Hello everyone and welcome to a brand new edition of Lil Red’s Book Club! In a spoiler free setting, as always, we are going to be discussing an excellent thriller by Taylor Adams called Her Last Breath. I pride myself on being an amateur detective and often figure out the grand reveal in the books that I read. Not with this one! The surprise twist left me absolutely shook and kept me turning the pages at a rapid pace. This is easily one of the best thrillers I have read in months! Before we begin, I will be placing a trigger warning on Her Last Breath for highly disturbing content in police cases, child abuse, and graphic violence. You ready? Let’s get to it:

Tess and Allie have been best friends since childhood and it all started with a punch to the face. In grade school, a boy was bullying Tess and Allie responded with a slug that resulted in a split lip. They were inseparable ever since. While Tess is meek and shy, Allie is a take no nonsense kind of girl. She says what’s on her mind and has an adventurous spirit. So much so that she created an empire on thrifty solo travel. Her favorite activity, though? Going caving. That’s right, exploring the depths of the earth where catastrophe can happen at any step.

Allie has finally convinced Tess to join her for a caving expedition and it is all systems go. Both women might not be as close as they were in their childhood and they consider this trip a way to make up for lost time. After a hike through the woods to get to their location, they enter the cave and are greeted by a stranger a few paces in. He claims to be from Green Ridge to evaluate bats in the cave for an infection called white nose syndrome. Then, he asks Tess and Allie if he could join them on their adventure as an unofficial guide. He is making both of them uncomfortable and Allie promptly tells him to f off and they go on their way.

There are three people in the cave and only one will make it out alive. The stranger is, of course, not with Green Ridge at all and he is on the hunt. In the depths of the cave, they meet again and all hell breaks loose. There is no way out except to return the way that they came. But that’s not necessarily true. There is another way out that has yet to be explored. A chasm called Worse Than Death with impossibly small crawl spaces that just might allow you to see daylight again. If you can fit. In the dark of the cave, everything is not what it seems and the hunted might become the hunters yet. Who will make it out on the other side? Read Her Last Breath to find out.

I have been reading a fair amount of Freida McFadden books as of late and Her Last Breath by Taylor Adams was a delicious change of pace. The plot was fascinating, the twists were insane, and it was very well written. The best part of this book though has got to be the setting. I am so used to reading books that take place on earth – not under it! The majority of Her Last Breath took place in the cave and I could literally feel the claustrophobia as I read. Caves are dangerous and one wrong step can result in injury or for the ground to shift. As Tess and Allie made their way deeper and deeper, I couldn’t help but to hold my breath. Between the darkness, tight squeezes, and a dangerous man on their tail I just knew something bad was going to happen. It was only a matter of when.

I really can’t say too much about Her Last Breath because I want you to be just as surprised as I was if you read it. Just know that you are in for a treat! Although I love being able to solve the riddles in books, I love it even more when I can’t. Taylor Adams crafted the ultimate thriller and it sounds silly but it really did thrill me. At the end of the day, books that fall under the thriller/suspense category are a dime a dozen and eventually they all start to be the same. Her Last Breath was unlike anything I have ever read before and I can’t wait to read more by Taylor Adams. I have a very good feeling about her other books!

Overall, I am going to award Her Last Breath with the coveted ten out of ten stars. This book was ingenious from start to finish and I cannot stop thinking about it!

Have you read any of Taylor Adams’ books? What did you think of them? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah