The Last Thing He Told Me: A Novel by Laura…

The Last Thing He Told Me: A Novel (edition 2021)

by Laura Dave (Author)

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Mentions
3,675	141	3,414	(3.78)	70
Fiction. Literature. Suspense. Thriller. HTML:A 2022 Audie Award Finalist The instant #1 New York Times bestselling mystery and Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick that's captivated more than a million readers about a woman searching for the truth about her husband's disappearance...at any cost. "A fast-moving, heartfelt thriller about the sacrifices we make for the people we love most." �??Real Simple Before Owen Michaels disappears, he smuggles a note to his beloved wife of one year: Protect her. Despite her confusion and fear, Hannah Hall knows exactly to whom the note refers�??Owen's sixteen-year-old daughter, Bailey. Bailey, who lost her mother tragically as a child. Bailey, who wants absolutely nothing to do with her new stepmother. As Hannah's increasingly desperate calls to Owen go unanswered, as the FBI arrests Owen's boss, as a US marshal and federal agents arrive at her Sausalito home unannounced, Hannah quickly realizes her husband isn't who he said he was. And that Bailey just may hold the key to figuring out Owen's true identity�??and why he really disappeared. Hannah and Bailey set out to discover the truth. But as they start putting together the pieces of Owen's past, they soon realize they're also building a new future�??one neither of them could have anticipated. With its breakneck pacing, dizzying plot twists, and evocative family drama, The Last Thing He Told Me is a riveting mystery, certain to shock you with its final, heartbr… (more)

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Member:	CharlyC
Title:	The Last Thing He Told Me: A Novel
Authors:	Laura Dave (Author)
Info:	Simon & Schuster (2021), Edition: Book Club, 320 pages
Collections:	Your library
Rating:
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The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

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Showing 1-5 of 138 (next | show all)

This was a very enjoyable book. It was a mystery because the whole premise of the book is that Owen Michaels disappears. This leaves Hannah to try to find out why and to decipher his parting message- the "last thing" he told her. More importantly, she has to determine "what defines her", and what defines a family. Can she be for Bailey what her grandfather was for her- the stand-in for a family but exactly what she needed?
I really liked the main character, Hannah. She was strong and understanding, and she paid attention!
Bailey starts off immature and self-centered but matures by the end. Very satisfying ending. (I admit I teared up a little at the last page.)
5 stars!
(

)

Chrissylou62 | Apr 11, 2024 |

rabck from dabercro; Very fast paced and hooked from the start. Owen, single father of 16 yo Bailey, married Hannah a year ago...and now she gets a note saying "protect her". And Bailey gets a duffle bag of cash and a short note too. The company Owen worked for is being raided by the SCC. Hannah decides to see if she can find Owen, but with the US Marshal and Agents reaching out to her, who can she trust. She remembers Owen mentioning Austin, Texas and she hopes that Austin, which has some vague memories for Bailey, will open a clue. And you're not sure how you want the story to end. (

)

nancynova | Mar 16, 2024 |

I listened to this book on Audible and it was just thing for a recent road trip. Suspenseful, held my attention, likeable characters and a few surprise twists and turns. It wasn’t high on my “to read” list, but I’m glad I did. (

)

rocketshackgirl | Mar 13, 2024 |

Thought this was well written, but that the plot was so impossible to believe that it held it back. Focusing on the step-parent/ stepchild relationship was interesting (

)

cspiwak | Mar 6, 2024 |

Hannah is at home waiting to go pick up her step-daughter at school when the doorbell rings. A young girl is at her door with a note from Hannah's husband, Owen. Hannah is confused as to how this young girl got a note from her husband but when she reads it, those thoughts disappear. The note simply says "Protect her." That's the last thing he told her. As she drives to school to pick up Bailey, Owen's daughter, she hears on the NPR about raids taking place at The Shop, which is where Owen works. When Bailey gets in the car, she has a strange duffel bag she received from her dad. It's filled with cash. Lots of cash.

As Hannah and Bailey try to figure what is going on and how involved Owen is, they are visited by someone from the US Marshall's office as well as the FBI. Both saying not to trust the other. Hannah doesn't know what to do but she knows one thing for sure: Owen wasn't involved. (

)

Cathie_Dyer | Feb 29, 2024 |

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Laura Dave	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Lowman, Rebecca	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

▾Series and work relationships

Is abridged in

Reader's Digest Select Editions 2021 v05 #380 by Reader's Digest

▾Awards and Honors

Awards

Audie Award (Finalist – Thriller/Suspense – 2022)

Goodreads Choice Awards (Winner – Mystery & Thriller – 2021)

Iowa High School Book Award (Nominee – 2024)

Distinctions

Amazon.com Best Books (2021)

Book of the Month Club Selection (May 2021)

Indie Next List (May 2021)

Reese's Book Club (2021)

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▾Common Knowledge

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Canonical title

The Last Thing He Told Me

Original title

Alternative titles

Original publication date

2021-05-04

People/Characters

Owen Michaels (Ethan Young)

Hannah Hall

Bailey Michaels (Kristin Young)

Julia “Jules” Alexandra Nichols

Carl Conrad

(show all 15 items)

Important places

Sausalito, California, USA

Austin, Texas, USA

Important events

Related movies

The Last Thing He Told Me (2023 | IMDb)

Epigraph

(let’s go said he
not too far said she
what’s too far said he
where you are said she)

—-e. e. cummings

I have little patience with scientists who take a board of wood, look for it’s thinnest part, and drill a great number of holes where drilling is easy.

—-Albert Einstein

Each species of wood has its own distinctive patterns and colors, which are revealed when the bowl is turned.

—-Philip Moulthrop

Rotten wood cannot be carved.

—-Confucius

Dedication

To Josh and Jacob,
my sweetest miracles

and

Rochelle and Andrew Dave,
For every single thing

First words

Owen used to like to tease me about how I lose everything, about how, in my own way, I have raised losing things to an art form.

Quotations

This is the thing about good and evil. They aren’t so far apart—-and they often start from the same valiant place of wanting something to be different.

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Original language

Canonical DDC/MDS

Canonical LCC

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

None

▾Book descriptions

Fiction. Literature. Suspense. Thriller. HTML:A 2022 Audie Award Finalist
The instant #1 New York Times bestselling mystery and Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick that's captivated more than a million readers about a woman searching for the truth about her husband's disappearance...at any cost.

"A fast-moving, heartfelt thriller about the sacrifices we make for the people we love most." �??Real Simple
Before Owen Michaels disappears, he smuggles a note to his beloved wife of one year: Protect her. Despite her confusion and fear, Hannah Hall knows exactly to whom the note refers�??Owen's sixteen-year-old daughter, Bailey. Bailey, who lost her mother tragically as a child. Bailey, who wants absolutely nothing to do with her new stepmother.

As Hannah's increasingly desperate calls to Owen go unanswered, as the FBI arrests Owen's boss, as a US marshal and federal agents arrive at her Sausalito home unannounced, Hannah quickly realizes her husband isn't who he said he was. And that Bailey just may hold the key to figuring out Owen's true identity�??and why he really disappeared.

Hannah and Bailey set out to discover the truth. But as they start putting together the pieces of Owen's past, they soon realize they're also building a new future�??one neither of them could have anticipated.

With its breakneck pacing, dizzying plot twists, and evocative family drama, The Last Thing He Told Me is a riveting mystery, certain to shock you with its final, heartbr

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