautiful wife, Sabrina. The next morning Sabrina is found dead. Frida tells a deputy about the argument she overheard. William is arrested but is soon released and the focus seems to be on Gabriel.

The writing is exceptional in this engrossing literary mystery/thriller which unfolds through Frida's point-of-view. The pace is fast, allowing the narrative to build suspense and tension with each page and each new twist. Chapters alternate between the present day murder investigation and Frida and Gabriel's life growing up in the cult. There are actually several different mysteries within the plot.

The dual timelines work very well, are equally compelling, and help develop and provide insight into the characters. Frida is a fully realized, complex character with both her strengths and weaknesses displayed. Growing up in the cult helped shape both Frida and Gabriel's personalities. Understandably, they are both deeply flawed individuals who had to overcome a lot to learn how to live in the world. The final denouement was a shocking surprise.

Our Last Resort is an excellent choice for those who enjoy a well-written mystery/thriller. Thanks to Knopf/Doubleday for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses 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.