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The Last Thing I Told You
I hear myself whispering. Not again. Not again. Why did I ever come back here? Surely because of you. Because I thought of something I'd always meant to tell you. Because you were the only one I ever really wanted to tell it to.
Therapist Dr. Mark Fabian is dead, bludgeoned in his office. But that doesn't stop former patient Nadine Raines from talking to him -- in her head. Why did she come back to her hometown after so many years away? Everyone here thinks she's crazy. And she has to admit, they might have good reason to think so. She committed a shockingly violent act when she was sixteen and has never really been able to explain that dark impulse, even to Fabian. Now that Fabian's dead, why is she still trying?
Meanwhile, as Detective Henry Peacher investigates Fabian's death, he discovers that shortly before he died Fabian pulled the files of two former patients. One was of Nadine Raines, one of Henry's former high school classmates. Henry still remembers the disturbing attack on a teacher that marked Nadine as a deeply troubled teen. More shockingly, the other file was of Johnny Streeter who is now serving a life sentence for a mass shooting five years ago. The shooting devastated the town and everyone -- including Henry who is uncomfortable with the "hero" status the tragedy afforded him -- is ready to move on. But the appearance of his file brings up new questions.
Maybe there is a decades-old connection between Nadine and Streeter. And maybe that somehow explains what Nadine is doing in Fabian's office nearly twenty years after being his patient. Or how Fabian ended up dead two days after her return. Or why Nadine has fled town once again. But as Nadine and Henry head toward a confrontation, both will discover that the secrets of people's hearts are rarely simple and even in the hidden depths of a psychologist's files, rarely as they appear.
Therapist Dr. Mark Fabian is dead, bludgeoned in his office. But that doesn't stop former patient Nadine Raines from talking to him -- in her head. Why did she come back to her hometown after so many years away? Everyone here thinks she's crazy. And she has to admit, they might have good reason to think so. She committed a shockingly violent act when she was sixteen and has never really been able to explain that dark impulse, even to Fabian. Now that Fabian's dead, why is she still trying?
Meanwhile, as Detective Henry Peacher investigates Fabian's death, he discovers that shortly before he died Fabian pulled the files of two former patients. One was of Nadine Raines, one of Henry's former high school classmates. Henry still remembers the disturbing attack on a teacher that marked Nadine as a deeply troubled teen. More shockingly, the other file was of Johnny Streeter who is now serving a life sentence for a mass shooting five years ago. The shooting devastated the town and everyone -- including Henry who is uncomfortable with the "hero" status the tragedy afforded him -- is ready to move on. But the appearance of his file brings up new questions.
Maybe there is a decades-old connection between Nadine and Streeter. And maybe that somehow explains what Nadine is doing in Fabian's office nearly twenty years after being his patient. Or how Fabian ended up dead two days after her return. Or why Nadine has fled town once again. But as Nadine and Henry head toward a confrontation, both will discover that the secrets of people's hearts are rarely simple and even in the hidden depths of a psychologist's files, rarely as they appear.
405 pages, Paperback
First published July 24, 2018
209 people are currently reading
5100 people want to read
About the author
Emily Arsenault
13 books403 followersI haven’t had a terribly interesting life, so I won’t share too many details. But the highlights include:
• When I was a preschooler and a kindergartner, I had a lazy eye and I was Connecticut’s “Miss Prevent Blindness,” appearing on pamphlets and television urging parents to get their kids’ eyes checked. I wore an eye patch and clutched a blonde doll wearing a similar patch. I imagine it was all rather maudlin, but at the time I wouldn’t have known that word.
• I wrote my first novel when I was in fifth grade. It was over a hundred pages and took me the whole school year to write. (It was about five girls at a summer camp. I’d never been to a summer camp, but had always wanted to attend one.) When I was all finished, I turned back to the first page, eager to read it all from the beginning. I was horrified at how bad it was.
• At age thirteen, I got to go to a real sleepaway camp. It was nothing like the book I had written.
• I studied philosophy in college. So did my husband. We met in a Hegel class, which is awfully romantic.
• I worked as an editorial assistant at Merriam-Webster from 1998-2002, and got to help write definitions for their dictionaries.
• My husband and I served in the Peace Corps together, working in rural South Africa. I miss Losasaneng, miss many of the people we met there, and dream about it often.
• I am now working on my third novel. It is tentatively titled Just Someone I Used to Know, named after and old song Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton used to sing together.
• When I was a preschooler and a kindergartner, I had a lazy eye and I was Connecticut’s “Miss Prevent Blindness,” appearing on pamphlets and television urging parents to get their kids’ eyes checked. I wore an eye patch and clutched a blonde doll wearing a similar patch. I imagine it was all rather maudlin, but at the time I wouldn’t have known that word.
• I wrote my first novel when I was in fifth grade. It was over a hundred pages and took me the whole school year to write. (It was about five girls at a summer camp. I’d never been to a summer camp, but had always wanted to attend one.) When I was all finished, I turned back to the first page, eager to read it all from the beginning. I was horrified at how bad it was.
• At age thirteen, I got to go to a real sleepaway camp. It was nothing like the book I had written.
• I studied philosophy in college. So did my husband. We met in a Hegel class, which is awfully romantic.
• I worked as an editorial assistant at Merriam-Webster from 1998-2002, and got to help write definitions for their dictionaries.
• My husband and I served in the Peace Corps together, working in rural South Africa. I miss Losasaneng, miss many of the people we met there, and dream about it often.
• I am now working on my third novel. It is tentatively titled Just Someone I Used to Know, named after and old song Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton used to sing together.
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July 13, 2018
An interesting premise and opening chapter.
A psychiatrist is found murdered in his office. "This is you. This is real. This is what you've done." What we don't know is whose words these are or why they did this.
Nadine Raines is a former patient of Dr. Fabian and she is back in town after many years of being away. She has a dark past and committed a violent act when she was only sixteen. This is why she was a therapy patient of Dr Fabian (whom she refers to as "Bouffant") Sgt. Henry Peacher remembers Nadine from their high school years and he is assigned the case.
We get both Nadine's and Henry's POV in alternating chapters. Nadine also addresses Dr. Fabian through her internal monologue and this was interesting to hear her thoughts about this psychiatrist and try to guess if she had a motive.
There are more twists (one quite shocking), but the story unfolded a bit slow for me. In the end, it was a pretty typical police procedural with a couple of twists that kept me guessing. Fans of the genre will enjoy trying to solve the case. In the end, I must say I was a bit underwhelmed.
Thanks to the publisher for my copy to read and review.
A psychiatrist is found murdered in his office. "This is you. This is real. This is what you've done." What we don't know is whose words these are or why they did this.
Nadine Raines is a former patient of Dr. Fabian and she is back in town after many years of being away. She has a dark past and committed a violent act when she was only sixteen. This is why she was a therapy patient of Dr Fabian (whom she refers to as "Bouffant") Sgt. Henry Peacher remembers Nadine from their high school years and he is assigned the case.
We get both Nadine's and Henry's POV in alternating chapters. Nadine also addresses Dr. Fabian through her internal monologue and this was interesting to hear her thoughts about this psychiatrist and try to guess if she had a motive.
There are more twists (one quite shocking), but the story unfolded a bit slow for me. In the end, it was a pretty typical police procedural with a couple of twists that kept me guessing. Fans of the genre will enjoy trying to solve the case. In the end, I must say I was a bit underwhelmed.
Thanks to the publisher for my copy to read and review.
July 19, 2018
Psychiatrist Dr. Mark Fabian is dead—bludgeoned in his office.
Detective Henry Peacher investigates Fabian's death and finds that shortly before his death, he pulled the files of 2 former patients. One file is of Johnny Streeter, a man now serving a life sentence for a mass shooting. Ironically, Peacher is the cop who shot him before he could kill anyone else.
The other file is of Nadine Raines. Again, there's a link between her and Peacher ... he was in the same classroom when she attacked the teacher with a box cutter. She's been gone many years ..so why has she come back now? And why would these files be pulled when neither of them had been patients for 20 years?
