The Last Thing He Told Me, by Laura Dave
30/30 | Started 06.28.22 • Finished 07.05.22 | 3 stars
This book club read was entertaining but left a lot to be desired. I (and my fellow book club readers I might add) found that there were some unbelievable details as well as a lack of believable details.
He never understood that I wasn’t scared of someone leaving me. I was scared that the wrong person would stay.
The story follows Hannah as she searches for her newly disappeared husband, Owen. She is joined by her step-daughter, Bailey, whom Owen has told her to protect via a hastily scribbled parting note. The two embark on a trip to Austin, Texas, to track down one of Bailey's earliest memories with her father. Between run-ins with the law and the mob, a bag of cash, and a bit of sleuthing, they discover the truth about who Owen is... or isn't.
It’s a terrible thing to know everything about someone long after you want to.
One unbelievable detail was where Hannah chose to hide the bag of cash that Owen leaves for her. I'm not an author and I can think of several more realistic things people would do with a bag of cash than stuff it under the kitchen sink. Just saying. As for the lack of believable details, many of us at book club agreed that one thing missing from Hannah was emotion. She didn't seem angry or scared or upset at all, just a one note character who kept coming back to "protect Bailey."
It's classified as a thriller and a page-turner but I certainly wouldn't call it either. It was neither thrilling nor made me want to speed read to the end. It was just a run-of-the-mill contemporary novel with a bit of intrigue. Apparently I'm in the dark about something since this is going to be made into a made-for-tv miniseries soon!