THE FIRST TIME I SAW HIM

In this sequel to The Last Thing He Told Me (2021), Hannah Hall may be reunited with her missing husband—that is, if they can make a deal with the crime syndicate trying to kill him.

Beginning with a repeat of the last scene from The Last Thing He Told Me, the novel opens five years after Owen left, and Hannah and her stepdaughter, Bailey, learned of his secret life. After all this time, Owen brushes past the two at an L.A. design fair where Hannah is exhibiting. Later, Hannah discovers that Owen has slipped a flash drive into her pocket with encoded messages in the form of family photos, and the next day, suspicious men are lurking outside her house. Much has changed in the ensuing years—mob lawyer Nicholas Bell, Bailey’s maternal grandfather and the threatening presence of the first novel, has become the person Hannah and Bailey most deeply trust. Mother and daughter have also developed impressive black ops skills that enable them to stay one step ahead of the organization—Nicholas’ former clients—that’s trying to kill Owen through them. When they discover Nicholas has died and his protection has lapsed, Hannah and Bailey run, using the secret cars, cash, and safe houses they pre-arranged just for this possibility. There’s plenty of suspense as the two women race up the California coast and jet to Paris, all based on the clues Owen has left for them. Equally satisfying are the flashbacks of Nicholas and his conflicted friendship with mob boss Frank Pointe, and of Owen’s last five years spent making surprising alliances and hatching the plot that is finally coming to fruition, as Hannah and Bailey make it to France, where Owen will be reunited with his family—or die trying.

An essential sequel that ties up loose threads while providing a thrilling ride across continents.