As Nadine and Henry head toward a confrontation, both will discover that the secrets of people’s hearts are rarely simple, and—even in the hidden depths of a psychologist’s files—rarely as they appear.
This is an amazing psychological thriller. The story kept me glued to the pages anxiously awaiting what would come next. This thread attaches to that thread that affixes itself to yet another thread.
I love how this book is cleverly written. Alternating chapters are told in turn by Nadine and Peacher. Nadine is still talking to the doctor in her head ... but did she kill him? There were things she never told him ...
Peacher tells the story of how he got to be the hero-cop, a moniker he doesn't really like. His personal life is also talked about .. mainly about his twin daughters. It's a police procedural in how investigations should be run and how the clues start coming together with a lot of door-knocking and asking the right questions.
All in all, a terrific book that kept me guessing until the very end.
Many thanks to the author / William Morrow Books / Edelweiss for the advanced copy of this psychological thriller. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
July 16, 2018
Dr. Mark Fabian is dead. Dr. Fabian is a psychologist and therapist, specializing with clients who suffer from mental and personality disorders. He was dedicated to his service and clientele, with their privacy at the utmost respect. Who would want to kill him—especially in his own office? One of his patients, Nadine Raines, suffers from multiple personality and mental disorders, due to a difficult childhood, and genetic predisposition. Nadine copes with her life while speaking to the voices in her head, one of them being Dr. Fabian. Dr. Fabian has been a constant advocate in her life. Growing up, Nadine committed a violent act in school against a teacher, unknowingly acting upon her mental illness, but she never understood why. Dr. Fabian was so dedicated to his work, and tried to help Nadine and his other patients, but ultimately was deceived and murdered. Who wants Dr. Fabian dead, and why? What did he know?
I can't go too much more into this story, in fact I think that the synopsis on Goodreads tells too much of the story. One major aspect of The Last Thing I Told You that I really enjoyed is that it's perfect for readers who are intrigued by the societal stigmas towards people with mental disabilities. It puts a spotlight on these disabilities and humanizes them. It's a great read for those who are curious about people who are different and who are shunned by society.
While the pacing of The Last Thing I Told You starts off strong and fast, the build up burns out just as quickly and the story starts to get repetitive. I felt that chapters started meshing together and the story started going around in circles, for what felt like an eternity. As the story progresses and kept repeating the previous chapter's moments and messages, the mystery started to fade. Although it's definitely a psychological thriller, The Last Thing I Told You is not a mystery for those who love the genre.
Overall, The Last Thing I Told You is very atmospheric and gripping from a psychological standpoint, but it falls into the category as forgettable for me. It's not a bad book by any means, just not one that will stand out for me in the future. If you are new to the psychological thriller genre and are curious about novels dealing with people who suffer from mental illness, I encourage you to pick this story up. It might change your opinion about the stigma with mental health.
Thank you William Morrow Books for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. The Last Thing I Told You will be released on July 24, 2018.
I can't go too much more into this story, in fact I think that the synopsis on Goodreads tells too much of the story. One major aspect of The Last Thing I Told You that I really enjoyed is that it's perfect for readers who are intrigued by the societal stigmas towards people with mental disabilities. It puts a spotlight on these disabilities and humanizes them. It's a great read for those who are curious about people who are different and who are shunned by society.
While the pacing of The Last Thing I Told You starts off strong and fast, the build up burns out just as quickly and the story starts to get repetitive. I felt that chapters started meshing together and the story started going around in circles, for what felt like an eternity. As the story progresses and kept repeating the previous chapter's moments and messages, the mystery started to fade. Although it's definitely a psychological thriller, The Last Thing I Told You is not a mystery for those who love the genre.
Overall, The Last Thing I Told You is very atmospheric and gripping from a psychological standpoint, but it falls into the category as forgettable for me. It's not a bad book by any means, just not one that will stand out for me in the future. If you are new to the psychological thriller genre and are curious about novels dealing with people who suffer from mental illness, I encourage you to pick this story up. It might change your opinion about the stigma with mental health.
Thank you William Morrow Books for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. The Last Thing I Told You will be released on July 24, 2018.
June 3, 2018
Dr. Mark Fabian is dead--found murdered in his office. Left behind is his former patient, Nadine, who continues to talk to Dr. Fabian in her mind, telling him about her life in the many years since she saw the doctor. Back then, she was a troubled teen, ostracized for a gruesome act while in high school. Investigating Dr. Fabian's murder is Henry Peacher, a detective most known in town for stopping a deadly shooting at a posh retirement community before the death count went any higher. Before Dr. Fabian died, he pulled two files from his archives: those of Nadine's and Johnny Streeter, the man responsible for the killing at the retirement home. Henry is left to puzzle through what this all means--for instance, what did Nadine and Dr. Fabian discuss when she returned to town a mere two days before his death? Is there a connection between Nadine and Johnny? And what led to the brutal killing of this doctor?
Well, this was a different sort of psychological thriller. It wasn't quite what I was expecting, but one of my favorite things about it was that it was different, even if it favored the varying point-of-view aspect that is quite popular these days. The narration flips between Nadine and Henry, and because both are often telling stories that go back in time, it can vary in time periods as well. It takes a little getting used to, but it's also quite compelling. I read the book in a day while on vacation, finding it to be quite suspenseful and intriguing.
For me, the main draw to this one was the characters. Nadine is nuanced, complicated, and imperfect, but the real star was Henry. I enjoyed the book the most due to him. He's hard to describe, but he too is multi-faceted and flawed. He's a father to spirited twin girls (only a year older than mine), and I felt drawn to him immediately. Nadine and Henry are both different on the surface but each searching for things in a similar way--again, I was very impressed with their characterization. So much of the book takes place in and is shaped by the small town in which the characters live, and it's all quite well-done.
I don't want to go into much more to spoil the plot, as it does keep you guessing. A lot of what happened surprised me, which I always enjoy (doesn't often happen in a thriller). Overall, this one was different but enjoyable, buoyed by its strong characters and complex plot.
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I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Edelweiss/Librarything in return for an unbiased review (thank you!); it is available everywhere as 07/24/2018.
Well, this was a different sort of psychological thriller. It wasn't quite what I was expecting, but one of my favorite things about it was that it was different, even if it favored the varying point-of-view aspect that is quite popular these days. The narration flips between Nadine and Henry, and because both are often telling stories that go back in time, it can vary in time periods as well. It takes a little getting used to, but it's also quite compelling. I read the book in a day while on vacation, finding it to be quite suspenseful and intriguing.
For me, the main draw to this one was the characters. Nadine is nuanced, complicated, and imperfect, but the real star was Henry. I enjoyed the book the most due to him. He's hard to describe, but he too is multi-faceted and flawed. He's a father to spirited twin girls (only a year older than mine), and I felt drawn to him immediately. Nadine and Henry are both different on the surface but each searching for things in a similar way--again, I was very impressed with their characterization. So much of the book takes place in and is shaped by the small town in which the characters live, and it's all quite well-done.
I don't want to go into much more to spoil the plot, as it does keep you guessing. A lot of what happened surprised me, which I always enjoy (doesn't often happen in a thriller). Overall, this one was different but enjoyable, buoyed by its strong characters and complex plot.
Blog ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Google+ ~ Instagram
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Edelweiss/Librarything in return for an unbiased review (thank you!); it is available everywhere as 07/24/2018.
July 24, 2018
Thank you so much TLC Book Tours and William Morrow Books for providing my free copy of THE LAST THING I TOLD YOU by Emily Arsenault- all opinions are my own.
I really enjoyed the premise and characterization in this one! Nadine Raines returns to her New England town after being gone several years. She suffers from mental illness and often listens to the voices in her head, including that of her old therapist, Dr. Mark Fabian. But Dr. Mark Fabian was recently murdered, bludgeoned to death in his office. He was extremely dedicated to his patients, so who would want to kill him? Detective Henry Peacher investigates the case, discovering Dr. Fabian pulled two files before he died: Johnny Streeter, who is in prison for a mass shooting, and Nadine Raines.
