Customer Reviews

Last Words

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Mariah Stewart gives us the second of the tales of the Shields family. Mia is the sister of Brenden who murdered Dylan in one of her previous novels. She has been unable to conquor the feeling that she should have known what was going on and stopped the murders. Her family has been FBI for many yrs and her father and his brother have several children in the FBI.

Mia Shields is the only daughter in a family of five, her other four brothers are FBI also. Now she is living in Conner's house in the country. Conner is her cousin and the brother of Dylan who was murdered by her own brother. Her inability to deal with the stresses caused by the murder have pushed her to the brink of burn-out. Now she is coming off two horrible cases, and she thinks nothing could be as bad as those, however, the murderer killing young women in St. Dennis, Maryland comes very close.

Gabrial Beck, the chief of police, of St. Dennis, has asked the bureau for help and Mia is not quite what he expected. Beck's father was the previous chief and helps part-time now. The first murder is not in his town but the next girl he finds himself, the killer has placed her body encased in plastic in the back seat of his car.

Both he and Mia realize this is no beginner and that there has to be a trail of bodies somewhere. As the bodies mount the evidence of a local killer emerges.

Although there is a romance in the book it does not take away from the horror of the way the victims are killed. I very much enjoyed this book and so far each of her novels has been a keeper.

Mariah Stewart is one of the best writers out there, and I love the ideas of her trilogies, which tie together but also work as stand-alones, so you don't feel as if you've missed something by not reading the previous books.

This one wasn't as good as the first in this trilogy, mainly because I thought the culprit's identity was obvious right from the beginning. But regardless, the book is still a page-turner that you won't be able to put down until it's finished.

This is the first book I've read by this author. I wouldn't have known the author was a romance writer unless I read her bio. The book is more of a whodunit, and it's pretty easy to figure out. When I was first exposed to the character who did it, I though "surely it's not this obvious", but in the end it was. This book is a good quick read, but doesn't provide much else.

In the midst of its greatest influx of tourists, the little bayside community of St. Dennis on Maryland's Eastern Shore has suddenly become the site of homicide. The bodies of young women, carefully wrapped in plastic, with a tape recording of each victim's last moments, are turning up. As if to show his contempt for the local police, one body is even placed in a police chief's car and another on his father's boat, said father being the former police chief. Soon Chief Gabriel Beck is checking with surrounding communities, and finding several young women who've disappeared, some not really being missed for one reason or another. Soon, the FBI is called in, in the person of Agent Mia Shields, and the tension and body count rises. Using the agency's resources, Mia brings in a profiler, who tells them the killer is probably a resident, familiar with both Beck and Shields and undoubtedly privy to a knowledge of the efforts they are making to discover his identity. One suspect is arrested but is he the right one? During a press conference, Mia taunts the killer and soon finds herself also a target.

This is a tight, tense story, without the usual sexual titillation or professional animosity between FBI and local constabulary. Both Mia and Gabe have skeletons in their closets and a little too much reference is made to people not in the story and events happening before the story begins, which made me want to know more about them. Is this novel part of a series? Should I get the others to be fully in the know about this book? Some of the things mentioned actually sounded more interesting than what was going on here.

Nevertheless, Last Words is a good read, entertaining and suspenseful. There are few clues to give away who the killer is until the actual capture. In view of the events happenings just before his arrest, his identity is a bit of a shock. HINT: Out of all the "persons of interest," he's the least one you'd suspect. I think anyone who likes police stories which are heavy on characterization will enjoy this one.

I am delighted to get books from Amazon as they are delivered on time and are in excellent condition.

Twisted story of suspense. A serial killer is killing women in an exceptionally gruesome way. He tortures and plays with them first. He then leaves them wrapped in plastic for the law to find. The FBI is brought in and the killer steps it up by taunting the cops by leaving bodies close to their homes and lives. I knew by about the end of the second chapter who the bad guy was. It was frustrating to see the characters play so dumb to the clues I obviously figured out. Good book but very dark with lots of death. Not for those with a weak stomach. One of the better books I've read this month.

I am a hugh fan of Mariah Stewart and she continues to amaze with her twisted plots and real life characters.

On Maryland's Eastern Shore, St. Dennis chief of police Gabriel Beck goes to his car only to find someone has left him with a horrific present. A naked Jane Doe mummified in plastic wrap lies in his backseat; inside the wrapping is a tape recording of the victim's last words.

When more corpses are found cocooned in the same way in the area, the FBI sends agent Mia Shields, who is loaded down with guilt having failed to recognize a close to home killer, to help investigate. Gabriel reluctantly agrees with Mia's plan for her to be the bait to catch a serial killer.

The second Shields FBI tale (see LAST LOOK) is an exhilarating police procedural that grips the audience with the first murder and never slows down until the final confrontation. Gabriel and Mia are a strong combination as both believes the serial killer is a local; their investigation enables the audience to see closely into the lives of a small Maryland eastern Shore community, but cannot find a viable motive, which leads to Mia becoming bait. Although the motive seems weak, fans of Mariah Stewart's delightful romantic suspense thrillers will look forward to the LAST WORD in her Shields trilogy, LAST BREATH.

Harriet Klausner

About halfway through this book, I looked at Stewart's end-of-book small bio. Had I known she was a romance writer, I would never have purchased Last Words.

HOWEVER, I found the book rather enjoyable and not kissy kissy at all. It's a good book to read when it's too hot to go outdoors. Last Words was nice company. A "thank you" to Mariah Stewart for writing it. You gave me a pleasurable day, Miss Stewart.

I wish our reviewers here would quit trying to show off with their reviews. We don't need all those words of yours, thank you.