Last Seen Alive
A Novel
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4.0 • 39 Ratings
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
“Thrillingly tense and twisty, a great read.” — B. A. Paris, the bestselling author of Behind Closed Doors
One 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 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…?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The first nine months of marriage haven't been easy for teacher Libby Hall, the unreliable narrator of this disappointing psychological suspense novel from British author Douglas (Local Girl Missing). She and her husband, Jamie, have money issues. After a fire at Libby's school, she miscarries, putting further strain on their relationship. When a leaflet offering a house swap in Cornwall comes through the front door of their London apartment, they seize the chance to take a vacation. At the isolated seaside estate, Libby and Jamie reconnect, and Libby finally relaxes until she finds a stranger in the garden and hidden surveillance equipment in the house, leaving her wondering whether the couple who own the house are too good to be true. When Jamie gets mysteriously ill, and their dog uncovers a bloody corset in the yard, they flee back to their apartment. There, Libby learns the truth: someone from her secret past is back for revenge. With its forced twists and loosely drawn conclusions, this tale falls short of its potential.