This book starts off with a bang, with so many moving parts that keep you guessing, but it does slow down quite a bit after the first half. Ultimately, the format of the book and the character development is what kept my interest. The perspectives alternate between Nadine and Detective Peacher, between past and present. Peacher is such a great character, but my favorite chapters were Nadine’s, as it is incredibly interesting reading her inner monologue, especially regarding Dr. Fabian. Arsenault does a tremendous job touching on the stigma attached to mental illness and humanizing it. I always particularly enjoy it when thrillers address mental illness and include such well-thought-out characters. Although this book is a bit long, it is overall a gripping mystery!
I really enjoyed the premise and characterization in this one! Nadine Raines returns to her New England town after being gone several years. She suffers from mental illness and often listens to the voices in her head, including that of her old therapist, Dr. Mark Fabian. But Dr. Mark Fabian was recently murdered, bludgeoned to death in his office. He was extremely dedicated to his patients, so who would want to kill him? Detective Henry Peacher investigates the case, discovering Dr. Fabian pulled two files before he died: Johnny Streeter, who is in prison for a mass shooting, and Nadine Raines.
This book starts off with a bang, with so many moving parts that keep you guessing, but it does slow down quite a bit after the first half. Ultimately, the format of the book and the character development is what kept my interest. The perspectives alternate between Nadine and Detective Peacher, between past and present. Peacher is such a great character, but my favorite chapters were Nadine’s, as it is incredibly interesting reading her inner monologue, especially regarding Dr. Fabian. Arsenault does a tremendous job touching on the stigma attached to mental illness and humanizing it. I always particularly enjoy it when thrillers address mental illness and include such well-thought-out characters. Although this book is a bit long, it is overall a gripping mystery!
May 24, 2019
The Last Thing I Told You
wasn't terrible, but parts of it was redundant and long.
** Spoilers ahead **
When Dr. Mark Fabian, a psychotherapist, is found murdered in his office, hero cop Henry Peacher is assigned to the case.
Henry's investigation uncovers links to a shooting five years ago at an affluent care home in which he had taken down the shooter and a brief spate of sexual motivated attacks.
The narrative takes the form of two POVs, Henry and Nadine, a former patient who recounts the reason she was sent to meet with Dr. Fabian two decades ago; troubled and traumatized from the loss of her father from suicide when she was 12 ended in a violent act against a teacher.
The chapters are mostly short and peppered with Nadine's constant monologues to her former shrink as if he was still alive.
She summarizes some of their sessions, why she did what she did, how she felt, and reveals to the reader that she was intimately involved with the shooter before he committed that vile act, since he was one of the shrink's patients as well.
I didn't like Nadine but I didn't dislike her.
She talks constantly about trying to act normal and be normal. I don't think she's a sociopathic so much that she is disaffected, troubled and sad. Perhaps she just needs a little attention from her mother.
She misses her father, reminisces about times she spent with him and remarks that she was a good student, studious and well behaved before she lashed out with no provocation.
Years later, she is still unsure as to why she did what she did yet continually calls herself crazy, a word that inaccurately describes her mental state.
Henry is still dealing with his status as the cop who stopped the shooter five years ago.
He is also worried about his twin girls, his inability to guarantee their safety and their love for disturbing fairy tales and the madness of living in today's world.
He was a dedicated professional and a good man, father and husband. He uncovers the murderer, a decent reveal, through sheer legwork and pounding the pavement.
Decent character development aside, the book could have used a serious edit, shave 50 pages off and nothing would be lost. It might have added more urgency and tension toward the end of the book.
Nadine rambles about her sessions with Fabian a tad too much and it quickly becomes repetitive.
Her constant references to the dead doctor as though she was still speaking to him was distracting and I soon grew bored with her recollection of past events.
The recap of her life up to what she is doing now could have been condensed.
I love character development as much as the next person but you know the saying, "Too much of a good thing is bad."
There is a decent twist involving Nadine's father and the identity of the murderer is believable, tying up a couple of loose ends in the process, but monotonous writing and an alienated main character hampered the flow of the story.
** Spoilers ahead **
When Dr. Mark Fabian, a psychotherapist, is found murdered in his office, hero cop Henry Peacher is assigned to the case.
Henry's investigation uncovers links to a shooting five years ago at an affluent care home in which he had taken down the shooter and a brief spate of sexual motivated attacks.
The narrative takes the form of two POVs, Henry and Nadine, a former patient who recounts the reason she was sent to meet with Dr. Fabian two decades ago; troubled and traumatized from the loss of her father from suicide when she was 12 ended in a violent act against a teacher.
The chapters are mostly short and peppered with Nadine's constant monologues to her former shrink as if he was still alive.
She summarizes some of their sessions, why she did what she did, how she felt, and reveals to the reader that she was intimately involved with the shooter before he committed that vile act, since he was one of the shrink's patients as well.
I didn't like Nadine but I didn't dislike her.
She talks constantly about trying to act normal and be normal. I don't think she's a sociopathic so much that she is disaffected, troubled and sad. Perhaps she just needs a little attention from her mother.
She misses her father, reminisces about times she spent with him and remarks that she was a good student, studious and well behaved before she lashed out with no provocation.
Years later, she is still unsure as to why she did what she did yet continually calls herself crazy, a word that inaccurately describes her mental state.
Henry is still dealing with his status as the cop who stopped the shooter five years ago.
He is also worried about his twin girls, his inability to guarantee their safety and their love for disturbing fairy tales and the madness of living in today's world.
He was a dedicated professional and a good man, father and husband. He uncovers the murderer, a decent reveal, through sheer legwork and pounding the pavement.
Decent character development aside, the book could have used a serious edit, shave 50 pages off and nothing would be lost. It might have added more urgency and tension toward the end of the book.
Nadine rambles about her sessions with Fabian a tad too much and it quickly becomes repetitive.
Her constant references to the dead doctor as though she was still speaking to him was distracting and I soon grew bored with her recollection of past events.
The recap of her life up to what she is doing now could have been condensed.
I love character development as much as the next person but you know the saying, "Too much of a good thing is bad."
There is a decent twist involving Nadine's father and the identity of the murderer is believable, tying up a couple of loose ends in the process, but monotonous writing and an alienated main character hampered the flow of the story.
Read
April 1, 2018I received an ARC of this title from the publisher for an honest review.
I'm not going to review this one because I didn't get very far. I read about 50 pages in and I didn't really get even the beginnings of a good picture on any of the characters. So I felt nothing for them, or the story. In all likelihood, it probably gets better, but I'm DNFing.
I'm not going to review this one because I didn't get very far. I read about 50 pages in and I didn't really get even the beginnings of a good picture on any of the characters. So I felt nothing for them, or the story. In all likelihood, it probably gets better, but I'm DNFing.
June 2, 2018
An interesting twisted tale.
August 1, 2018
Thanks to William Morrow and TLC Book Tours for the free advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.
More psychological thrillers for the summer TBR! This was my introduction to Emily Arsenault and I was not disappointed. This was an incredibly atmospheric read and has a slow build that keeps the tension throughout. That opening chapter will pull you right in!
Dr. Mark Fabian is dead. He is found bludgeoned to death in his office. As Detective Henry Peacher begins his investigation he discovers two patient files that Dr. Fabian had recently pulled. One for Johnny Streeter and one for Nadine Raines - both of these people, ironically, have links to Peacher. I don't want to give away too much more of the plot - I feel like all that you need to know is within the synopsis!
Dr. Fabian specialized in mental and personality disorders. This is an element that I love to see incorporated into psychological thrillers because there are so many unknowns when it comes to what makes a person tick. With a character like Nadine, a woman that suffers from multiple personality disorder, her chapters were always interesting to read because she is still talking to Dr. Fabian in her mind.
