The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

 

Summary (from the publisher): Before Owen Michaels disappears, he manages to smuggle a note to his beloved wife of one year: Protect her. Despite her confusion and fear, Hannah Hall knows exactly to whom the note refers: Owen’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Bailey. Bailey, who lost her mother tragically as a child. Bailey, who wants absolutely nothing to do with her new stepmother.

As Hannah’s increasingly desperate calls to Owen go unanswered; as the FBI arrests Owen’s boss; as a US Marshal and FBI agents arrive at her Sausalito home unannounced, Hannah quickly realizes her husband isn’t who he said he was. And that Bailey just may hold the key to figuring out Owen’s true identity—and why he really disappeared.

Hannah and Bailey set out to discover the truth, together. But as they start putting together the pieces of Owen’s past, they soon realize they are also building a new future. One neither Hannah nor Bailey could have anticipated.

Review: Hannah Hall has only been married to Owen Michaels for a few years but has uprooted her life to move across the country to his home and is working hard to win over his teenage daughter Bailey. Until one day, she gets a knock on the door and a hand delivered note from her husband. As her calls to Owen go unanswered and his boss is arrested, Hannah realizes her husband isn't who he said he was. Hannah and Bailey must rely on each other to try to find out the truth and to navigate life in his absence. 

This was a fun, fast paced read. The unexpected central relationship in the book is between a woman and her stepdaughter, which was a fun and unusual dynamic. The plot moved swiftly from the opening page when Hannah learns her husband has left her a parting message and unfolds in a staccato beat from there, which kept my interest high in learning what happened and the mystery behind Owen's past. The flashbacks provided opportunity to provide context and characterization for Owen, who never appears in any of the scenes otherwise. 

Despite the flashbacks, I didn't ever get a strong sense of the connection between Owen and Hannah, who comes across as relatively dispassionate about her husband leaving. If anything, before Owen's disappearance, she seems to spend more time trying to win her stepdaughter over than thinking of her husband. It was hard to believe that Hannah would go to such lengths for a stepdaughter that was only ever rude and short with her. She also doesn't seem to have that hard a time making peace with Owen's disappearance. I also thought the whole explanation for Owen's mysterious past lacked full details and was somewhat difficult to believe, as was his full reason for disappearing. 

Stars: 3