This was a fun thriller! It had the trifecta of things that will make me read a book - A serial killer, a high school setting, and a spunky teen girl that don't need no man (or teen boy) to save her. ( )

Willa's mother has remarried and they are on their way from Connecticut to Hollywood where they will be living with Willa's new stepfather, Jonathan. Willa is uncomfortable with the move, but just as she is learning to live with it, strange things begin happening in her new house. First, she starts to have waking dreams of what she realizes are from the perspective of victims of a serial killer that has been terrorizing young actresses in Hollywood. Then after she is almost drowned in the backyard pool, she begins to see writing on the walls of the house - words that she begins to recognize as being part of a play that the former owner of the house, actress Diana Del Mar wrote just before she died. Chemistry lab partner, Wyatt has been investigating the murders as part of a school project, and even though he has become a bit obsessed, Willa finds him to be a good source of information as she begins to understand that her house is in some way connected to the murders. Wyatt gets on Willa's nerves more and more, especially once she becomes attracted to Jonathan's handsome assistant, Reed.

The title, Famous Last Words refers to the line of dialogue in the Del Mar play, "This is a dream that you can't wake up from, Henry" that appears throughout the story acting as a catalyst as Willa starts to connect the play to the murders. This is a very interesting mystery with a supernatural element that is skillfully woven into the story. Willa's character is well-developed, but most of the other characters are fairly two-dimensional. The mystery is pretty easy to figure out, but the suspense and the light romance makes it well worth the read. ( )

"Famous Last Words" by Katie Alender, reveals that not everything is what it seems. The author explains the journey of a young girl by the name of Willa and the obstacle courses she faces to avoid "The Hollywood Killer." Willa and her family move from the quiet life in Connecticut to the busy and glamours life of Hollywood, or at least she believes it is. Already struggling to communicate with her step-father and mother, her house becomes an important part in her mystery. Paranormal activity begins occurring and they are sending a cryptic message to the young girl. On top of that, The Hollywood Killer has made it clear what his type of prey was, and Willa checked off all of his points. Willa later gains a new ally, and together they attempt to find the killer, but the killer was right under their nose. In conclusion the book is extremely well written and the plot is very entertaining and always keeps you on edge. With all the new and exiting characters introduces you can't help but think "who really is the murderer?" ( )

Stephen King once said, “We make up horrors to help us cope with the real ones,” for this reason and so many more, I believe that the horror/ murder mystery novel "Famous Last Words," by Katie Alender details a riveting story that all people would enjoy reading to help "cope with their horrors." The book illustrates the life of a girl named Willa, who has recently moved from Connecticut to Hollywood after her mother got married to a rich and famous movie director. While this would be a big change for anyone, Willa finds it incredibly disturbing to say the least, as she starts seeing and hearing things in her new house. Paranormal things. Like ghosts, sounds of the faucet running when it's not. Worst of all, they can actually communicate with her, and she's the only one who can see them and try to understand what they want from her. On top of all of that, her step-father then tells her that there's a serial killer that had been killing girls her age right in the area where they live. Little did she know, she had met, and even become really close with "The Hollywood Killer" themselves. Overall, I think this book was extremely well done, and not as predictable as most other clique type horror novels. The twists and turns in the plot provide an atmosphere where you don't want to stop reading, much less get bored of the wordiness like in other horror novels. For these reasons and more, I would strongly recommend the book to fellow murder mystery fans, or just anyone who wants to read a book with a more heavy and stimulating plot. In summary, I would give this book 5 stars. ( )

I have to say that I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick read that I read over the course of a few days, squeezing in some reading when I had a few minutes of free time at work. The mystery plot wasn't the hardest to figure out as the list of characters was quite short, but the addition of the creepy paranormal elements made up for that. This is a book that I would love to see a sequel to as the chemistry between Willa and Wyatt was just beginning to heat up towards the end. I would love to see where that goes. ( )