The last one at the wedding A novel

Review by Booklist Review

Lavish lakeside nuptials threatened by deadly secrets and the unlikely attendance of the bride's decidedly lower-class family feature in in Rekulak's latest (after Hidden Pictures, 2022). Frank's relief in reconnecting with his daughter is fleeting as he readies for her upcoming destination wedding to the son of a Boston tech scion. Tagging along are his sister and her awkwardly earnest foster kid (slathered in lice-controlling mayo), providing moments of levity in the suspense that haunts the enclave. The wedding features an uninterested groom, his mysteriously absent mother, an aged sugar daddy, random rich kids, and a friendly, strangely generous father-in-law. Frank quickly becomes involved in the hunt for a missing local girl, befriends another outsider (who winds up dead), and realizes that his family is now in the crosshairs. Noble UPS driver Frank is determined to do the right thing, crusading in a world where power runs amok. But Rekulak slyly reminds us that money isn't the only thing that blinds us to bad behavior with a unique combination of class commentary and thrills.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Bestseller Rekulak (Hidden Pictures) impresses with this engrossing tale of a widowed father who starts to sense darkness beneath his daughter's impending marriage. When Poconos-based UPS driver Frank Szatowski receives a call from his estranged daughter, Maggie, he's overjoyed to learn that she's engaged to artist Aidan Gardner, the son of tech billionaires Catherine and Errol Gardner, and wants Frank to attend the wedding. With the ceremony scheduled at the Gardners' New Hampshire estate in just three months, Frank attempts to develop a rapport with his future son-in-law, but Aidan withdraws. Soon, Frank receives an anonymous piece of mail that suggests Aidan was involved with the disappearance of a young woman named Dawn Taggart. When he arrives in New Hampshire for the wedding, Frank feels immediately suspicious--all guests must sign NDAs, and much of the event staff is ex-military. When the body of Aidan's art school friend, Gwen, is found under the dock on the estate, Frank decides to investigate the Gardners' tangled web before it ensnares his daughter--but what he finds recasts ideas about his own family. Certain twists are a touch predictable, but Rekulak's characters feel real, and the unwavering pace will keep readers up all night. This should please the author's existing fans and win him new ones. Agent: Douglas Stewart, Sterling Lord Literistic. (Oct.)

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

A widowed Pennsylvania dad hears from his estranged daughter on the occasion of her marriage into the 1 percent. Frank Szatowski, 52, has achievements he's proud of: "I started driving young, straight out of the army, and I was recently inducted into the Circle of Honor, an elite group of UPS drivers who've worked twenty-five years without an accident." What Frank doesn't feel so good about is his relationship with his daughter, Maggie, who cut him off a few years ago when he failed her in some as-yet-unrevealed way. But now the "Unknown Caller" on his phone is her, inviting him to Boston to meet her fiance, Aidan Gardner, and to walk her down the aisle at their wedding. From the moment he steps from the elevator into the penthouse Maggie and Aidan share, Frank feels like a fish out of water, and things only get more uncomfortable when Aidan shows no interest in connecting with his future father-in-law. The wedding is held at a private camp in New Hampshire, exquisitely imagined from the waterfront cottages to the brunch buffets to the 10-foot-high security fence. Even before he's given a 56-page "privacy doc" to sign and ordered to turn his watch ahead 15 minutes to "Gardner Standard Time," Frank knows there's something deeply wrong--for one thing, he's received a flyer in the mail linking Aidan to a local missing person. But his sister, Tammy, is having the time of her life, as is her 10-year-old foster kid, Abigail, and he's finally mending fences with Maggie; can't he just kick back and enjoy? Actually…no. In addition to creating a fun, propulsive plot, Rekulak does a great job on all the status details and supporting characters, from the sleazy family lawyer with his barely legal wife to the younger crowd at the wedding. At the welcome dinner, a woman with "a starfish tattoo and long blond hair braided into ropes" offers Frank an Altoids tin of gummy bears. "These are THC with a little extra wild card," she tells him encouragingly. Hoo boy. There are some wild cards, all right. How refreshing: a thriller with a narrator who's almost too reliable. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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