I always look forward to a new Gillian McAllister book and Famous Last Words is another great psychological thriller from her! It features a concept I haven’t read in detail before – that of a hostage situation. Famous Last Words is Gillian’s classic blend of page-turning tender emotion mixed with high-drama.
Opening sentence: It is one hour before Camilla’s life changes, though she doesn’t yet know it.
How life can change
Famous Last Words is told from two POVs. The first is Camilla Deschamps, wife of the hostage-taker, Luke. Camilla is a literary agent, with a seemingly great life. Married to Luke, her kind, funny and charming husband, who works as a ghostwriter. They have a baby daughter, Polly.
At her first day back at work after maternity leave, she sees on the news that a hostage situation is happening in East London. When the police show up at her office soon after, things don’t look great. She is beyond shocked to discover that her husband Luke has taken three people hostage and is also wielding a gun.
The other POV in the book is that of Niall, the hostage negotiator who works for the police and is brought in to end the situation with Luke without any casualties. We follow them both as they try to discover the truth about why Luke seemingly acted so out of character and took these people hostage.
Another inversion. Funny how things look different depending on what you know to be true.
I thought this pairing was really interesting as the story does invert you perception of the situation a few times. Niall is the crime / analytical voice to Camilla’s emotional one and the blend of these two perspectives really give Famous Last Words depth.
I was totally hooked! Famous Last Words keeps you guessing until the end and crucially, keeps human emotion as the focus, so when we do find out what happens (no spoilers here!), it makes sense and gives a really satisfying ending.
Other Gillian McAllister books I loved were Wrong Place, Wrong Time and Just Another Missing Person.