We alternate between Nadine and Peacher throughout the story. Arsenault does an incredible job weaving these characters and stories together. Equal parts psychological thriller and police procedural, this slower build will keep you sucked in from start to finish as you try to unravel the web that Arsenault so expertly wove for us.
I give this 3.5/5 stars - rounded up for rating
More psychological thrillers for the summer TBR! This was my introduction to Emily Arsenault and I was not disappointed. This was an incredibly atmospheric read and has a slow build that keeps the tension throughout. That opening chapter will pull you right in!
Dr. Mark Fabian is dead. He is found bludgeoned to death in his office. As Detective Henry Peacher begins his investigation he discovers two patient files that Dr. Fabian had recently pulled. One for Johnny Streeter and one for Nadine Raines - both of these people, ironically, have links to Peacher. I don't want to give away too much more of the plot - I feel like all that you need to know is within the synopsis!
Dr. Fabian specialized in mental and personality disorders. This is an element that I love to see incorporated into psychological thrillers because there are so many unknowns when it comes to what makes a person tick. With a character like Nadine, a woman that suffers from multiple personality disorder, her chapters were always interesting to read because she is still talking to Dr. Fabian in her mind.
We alternate between Nadine and Peacher throughout the story. Arsenault does an incredible job weaving these characters and stories together. Equal parts psychological thriller and police procedural, this slower build will keep you sucked in from start to finish as you try to unravel the web that Arsenault so expertly wove for us.
I give this 3.5/5 stars - rounded up for rating
June 2, 2018
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review. What I wish I'd also received was a better pay-off for a story with a lot of promise. Generally, I like novels about therapists and psychologists. The variety of patient stories, the struggle for their own stability, and the chance of great surprise when it turns out they are much scarier than anything you’d hear in their sessions. Not everybody can be Hannibal, but there’s always that chance that the plaid suit and the kitchen utensils will come out by the tenth session. I got hooked into this particular story with the promise of a mystery and an unraveling patient-doctor relationship.
The book opens in the office of Mark Fabian, therapist for years and corpse for hours. His head is bashed in, his patient notes are sketchy, and oh, by the way, his closest friends report him as having memory problems recently, so good luck with those notes again. The chapters alternate between narrators Henry, a local cop who gained fame from a retirement home shooting a few years previously, and Nadine, a former patient of Fabian’s. I’m still getting my head around a shooter in a frigging *retirement home.* Not that it’s too farfetched these days, but what the what?
Nadine’s story alternates between the present and 1997, when she was in therapy after a violent incident at school – with all this backstory, you expect her underlying psychosis to be something shocking. She even writes that perversion is in her blood (cue dramatic music). I don’t know if the author planned something bigger to explain the build-up to the outburst and then gave up or we’re actually supposed to be shocked by something that turns out to be terribly garden-variety.
Henry’s side of things covers his involvement in the shooting (he took down a shooter and is now a local hero who just wants people to stop calling him that) and his attempt to piece together how Fabian (I kept reading that as ‘Fabio’) wound up dead. Oh, and his kids are getting warped by fairytales with iron shoes and decapitations. I don’t know if that’s supposed to be a cautionary bit about your kids winding up in therapy or a suggestion for scary stuff hidden in children’s fiction. Either way, now I want to read ‘The Red Shoes.’
Honestly, this book felt like such a tangled mess that I can barely write this review. It started out so readable and then just seemed to drag into wet noodles. Other crimes in the area are mentioned, but written in an almost throw-away fashion, even though they are suddenly a big deal for the ending. There’s no startling reveal of some long-buried secret to explain Nadine’s violence. There’s no startling reveal that Henry is someone interesting. Fabian’s murder has one of the most beige explanations I’ve ever read.
If a book starts out crap and then ends the same way, that’s bad. This whole bait-and-switch thing seems even worse, because now you’ve had a chance to get excited over where things are going. Surely this will not end in you slapping yourself awake at nine p.m. and throwing the book into the library donation bag. Just because I was almost asleep doesn’t mean I take the whole bait-and-switch thing lying down. I won’t be looking for anything else by this author. Now if someone will introduce me to a nice novel involving a suit and fork…
The book opens in the office of Mark Fabian, therapist for years and corpse for hours. His head is bashed in, his patient notes are sketchy, and oh, by the way, his closest friends report him as having memory problems recently, so good luck with those notes again. The chapters alternate between narrators Henry, a local cop who gained fame from a retirement home shooting a few years previously, and Nadine, a former patient of Fabian’s. I’m still getting my head around a shooter in a frigging *retirement home.* Not that it’s too farfetched these days, but what the what?
Nadine’s story alternates between the present and 1997, when she was in therapy after a violent incident at school – with all this backstory, you expect her underlying psychosis to be something shocking. She even writes that perversion is in her blood (cue dramatic music). I don’t know if the author planned something bigger to explain the build-up to the outburst and then gave up or we’re actually supposed to be shocked by something that turns out to be terribly garden-variety.
Henry’s side of things covers his involvement in the shooting (he took down a shooter and is now a local hero who just wants people to stop calling him that) and his attempt to piece together how Fabian (I kept reading that as ‘Fabio’) wound up dead. Oh, and his kids are getting warped by fairytales with iron shoes and decapitations. I don’t know if that’s supposed to be a cautionary bit about your kids winding up in therapy or a suggestion for scary stuff hidden in children’s fiction. Either way, now I want to read ‘The Red Shoes.’
Honestly, this book felt like such a tangled mess that I can barely write this review. It started out so readable and then just seemed to drag into wet noodles. Other crimes in the area are mentioned, but written in an almost throw-away fashion, even though they are suddenly a big deal for the ending. There’s no startling reveal of some long-buried secret to explain Nadine’s violence. There’s no startling reveal that Henry is someone interesting. Fabian’s murder has one of the most beige explanations I’ve ever read.
If a book starts out crap and then ends the same way, that’s bad. This whole bait-and-switch thing seems even worse, because now you’ve had a chance to get excited over where things are going. Surely this will not end in you slapping yourself awake at nine p.m. and throwing the book into the library donation bag. Just because I was almost asleep doesn’t mean I take the whole bait-and-switch thing lying down. I won’t be looking for anything else by this author. Now if someone will introduce me to a nice novel involving a suit and fork…
April 3, 2018
4/5 stars. I received a copy of this from my local bookstore.
This was actually a pretty good thriller. I haven't read one quite like this in a while. It takes a bit to get used to the changing POV's and the constant switching between the past and present. You really dont know what your going to get once the POV's changed which was unique in its own way. The good thing about this was that it kept me guessing until the end. This book did a great job of giving you such small bits of information at once so that you as the reader come your own conclusion about who killed Dr. Fabian. But then by the end when the puzzle pieces come together and your still surprised by the outcome. Trust me on this it isnt one you can see coming.
Sometimes with thrillers I find that the reader can basically figure out who the killer is at the half way point. But with this novel there are so many moving parts that its not as straightforward and easy to figure out.
The characters were interesting. Ten pages in I thought that one of the main characters was super sketchy and off her rocker.
I liked how all of the characters had a history together outside of this big event it added a whole other layer to the story. It also went to some pretty dark places with some of these characters in regards to the murder and some personal issues/trauma that they had experienced as kids and on the job.
Overall good read the constant changes between past a present does take a few chapters to get used to, but dont give up.
This was actually a pretty good thriller. I haven't read one quite like this in a while. It takes a bit to get used to the changing POV's and the constant switching between the past and present. You really dont know what your going to get once the POV's changed which was unique in its own way. The good thing about this was that it kept me guessing until the end. This book did a great job of giving you such small bits of information at once so that you as the reader come your own conclusion about who killed Dr. Fabian. But then by the end when the puzzle pieces come together and your still surprised by the outcome. Trust me on this it isnt one you can see coming.
