Taylor Adams

After posting a negative book review, a woman living in a remote location begins to wonder if the author is a little touchy--or very, very dangerous--in this pulse-pounding novel of psychological suspense and terror from the critically acclaimed author of No Exit and Hairpin Bridge. Emma Carpenter lives in isolation with her golden retriever Laika, house-sitting an old beachfront home on the rainy Washington coast. Her only human contact is her enigmatic old neighbor, Deek, and (via text) the house's owner, Jules. One day, she reads a poorly written--but gruesome--horror novel by the author H. G. Kane, and posts a one-star review that drags her into an online argument with none other than the author himself. Soon after, disturbing incidents start to occur at night. To Emma, this can't just be a coincidence. It was strange enough for this author to bicker with her online about a lousy review; could he be stalking her, too? As Emma digs into Kane's life and work, she learns he has published sixteen other novels, all similarly sadistic tales of stalking and murder. But who is he? How did he find her? And what else is he capable of?

A Novel

The Last Word

Kylie Robinson

 It's nice to submerge yourself in someone else's world, to luxuriate in the handcrafted details and admire the false ceilings.

 She's been told introverted personalities recharge with alone time, something like managing a social battery. And while that's accurate-because most people tend to exhaust the ever-loving shit out of Emma--she's always pictured herself more like clay, a shapeless form that reluctantly morphs to meet the daily needs of her surroundings. Smile at the neighbor's kids. Pay the car in- surance. Make a dental appointment. And here on this desolate coast, she's discovered a worse truththat without a job, tasks, friends, family, Emma Carpenter will happily float apart. Every molecule of herself will take the path of least resistance. Some- times she glimpses herself in mirrors or reflective glass, a gray and unformed face she doesn't recognize. Eyeless, mouthless, nose flattened to soggy mush. Her own ghost.

 Why is it so easy for some people to talk on and on? She feels broken sometimes. She tries to self-edit in her brain, and by the time she knows what she means to say, it's too late to say it. 

Being seen burdens you with an image you have to maintain.

The Last Word quotes

Join the club