The Final Episode by Lori Roy

The Final Episode by Lori Roy

I found this while searching Kindle Unlimited books to read during my free trial and the synopsis caught my attention. I really loved the writing and the way the story was told. I liked that I was never completely sure if I was “watching” slightly fictionalized episodes of the show or truly living what each episode showed from the characters' POVs as it happened. It doesn’t matter either way, but I thought it was an interesting way to think about what each option might have skewed in terms of the truth.

Spoilers ahead...

Arlen being Nora’s ex felt unnecessary. I think there was potential for that to be a twist but it just muddied the waters, and not enough in a “casting doubt” way. Because honestly, Jenny seemed sure of him and forgave him very quickly, so it's not like it was even a suspenseful twist. It was kind of just dropped in and then brushed under the rug. As a result, to me it just seemed messy instead of adding another layer to the potential resolution.

Okay, now on to the thing that almost killed me...

I was screaming that Eva was Nora from the get-go!!! Whyyyy would it have been her assistant instead of her?! And if you were looking into the assistant, why not also look into Eva? That seemed strange to me. I’d almost rather they consider Eva but not find anything on her because she already cleared her tracks. But never even thinking of her as Nora just seemed like a wild oversight considering the other angles the characters took here. 

Every time they failed to think of Eva, instead thinking of her old assistant, or maybe her new assistant, I was screaming at the book. Then I tried to give the author the benefit of the doubt. Even if Eva wasn't Nora, I still think it should have been mentioned. But then when the truth came out, I couldn't stop rolling my eyes.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book because it felt unique enough to me. It was more about the story coming together than the quest of who did it. And with a lot of thrillers using the podcast framework lately, I appreciated that this one was “slightly” different with the tv show