Sometimes with thrillers I find that the reader can basically figure out who the killer is at the half way point. But with this novel there are so many moving parts that its not as straightforward and easy to figure out.
The characters were interesting. Ten pages in I thought that one of the main characters was super sketchy and off her rocker.
I liked how all of the characters had a history together outside of this big event it added a whole other layer to the story. It also went to some pretty dark places with some of these characters in regards to the murder and some personal issues/trauma that they had experienced as kids and on the job.
Overall good read the constant changes between past a present does take a few chapters to get used to, but dont give up.
April 18, 2018
With the passing of her old therapist Nadine isn't quite sure who to turn to, he tried to help her through the darkest time in her young life, but she struggled to find a way to understand and talk about what she had done with him. During their conversations she left out some of the important details and now her head and her heart are telling her that she needs to come clean to him, but that isn't really an option now that he has passed. Then he starts talking to her, she hears his wisdom floating around in her head, which not only starts to confirm everyone's thoughts about her that she is a little off her rocker, but it also gives her a weird sense of comfort.
Then a former classmate, now town detective Henry Peacher discovers some interesting events that took place before the doctors death, and it leads him to Nadine, and the source of another disturbing event that took place in town five years ago. He thinks there is a connection between them and he will stop at nothing to get the answers he wants...
The Last Thing I Told You is a shocking psychological thriller that will have you breathless and second guessing yourself at every turn... hold on tight be prepared to be awed! This was quite the read, it was suspenseful, mind twisting, slightly weird, but it all gelled together nicely and made for an enjoyable read, it made me continually question everything I read! Definitely a impressive first read, had everything I look for in a thriller, and made me just curious enough to come back for more! Highly recommend!
I requested an advanced copy of this title from the publisher, via Edelweiss, and voluntarily read and reviewed.
Then a former classmate, now town detective Henry Peacher discovers some interesting events that took place before the doctors death, and it leads him to Nadine, and the source of another disturbing event that took place in town five years ago. He thinks there is a connection between them and he will stop at nothing to get the answers he wants...
The Last Thing I Told You is a shocking psychological thriller that will have you breathless and second guessing yourself at every turn... hold on tight be prepared to be awed! This was quite the read, it was suspenseful, mind twisting, slightly weird, but it all gelled together nicely and made for an enjoyable read, it made me continually question everything I read! Definitely a impressive first read, had everything I look for in a thriller, and made me just curious enough to come back for more! Highly recommend!
I requested an advanced copy of this title from the publisher, via Edelweiss, and voluntarily read and reviewed.
July 26, 2018
The Last Thing I Told You by Emily Arsenault is a tale of murder of a psychologist in a sleepy New England town and his former patient, who may or may not be involved in his murder. I really enjoyed this slow-burning, character driven suspense. I found both main characters, Henry, the cop investigating the murder, and Nadine, psychologist's former patient and one of the suspects, complex and very interesting. I liked the alternating POVs between Henry and Nadine and I liked short chapters that kept me turning pages. Even though the story was unfolding slowly, at no point I was bored, I flew through the book in less than two days. I would recommend this book to suspense and police procedurals lovers.
*I won a free copy of The Last Thing I Told You from the publisher via social media giveaway.
*I won a free copy of The Last Thing I Told You from the publisher via social media giveaway.
January 24, 2019
The Last Thing I Told You
By Emily Arsenault
Genre - Fiction
Category - Psychological Thriller/Mystery
Pages - 416
Publication Info - William Morrow Paperbacks (July 24, 2018)
Reviewed by - William C. Bitner, Jr. (https://booksinmylibraryblog.wordpres...)
Rating - 📙📙📙📙📙
I finished reading The Last Thing I Told You by Emily Arsenault a few days ago. This really was an entertaining and fun mystery thriller. One of the things I liked about it was the alternating narrative, with a chapter being told from the viewpoint of Nadine Rains and the next being told from the viewpoint of Detective Henry Peacher. This narrative format continued throughout the book and was very effective in the telling of a very interesting and twisted tale. These pages are filled with twists and turns that will give the reader whiplash. It has that “I didn’t see that coming” effect in a few spots. A fast paced character driven read that will hold your attention and having you guessing. This is my first read by this author but it’s safe to say that I will most definitely be checking out more of her work in the future.
Synopsis (from the back cover): I hear myself whispering. Not again. Not again.
Why did I ever come back here? Surely because of you. Because I thought of something I’d always meant to tell you. Because you were the only one I ever really wanted to tell it to…
Therapist Dr. Mark Fabian is dead—bludgeoned in his office.
But that doesn’t stop former patient Nadine Raines from talking to him—in her head. Why did she come back to her hometown after so many years away? Everyone here thinks she’s crazy. And she has to admit—they might have good reason to think so. She committed a shockingly violent act when she was sixteen, and has never really been able to explain that dark impulse—even to Fabian. Now that Fabian’s dead, why is she still trying?
Meanwhile, as Detective Henry Peacher investigates Fabian’s death, he discovers that shortly before he died, Fabian pulled the files of two former patients. One was of Nadine Raines, one of Henry’s former high school classmates. Henry still remembers the disturbing attack on a teacher that marked Nadine as a deeply troubled teen.
More shockingly, the other file was of Johnny Streeter, who is now serving a life sentence for a mass shooting five years ago. The shooting devastated the town and everyone—including Henry, who is uncomfortable with the “hero” status the tragedy afforded him—is ready to move on. But the appearance of his file brings up new questions. Maybe there is a decades-old connection between Nadine and Streeter. And maybe that somehow explains what Nadine is doing in Fabian’s office nearly twenty years after being his patient. Or how Fabian ended up dead two days after her return. Or why Nadine has fled town once again.
But as Nadine and Henry head toward a confrontation, both will discover that the secrets of people’s hearts are rarely simple, and—even in the hidden depths of a psychologist’s files—rarely as they appear.
About the Author: Emily Arsenault has worked as a lexicographer, an English teacher, and a Peace Corps volunteer in rural South Africa. She now lives in Shelburne Falls, MA, with her husband.
Other books by Emily Arsenault: The Broken Teaglass, What Strange Creatures, In Search of the Rose Notes, Miss Me When I’m Gone and The Evening Spider.
By Emily Arsenault
Genre - Fiction
Category - Psychological Thriller/Mystery
Pages - 416
Publication Info - William Morrow Paperbacks (July 24, 2018)
Reviewed by - William C. Bitner, Jr. (https://booksinmylibraryblog.wordpres...)
Rating - 📙📙📙📙📙
I finished reading The Last Thing I Told You by Emily Arsenault a few days ago. This really was an entertaining and fun mystery thriller. One of the things I liked about it was the alternating narrative, with a chapter being told from the viewpoint of Nadine Rains and the next being told from the viewpoint of Detective Henry Peacher. This narrative format continued throughout the book and was very effective in the telling of a very interesting and twisted tale. These pages are filled with twists and turns that will give the reader whiplash. It has that “I didn’t see that coming” effect in a few spots. A fast paced character driven read that will hold your attention and having you guessing. This is my first read by this author but it’s safe to say that I will most definitely be checking out more of her work in the future.
Synopsis (from the back cover): I hear myself whispering. Not again. Not again.
Why did I ever come back here? Surely because of you. Because I thought of something I’d always meant to tell you. Because you were the only one I ever really wanted to tell it to…
Therapist Dr. Mark Fabian is dead—bludgeoned in his office.
But that doesn’t stop former patient Nadine Raines from talking to him—in her head. Why did she come back to her hometown after so many years away? Everyone here thinks she’s crazy. And she has to admit—they might have good reason to think so. She committed a shockingly violent act when she was sixteen, and has never really been able to explain that dark impulse—even to Fabian. Now that Fabian’s dead, why is she still trying?
Meanwhile, as Detective Henry Peacher investigates Fabian’s death, he discovers that shortly before he died, Fabian pulled the files of two former patients. One was of Nadine Raines, one of Henry’s former high school classmates. Henry still remembers the disturbing attack on a teacher that marked Nadine as a deeply troubled teen.
