“Thrillingly tense and twisty, a great read.” — B. A. Paris, the bestselling author of Behind Closed DoorsOne woman is trapped in the death-grip of the past—and every one of its dark secrets—in this riveting novel of psychological suspense from Claire Douglas, award-winning author of The Sisters and Local Girl Missing.As much as Libby Hall needs a vacation, she’s never considered taking one until … Missing.
As much as Libby Hall needs a vacation, she’s never considered taking one until she sees the note for a house swap. Suffering a miscarriage was a personal turning point. Saving a child from a burning school was a public one. Just as the emotional fallout of both incidents takes its toll, along comes her lifesavers—the Heywoods, a couple in need of a getaway of their own.
Libby and her husband Jamie can’t believe their good fortune when they arrive at the Heywood’s isolated seaside estate with its panoramic views—and just in exchange for their drab two-bedroom apartment. How generous of the Heywoods! Yet how odd. Libby almost feels guilty until the home yields disquieting surprises: a fortune in hidden surveillance equipment, a stranger in the garden who watches them, and the make-shift operating room in the basement…
When Jamie falls dangerously ill, all Libby wants is to return to their comfortably imperfect lives. But it’s already too late. Libby has just discovered the Heywoods’ biggest secret. And when it appears that even Jamie is hiding something from her, Libby’s paranoia gets the best of her. It should. For she has buried secrets of her own. As the past comes crawling out of the darkness, Libby fears she’s walked into an elaborate trap. But who has set it? What do they want of her? And what is she willing to risk to make it out alive…?
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Thrillingly tense and twisty, a great read.
A book that held such promise. Great characters, oodles of twists and turns, easy to read, and a plot that kept me turning pages. Then something happened I REALLY disliked. Even then, I forced myself past it and became reinvested in the story. Sadly, the ending was such a letdown, I can’t embrace the book overall but I think that many other readers will be fans.
Exceptional writing, good storytelling, but it left me unsatisfied and disappointed. The author knows her stuff, but this one just wasn’t for me.
Fast-paced and chock-full of twists, Last Seen Alive is both absorbing and gripping. After reading it you’ll never dream of a house swap again.
Well worth the read. I highly recommend this book.
The character interaction was phenomenal. It was also action packed, I couldn’t stop reading.
4.5 Stars
Oh wow!!! What a read, Loved Loved Loved Last Seen Alive By Claire Douglas,
now I’ve got to describe this while giving nothing away as trust me that would really spoil this for you.
Mmmm, where to start,
So here goes, we have Libby Hall School-teacher, just wants to live a quiet life that is until she makes the news after saving the children in her care from a fire.
The blaze itself brings back flashbacks of losing her bestie in a fire nine years previous and then also hating the attention that comes along with the hero status, Libby and her husband Jamie are really just starting to feel the pressure pile on.
So when an intriguing leaflet lands on the Hall’s doormat offering a house swap for a week it seems like a godsend, swapping their flat in Bath for a week in the beautifully secluded Cornish countryside, it seems too good to be true.
The Hideaway is their new home for the week but it’s far from being the relaxing break that Libby imagined.
It’s isolated and though stunningly decorated and a luxurious home its strangely spooky and Libby feels increasingly paranoid while staying here.
Is it paranoia or is there something going on beneath the surface and who can Libby trust.
This was such a page turner and was full of the most unexpected twists and turns that I really didn’t see coming.
Just when you thought you knew where you were going everything would change.
Last Seen Alive definitely kept you on your toes throughout.
I loved how the characters seemed so human with faults and all, there was no perfection here, only real people making mistakes and trying to redeem themselves to the people they cared about.
Loved Libby, I really took to her, could even get the paranoia to an extent, especially after reading the back-story it explained a lot and certain actions she took then made sense to me, Libby was far from perfect, though she tried to portray perfection as much as possible and I think this was her main fault, the wall she has built to exclude others from getting too close.
Jamie, well he was a typical bloke, but he really did come across as one of the good guys, I think he does need to open his eyes a bit in regards to Hannah the ex-taking the mick, but aside from that, he seemed like, what you see is what you get, at least that’s the impression I got.
This book was so well written and was very easy to get lost in.
I would definitely recommend this as it was a really enthralling read that easily kept my attention.
The only reason I knocked off half a star was that I hated the epilogue like detested it big style it really annoyed me so in true diva mode I removed half because I was so pissed and because I can!!
But aside from that which is a personal reason, this was one hell of a ride that once you embarked on you were compelled to stay for the whole journey.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for providing me with an arc of Last Seen Alive By Claire Douglas.
This is my own honest and unbiased opinion.
Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
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