For The Last Time
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Author: Heidi Parks
I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.
Synopsis: When Erin and Will walk into Maggie’s office for a marriage counseling session, Maggie believes they are an ordinary couple with ordinary communication, intimacy, the usual. But as Maggie struggles to get the couple to open up about what brought them here, she begins to sense that not all is as it seems.
When Erin mentions something connected to Maggie’s past that she couldn’t possibly know, Maggie is disturbed and confused. Why does Erin know anything about Maggie’s long-missing sister? Erin is connected to her somehow, and Maggie is no longer trying to fix the couple’s marriage–she’s trying to uncover her own truth. Maggie knows her code of ethics as a therapist should immediately stop her working with this couple, but she’s desperate for answers about her sister’s disappearance, and she can’t resist using her position to delve deeper into Erin’s memories and what she might know. Erin and Will might not be what they seem–but neither is Maggie.
My Thoughts: This book opens with a BANG, pulls you in and takes you along a ride that you must know what happens. This is the first time I have read Parks books and it will NOT be my last. The lies, secrets, betrayals, tension, pacing, and unique plot just puts this thriller ahead of the rest. Just six months ago, they had the perfect happy family, or so it appeared. It starts with a flinch when Will touches Erin, and then Will does the unthinkable, he looses her dog, Coco. A downward spiral of their relationship begins and to save their family, they embark on marriage counseling. Maggie thinks this is a classic case of a far-reaching mother in law and son that won’t stand up for his wife. Both Erin and Maggie have trauma in their past and when Erin starts to provide details of her trauma that overlaps with Maggie’s trauma, Maggie has stepped out of role of counselor and into role of fact finding. Maggie knows she is bound by ethics to turn this over to a different therapist that is not connected, but she has to find the answers. There is not a lot out there on the trope of marriage counseling as the set up, it so unpredictably plays perfect in this psychological thriller.
The story is narrated starting six months ago and present until they line up perfectly, in the POV of Erin and Maggie. The dual perspectives in a thriller is a unique occurrence and coupled with this unique plot really does elevate this book to another level. The story opens up with an accident and then works itself backwards. What has happened to make Erin so distrustful. Does Will have a dark side? And Maggie, when she crosses from counselor to investigator, how does that blur the lines? As our characters present, none of them are likable and unreliable, at best. There were some plot holes with unanswered questions and character’s backstories, behaviors, and reasoning, that did not quite match up. I think the characters could have been explored in a more believable way would have turned the book a little more. Having said this, this is still a popcorn turning book and it will keep you entertained. The author’s write style was twisty, suspenseful, had great pace, and appropriate tension.
This was dark, disturbing, captivating, gripping, captures you, and pulls you into the pages as you look at the next twisty bend. If you loved, The Golden Couple, you will love this one, same premise, different scenario. The chapters are short and leave wanting to do “just one more chapter.” Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend to other readers.