More shockingly, the other file was of Johnny Streeter, who is now serving a life sentence for a mass shooting five years ago. The shooting devastated the town and everyone—including Henry, who is uncomfortable with the “hero” status the tragedy afforded him—is ready to move on. But the appearance of his file brings up new questions. Maybe there is a decades-old connection between Nadine and Streeter. And maybe that somehow explains what Nadine is doing in Fabian’s office nearly twenty years after being his patient. Or how Fabian ended up dead two days after her return. Or why Nadine has fled town once again.
But as Nadine and Henry head toward a confrontation, both will discover that the secrets of people’s hearts are rarely simple, and—even in the hidden depths of a psychologist’s files—rarely as they appear.
About the Author: Emily Arsenault has worked as a lexicographer, an English teacher, and a Peace Corps volunteer in rural South Africa. She now lives in Shelburne Falls, MA, with her husband.
Other books by Emily Arsenault: The Broken Teaglass, What Strange Creatures, In Search of the Rose Notes, Miss Me When I’m Gone and The Evening Spider.
December 30, 2021
An intriguing mystery surrounding the death of a therapist, which casts suspicion on two of his former patients. I really enjoyed the insightful way the author portrayed the stigma of mental illness, as seen through the POV of one of the characters, Nadene. The weak point of the story for me were the multitude of characters, which I kept mixing up listening to the audio version, and a few peripheral storylines that slowed down the narrative. I ultimately felt a bit let down by the final reveal, which left a lot of my questions unanswered.
*blog* *facebook* *instagram*
*blog* *facebook* *instagram*
July 4, 2018
Dark tale about a woman and her younger, troubled days, a murdered psychologist, and a small town cop.
Dr. Mark Fabian is found murdered in his office. His patients are suspected: including former patient, Nadine Raines, and Johnny Streeter, now serving a life sentence for a mass shooting at a local retirement home. But Nadine and Johnny were patients over 20 years ago, in 1997...what could they possibly have to do with Dr. Fabian's death? And why now?
THE LAST THING I TOLD YOU (William Morrow/HarperCollins, 2018) is an edgy small town whodunit with alternating POVs and time periods, mostly focused on Nadine and Henry, a police officer-newly-turned-detective. In many cases, Nadine (now an RN) refers to Dr. Fabian in second-person ('you') as if writing him a letter or addressing him, perhaps in a kind of therapy or conversation (but he's dead--no spoiler, this happens right away).
I found the therapy sessions fascinating--along with reading Dr. Fabian's notes about his patients--and then I was intrigued that Nadine became a nurse. THE LAST THING I TOLD YOU wasn't quite what I was expecting--it was more police procedural and a twisted mystery that had a less-captivating pay-out than I hoped for. In the end, I felt like it was almost two stories cleaved into one giving it a slightly directionless feel.
Will it keep you guessing? Yes. Is it fast-paced? Yes. Is it a little confusing? Yes.
THE LAST THING I TOLD YOU reminded me of OUR LITTLE SECRET (Roz Nay) meets DEAR DAUGHTER (Elizabeth Little), YOU (Caroline Kepnes) with a touch of David Bell and Wendy Walker (EMMA IN THE NIGHT).
For all my reviews, including author interviews, please see: www.leslielindsay.com
Special thanks to William Morrow for this review copy. All thoughts are my own.
Dr. Mark Fabian is found murdered in his office. His patients are suspected: including former patient, Nadine Raines, and Johnny Streeter, now serving a life sentence for a mass shooting at a local retirement home. But Nadine and Johnny were patients over 20 years ago, in 1997...what could they possibly have to do with Dr. Fabian's death? And why now?
THE LAST THING I TOLD YOU (William Morrow/HarperCollins, 2018) is an edgy small town whodunit with alternating POVs and time periods, mostly focused on Nadine and Henry, a police officer-newly-turned-detective. In many cases, Nadine (now an RN) refers to Dr. Fabian in second-person ('you') as if writing him a letter or addressing him, perhaps in a kind of therapy or conversation (but he's dead--no spoiler, this happens right away).
I found the therapy sessions fascinating--along with reading Dr. Fabian's notes about his patients--and then I was intrigued that Nadine became a nurse. THE LAST THING I TOLD YOU wasn't quite what I was expecting--it was more police procedural and a twisted mystery that had a less-captivating pay-out than I hoped for. In the end, I felt like it was almost two stories cleaved into one giving it a slightly directionless feel.
Will it keep you guessing? Yes. Is it fast-paced? Yes. Is it a little confusing? Yes.
THE LAST THING I TOLD YOU reminded me of OUR LITTLE SECRET (Roz Nay) meets DEAR DAUGHTER (Elizabeth Little), YOU (Caroline Kepnes) with a touch of David Bell and Wendy Walker (EMMA IN THE NIGHT).
For all my reviews, including author interviews, please see: www.leslielindsay.com
Special thanks to William Morrow for this review copy. All thoughts are my own.
November 25, 2018
A very fascinating tale of a girl who unable to distinguish between her grief and rage, lashes out in a destructive fashion. Nadine Raines thoughts are disturbing and her therapist Dr. Mark Fabian seems clueless to the actual or core problem affecting her. The story begins with the therapist's death and then there is Henry Peacher who with a hero status has to investigate the crime. The past and present has been mixed up and it feels confusing initially but becomes easier once we get hang of it. The story provides lots of avenues to explore with so many options to choose from as we get to the bottom of Nadine's rage and her destructive thoughts. We are left wondering as to her sanity but the story ends with a bang that was impressive.
June 21, 2019
RATING: 2 STARS
2018; William Morrow Paperbacks/HarperCollins Canada
(Review Not on Blog)
This novel starts out with a bang and then just as quickly runs out of steam. I soon forgot what was happening and why I was reading the book. Sometimes I find that the author tries to create too much mystery and with that loses the suspense. I tried to get wrapped in the psychological elements but the story was a bit too twsity turny so that the strands holding the book together unraveled to the point that I started skimming the book just to finish it. I wanted to see if there was a ending that could redeem the book..spoiler alert, it did not.
***I received an eARC from EDELWEISS***
2018; William Morrow Paperbacks/HarperCollins Canada
(Review Not on Blog)
This novel starts out with a bang and then just as quickly runs out of steam. I soon forgot what was happening and why I was reading the book. Sometimes I find that the author tries to create too much mystery and with that loses the suspense. I tried to get wrapped in the psychological elements but the story was a bit too twsity turny so that the strands holding the book together unraveled to the point that I started skimming the book just to finish it. I wanted to see if there was a ending that could redeem the book..spoiler alert, it did not.
***I received an eARC from EDELWEISS***
September 8, 2018
One of my favorite books of the past few years' reading is Emily Arsenault's The Broken Teaglass, a quirky puzzler -- set in the world of lexicography, no less -- that had me grinning whenever it didn't have me on the edge of my seat, and vice versa. It's one of those relatively few books that I've read first from the library, then gone out and bought for myself.
Trouble was, I enjoyed it so much it made me nervy of reading more books by Arsenault for fear of being disappointed. Silly me.
The Last Thing I Told You is a more orthodox psychological thriller, but it has a great deal to interest nonetheless. Psychological counselor Mark Fabian has been murdered, found sprawled in his office with his skull bashed in. Investigating cop Henry Peacher soon finds out that two among Fabian's past patients were Peacher's old high school classmate Nadine Raines, sent for therapy years ago after impulsively knifing a teacher, and Johnny Streeter, currently incarcerated for perpetrating a massacre in an old folk's home. Nadine has been back in town over the past few days but seems now to have gone on the lam.
What's really happened? Did Nadine kill her old shrink for reasons unknown? Or was Fabian the victim of, in effect, a passing tramp?
