I mean with a title like The Last Thing He Told Me, Laura Dave basically guarantees that I was going to read this book! A mystery and a thriller all wrapped into one, this book focuses on a missing man, and really it has all the perfect points to adapt this to the big or small screen. Good for Dave.
Hannah has spent the last couple years married to the man of her dreams, Owen. With this later in life marriage means she’s also gifted a teenage daughter, Bailey, who’s not too keen on Hannah. Can you blame her? In the story that Owen has woven to Bailey is that her mother was the perfect love of his life until she died tragically young. But that’s not really the angst we need to focus on. The real mystery starts almost immediately when Hannah is handed a note from a little girl. The note is cryptic and is definitely from Owen and only says two words on it: Protect her.
I assume most of us would react like Hannah, at first a little bit confused, then mildly concerned, and then in a full on panic. Especially after she learns on the news that Owen’s company is in big trouble with the feds for embezzlement and other money related issues. It seems like that’s going to be the big problem here for the whole novel. Is Owen running because he was a part of it? That doesn’t quite make sense when Bailey gets picked up from school with her own note from Owen and a duffle bag full of money. From there, various law enforcement start making their way to Hannah while she starts trying to connect some dots.
Early on, the dots and some foggy memories lead her and Bailey to Austin, Texas, which is where this mystery really takes flight. It’s strange that everything is so contained yet seems so vast in this novel. While in Austin, Hannah learns that Owen is not at all who he says he is, least of all his name. She struggles to figure out if she can trust the man she loves, knowing full well that he’s left Bailey in her care. I won’t say more for fear of some serious spoilers, and this being a newer book, I wouldn’t do that to you.
Overall, I can see the appeal of this book, but I do think this story is more appropriate for the screen. In fact, variations of this story have already been on the screen, so I know it will be successful! When the twist was revealed, even though it was a good one, just didn’t really elicit much of a reaction from me. It almost seemed too easy? I say that knowing full well it’s not. Who knows, maybe I’ve just seen and read too much stuff like this already. With that being said though, this was a fun read, and a thriller, so it’s certainly worth your time if you want a real page-turner.