In this taut, mind-blowing thriller, the woman last seen is Leigh. Or is it Kai? Maybe Fiona? Who really knows? What does “Woman Last Seen” really mean?
That’s what reading this book does to you. The author does a fantastic job of keeping the reader off-balance.
The premise is simple enough. It starts with a woman who is being held captive and then switches to Leigh’s point of view a few days prior.
Let me break in here and say that it is vital, and I mean seriously important, that you read the headers of the chapters, so you know what day it is and whose perspective you are reading.
If you do this, it will not be confusing. If you don’t, good luck to ya!
But back to the actual review.
What follows is a good amount of Leigh’s story, including some background on her marriage to Mark. And just when you think you have a handle on the story and where the author may be going with it…
…we meet Kai.
It’s a jolt. It feels like the author is saying, “Oh no, that’s not the story you need to know. THIS one is!” And the more you read, the more you realize that is absolutely true.
But I guarantee you will not know why it is important to know Kai’s story in addition to Leigh’s.
Furthermore, you probably will not know how the two fit together (kudos to you if you figure it out).
Because this is one of the biggest mind-screw twists I have ever read in a book. And it occurs at only about one-third of the way through!
There are red herrings, twists, assumptions…and more questions than you know are possible. Honestly, at one point or another, I expected pretty much every character in the book of being in on the plot. Even the 12-year-old.
There are two other notable things that I need to mention:
1) There is a lot of exposition and characters “thinking” about things. This makes for some long and drawn-out passages that drag the generally thrilling action.
However, you will definitely be missing character development and hidden clues that give you an idea of who is doing what and why they are doing it. So, you will sacrifice detail for speed. Just be warned.
2) The action takes place in March of 2020. Everybody knows the significance of the date in the real world. I know there has been much conversation in the book world about whether authors should use the pandemic in stories or if people would prefer to read plots that ignore it. I could go either way.
But the author uses the pending lockdowns as an excellent plot point. She doesn’t hit the reader over the head with “The pandemic is coming! The pandemic is coming!” Instead, she offhandedly mentions it, and it plays a bit part in the thrilling action toward the end.
The police are left hanging out to dry in the end. However, when you get to the very last page, you understand why the author chose to leave things as they are, and it all makes sense.
And frankly, you probably won’t see the end coming either.
By far, Woman Last Seen is one of the best thrillers I have read in a long time. And it should be straight to the top of your TBR list!
Other thriller reviews for this author: Just My Luck; Lies, Lies, Lies
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Author Bio:
Adele Parks was born in Teesside, North-East England. Her first novel, Playing Away, was published in 2000 and since then she’s had 20 international bestsellers, translated into twenty-six languages. She’s been an Ambassador for The Reading Agency and a judge for the Costa. She’s lived in Italy, Botswana and London, and is now settled in Guildford, Surrey, with her husband, teenage son and cat.