The tale's told in alternate sections from Henry's and Nadine's viewpoints. Henry's sections comprise a fairly standard police-procedural detective story, but Nadine's contributions, told primarily in the form of unwritten letters or soliloquies to her deceased counselor, play a dancing game in which Arsenault -- with great skill -- keeps back from us the truth of events almost to the very end. Something further that she keeps back becomes obvious only to those Sherlockian souls who chance to read her Goodreads bio: aspects of Nadine's life, like the one-eyed doll who appears often in the cartoons she draws, are based on elements of Arsenault's own life.
The solution to the mystery is one of those that seemingly comes out of left field and yet, on reflection, is perfectly fair: the astute reader could, at least in theory, have spotted it from quite early on. But this astute reader -- I flatter myself -- didn't, and I imagine most won't.
The narrative seems to wander a bit in the middle, but its constant readability renders this a very minor blemish. The Last Thing I Told You is a most creditable psychological thriller. I must read more of Arsenault's work . . .
Trouble was, I enjoyed it so much it made me nervy of reading more books by Arsenault for fear of being disappointed. Silly me.
The Last Thing I Told You is a more orthodox psychological thriller, but it has a great deal to interest nonetheless. Psychological counselor Mark Fabian has been murdered, found sprawled in his office with his skull bashed in. Investigating cop Henry Peacher soon finds out that two among Fabian's past patients were Peacher's old high school classmate Nadine Raines, sent for therapy years ago after impulsively knifing a teacher, and Johnny Streeter, currently incarcerated for perpetrating a massacre in an old folk's home. Nadine has been back in town over the past few days but seems now to have gone on the lam.
What's really happened? Did Nadine kill her old shrink for reasons unknown? Or was Fabian the victim of, in effect, a passing tramp?
The tale's told in alternate sections from Henry's and Nadine's viewpoints. Henry's sections comprise a fairly standard police-procedural detective story, but Nadine's contributions, told primarily in the form of unwritten letters or soliloquies to her deceased counselor, play a dancing game in which Arsenault -- with great skill -- keeps back from us the truth of events almost to the very end. Something further that she keeps back becomes obvious only to those Sherlockian souls who chance to read her Goodreads bio: aspects of Nadine's life, like the one-eyed doll who appears often in the cartoons she draws, are based on elements of Arsenault's own life.
The solution to the mystery is one of those that seemingly comes out of left field and yet, on reflection, is perfectly fair: the astute reader could, at least in theory, have spotted it from quite early on. But this astute reader -- I flatter myself -- didn't, and I imagine most won't.
The narrative seems to wander a bit in the middle, but its constant readability renders this a very minor blemish. The Last Thing I Told You is a most creditable psychological thriller. I must read more of Arsenault's work . . .
January 12, 2019
Pieces of a puzzle: Therapist Dr Mark Fabian is bludgeoned to death in his office one evening. Nadine, a patient from 20 years ago, finds his body and leaves quickly. Nadine committed a violent act while 16 and attended counseling although she didn't tell Dr Fabian everything. Nadine briefly met another patient, Johnny Streeter, in Dr Fabian's office. Johnny later committed a mass shooting at a nursing home in town. Detective Henry Peacher is assigned to investigate the murder. He sat right behind Nadine in high school and he was the first officer on the scene at the mass shooting five years ago. Nadine's father worked for a while at the nursing home before he committed suicide. Nadine's stepfather has worked there for many years in accounting. Dr Fabian did consulting work at the nursing home. Whew! What a tangled web! And this is still not all the pieces needed to figure it out! A lot comes out in the first 100 pages but much more is revealed as the story progresses. Does any of this entanglement relate to the murder?
The author has put together a complex story and uses different ways to tell it. There are newspaper articles about the mass shooting. The author throws in some notes written by the therapist. The chapters are narrated by Nadine and Henry with flashbacks over the last 20 years.
I could tell Nadine had a secret but I didn't know if it somehow played into Dr Fabian's murder. I was suspicious of her penchant for violence. I didn't know who killed Dr Fabian until the author wanted me to know. It's 400 pages and a slow burner but I like a book that peels back the layers and throws in some twists at the end.
The author has put together a complex story and uses different ways to tell it. There are newspaper articles about the mass shooting. The author throws in some notes written by the therapist. The chapters are narrated by Nadine and Henry with flashbacks over the last 20 years.
I could tell Nadine had a secret but I didn't know if it somehow played into Dr Fabian's murder. I was suspicious of her penchant for violence. I didn't know who killed Dr Fabian until the author wanted me to know. It's 400 pages and a slow burner but I like a book that peels back the layers and throws in some twists at the end.
September 23, 2018
Way back when I first joined Goodreads, I won the first or second book by this author in a giveaway. I didn't like it. The writing was good, the plot was meh. I didn't finish. I put the author on the "perhaps try later" mental shelf.
MyBookBox included this recent release in its Aug 2018 shipment, and the book is much better. It concerns a small town that is recovering from a mass shooting, a young woman, and a dead shrink. The story is told via the detective trying to solve the murder and the young woman who is a prime suspect.
The pace is a bit slow, but the real suspense comes from the unrooting of secrets. The writing is gripping and the book is a solid good read.
May 22, 2018
Mark Fabian, a murdered psychologist, seems to hold all of the secrets as Henry, a detective who grew up in the small town of Campion, tries to gather the clues to the first murder in years. It isn’t long into the investigation when Nadine, a high school classmate of Henry’s, and a long ago patient of Fabian’s soon becomes a suspect. Written from the perspectives of both Nadine and Henry it goes back and forth between past and present. It is methodical, but not slow, as each delve into the secrets of their own troubled pasts. The Last Thing I Told You is a superb police procedural. In addition it delves deeply into the world of psychological trauma and gives us a look at how events during adolescence can affect the young mind. And, it has an ending that was totally unpredictable – unless you are as good a detective as Henry.
August 1, 2018
Thank you goodreads, this was a giveaway win!
Honestly, this one was a little boring. It was a little slow, and alot of stiff I felt that was just filler, it didn't really have anything to do with what was going on....
The story takes place in Campion, Connecticut. It goes back and forth between Detective Henry Preacher, who is investigating the death of therapist Mark Fabian and Nadine Raines, a former patient of Fabian's. Nadine is not a very likeable character, she was kinda boring, neurotic and just plain weird. She has a strange fascination with older men and trying to "break" them, which leads to an incident in high school, that lands her in therapy with Fabian. Fast foward twenty years, and Nadine comes back to town for the holiday's and decides to stop in for a visit with Fabian, and she discovers his dead body. Scared, she takes off.
Henry was an ok character, though we don't really learn to much about him beyond the fact that he's married and has twin 5 year old girls. We basically just follow along with him as he investigates, trying to figure out who murdered Dr. Fabian.
The ending definitely wasn't what I was expecting, but it wasn't an OH MY GOODNESS moment either. I was like, really, that was it, that was the big mystery? Yeah i was kind of disappointed.
This is the first book of Emily Arsenault's that I've read, and like I said I wasn't really impressed, but I'd give her another shot with a different book.
Honestly, this one was a little boring. It was a little slow, and alot of stiff I felt that was just filler, it didn't really have anything to do with what was going on....
The story takes place in Campion, Connecticut. It goes back and forth between Detective Henry Preacher, who is investigating the death of therapist Mark Fabian and Nadine Raines, a former patient of Fabian's. Nadine is not a very likeable character, she was kinda boring, neurotic and just plain weird. She has a strange fascination with older men and trying to "break" them, which leads to an incident in high school, that lands her in therapy with Fabian. Fast foward twenty years, and Nadine comes back to town for the holiday's and decides to stop in for a visit with Fabian, and she discovers his dead body. Scared, she takes off.
Henry was an ok character, though we don't really learn to much about him beyond the fact that he's married and has twin 5 year old girls. We basically just follow along with him as he investigates, trying to figure out who murdered Dr. Fabian.
The ending definitely wasn't what I was expecting, but it wasn't an OH MY GOODNESS moment either. I was like, really, that was it, that was the big mystery? Yeah i was kind of disappointed.
This is the first book of Emily Arsenault's that I've read, and like I said I wasn't really impressed, but I'd give her another shot with a different book.
August 10, 2020
Emily Arsenault’s newest thriller, “The Last Thing I Told You,” is a twisty good read.
Dr. Mark Fabien is dead, violently murdered by one of his patients. When Detective Henry Peacher investigates the therapist’s death, he comes across files of Fabien’s former patients and discovers the list of suspects is as long as his arm.
When Nadine Raines, one of Fabien’s clients, returns to her home, the plot thickens. Why is she returning to the scene of the crime after so many years away? More shocking, Henry learns that Nadine Raines is a former high school classmate of his. When he digs into her past, he discovers that Nadine has a dark, violent secret, hence her therapy sessions.
As Henry interviews other patients in the therapy circle, he stumbles across another client with a penchant for violence. According to Dr. Fabien’s files, Johnny Streeter is serving a life sentence for a mass shooting he was responsible for five years ago. Detective Peacher is puzzled when he discovers that the information in the files raises more questions than answers about Dr. Fabien and his patients.
The story is told from two different points of view. Flashbacks add a depth of intrigue and suspense, but some readers may be confused with the continuity of the plot as it shifts back and forth, revealing small bits of information on each of the characters. The story unfolds in a slow-burning momentum, but the revelation is worth the ride.
Dr. Mark Fabien is dead, violently murdered by one of his patients. When Detective Henry Peacher investigates the therapist’s death, he comes across files of Fabien’s former patients and discovers the list of suspects is as long as his arm.
When Nadine Raines, one of Fabien’s clients, returns to her home, the plot thickens. Why is she returning to the scene of the crime after so many years away? More shocking, Henry learns that Nadine Raines is a former high school classmate of his. When he digs into her past, he discovers that Nadine has a dark, violent secret, hence her therapy sessions.
As Henry interviews other patients in the therapy circle, he stumbles across another client with a penchant for violence. According to Dr. Fabien’s files, Johnny Streeter is serving a life sentence for a mass shooting he was responsible for five years ago. Detective Peacher is puzzled when he discovers that the information in the files raises more questions than answers about Dr. Fabien and his patients.
The story is told from two different points of view. Flashbacks add a depth of intrigue and suspense, but some readers may be confused with the continuity of the plot as it shifts back and forth, revealing small bits of information on each of the characters. The story unfolds in a slow-burning momentum, but the revelation is worth the ride.
June 11, 2018
I received an ARC of this book via Goodreads Giveaways.
This is a perfectly fine mystery, alternating between the perspective of a small-town cop and a small-town girl, Nadine, who once committed a "shocking act of violence" against a high school teacher and is now a suspect in the death of her former psychologist. Though the initial act of violence isn't nearly as shocking as I anticipated, it is certainly one that would rattle a small town community.
Nadine is convinced that there is some kind of deep dark badness in her because of something her father may have done way back when she was a kid; something blurted out by her mother in a rage. I had a difficult time believing that this one mention of a *possible* act would condemn Nadine to forever believing that she was destined to turn out wrong.
There are a lot of hints as to a darkness in Nadine, but these never really come to fruition, and I found that aspect of the book frustrating. Nadine's father's past and the the mystery of who killed her former shrink are intertwined, and that does resolve itself in a fairly satisfying way - I just could have done without all the misdirection regarding Nadine's character and motives.
This is a perfectly fine mystery, alternating between the perspective of a small-town cop and a small-town girl, Nadine, who once committed a "shocking act of violence" against a high school teacher and is now a suspect in the death of her former psychologist. Though the initial act of violence isn't nearly as shocking as I anticipated, it is certainly one that would rattle a small town community.
Nadine is convinced that there is some kind of deep dark badness in her because of something her father may have done way back when she was a kid; something blurted out by her mother in a rage. I had a difficult time believing that this one mention of a *possible* act would condemn Nadine to forever believing that she was destined to turn out wrong.
There are a lot of hints as to a darkness in Nadine, but these never really come to fruition, and I found that aspect of the book frustrating. Nadine's father's past and the the mystery of who killed her former shrink are intertwined, and that does resolve itself in a fairly satisfying way - I just could have done without all the misdirection regarding Nadine's character and motives.
November 14, 2018
Why have fiction sales declined in 2018? Some analysts claim readers are too preoccupied with politics to be bothered with made-up stories, but I'll propose an alternative theory: there haven't been any good thrillers published in 2018. The closest thing to a "Girl" book I've read this year is "The Woman in the Window," which, if you've ever seen an Alfred Hitchcock movie, was as predictable as an Antarctic weather forecast. "The Last Thing I Told You" (even the title is boring) doesn't seem likely to change that trend. I'll admit, I didn't see the end coming, but that's not a compliment: Ms. Arsenault buries her clues beneath a Seder deli tray's worth of red herrings, plus, the central mystery of the book -- who killed an old shrink in a small Connecticut town? -- wasn't interesting enough to make me hazard any guesses. There was some potential in her dueling first-person narratives, but she squanders that when both her suspect and her detective turn out to be not only reliable, but rather dull. She writes competently, at least, so I can't hate this book. I just have no reason to like it.
May 29, 2018
This was just an average thriller - I wanted to finish it to find out who had killed Dr. Fabian but I didn't love the book itself. It seemed like there were too many characters and none of them were really well developed. The author just kept throwing in different suspects or people who knew Nadine or Dr. Fabian but didn't really tell you much about them. The ending for me was kind of letdown since the murderer ended up being someone who was barely in the book prior to being revealed as the culprit. I won an ARC of this book from LibraryThing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 10, 2018
The back of the book boasts about a page turning, psychological thriller filled with twists and turns, however, I feel it falls short on this brag in all matters. It's an alright story, but definitely not a thriller or a page turner. Not something I'll probably recommend to anyone.
March 11, 2019
It took way too long to get into it. The beginning just dragged on. Once it got interesting it stayed interesting, just too bad it too 275 pages to get there.
July 26, 2018
This book is told from two different perspectives: Nadine Raines and Detective Henry Peacher. Nadine Raines has returned home to her quiet New England hometown, only to have her former psychologist Dr. Mark Fabian, found dead in his office two days after her return. Nadine isn't quite sure why she returned to her hometown, since everyone here thinks she is crazy due to a violent act she committed as a teenager. Detective Henry Peacher makes an interesting discovery while he is investigating the death of Dr. Fabian. He finds that shortly before his death, the doctor pulled out files on two prior patients; Nadine and Johnny Streeter. Johnny Streeter is currently in prison on a life sentence for a mass shooting that devastated the town. As Henry continues his investigation, he beings to wonder if there are any connections between Nadine and Johnny, as well as trying to explain some of Nadine's behavior since returning to town.
This was definitely an interesting story and I liked the alternating POV's between Nadine and Henry. I have to say Nadine isn't my favorite character and I also didn't really like how she continued to talk to the doctor in her head. I did like Henry and enjoyed reading from his perspective the most. Though I have found that in psychological thrillers like this, I do find it interesting to have the alternating POV's between a possible suspect and the detective. This is the first book I have read by the author and overall I enjoyed it; it was fairly fast paced in the beginning but began to slow down towards the end. I look forward to reading more from the author in the future.
Thank you to the publisher, William Morrow Books, for sending me an ARC of this book.
This was definitely an interesting story and I liked the alternating POV's between Nadine and Henry. I have to say Nadine isn't my favorite character and I also didn't really like how she continued to talk to the doctor in her head. I did like Henry and enjoyed reading from his perspective the most. Though I have found that in psychological thrillers like this, I do find it interesting to have the alternating POV's between a possible suspect and the detective. This is the first book I have read by the author and overall I enjoyed it; it was fairly fast paced in the beginning but began to slow down towards the end. I look forward to reading more from the author in the future.
Thank you to the publisher, William Morrow Books, for sending me an ARC of this book.
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