REVIEW: The Last One at the Wedding by Jason Rekulak
Frank Szatowski is shocked when his daughter, Maggie, calls him for the first time in three years. He was convinced that their estrangement would become permanent. He’s even more surprised when she invites him to her upcoming wedding in New Hampshire. Frank is ecstatic, and determined to finally make things right.
He arrives to find that the wedding is at a private estate—very secluded, very luxurious, very much out of his league. It seems that Maggie failed to mention that she’s marrying Aidan Gardner, the son of a famous tech billionaire. Feeling desperately out of place, Frank focuses on reconnecting with Maggie and getting to know her new family. But it’s difficult: Aidan is withdrawn and evasive; Maggie doesn’t seem to have time for him; and he finds that the locals are disturbingly hostile to the Gardners. Frank needs to know more about this family his daughter is marrying into, but if he pushes too hard, he could lose Maggie forever.
CW –
Spoiler: Show
Dear Mr. Rekulak,
After the first two books of yours I read, I barely bothered to read the blurb before requesting this arc. Unlike “Hidden Pictures,” when this story starts, the reader knows that something is wrong, a feeling that only grows stronger as the book progresses.
Frank Szatowski (it’s Polish so don’t pronounce the S) is a working class schlub but a decent and honest one. Frank is proud of his spotless twenty-six year driving career with UPS, keeps his home in repair, misses his deceased wife, and is both shocked and pleased when his daughter calls him. Maggie and Frank had a falling out (details much later in the book) three years ago and Frank is overjoyed when he’s invited to her wedding. Meeting his future son-in-law, Aiden, is awkward but Frank is determined to mend his bridges with Maggie.
But when Frank, his sister Tammy (I helped you raise her after her mother died and there’s no way I’m missing this wedding), and Tammy’s unexpected foster child Abigail arrive at the ritzy “camp” that Maggie’s 1% future in-laws own in New Hampshire, he senses a weird vibe from the NDA they sign at the gate to how Aiden is quiet to how Aiden’s college bestie gives Frank pitying looks. Getting to the bottom of the mystery might just take every bit of Frank’s determination and politeness.
The rich certainly do live in another world from the rest of us but I love how Frank is determined to hold his head up and chip in his fair share for his daughter’s wedding. He’s not a leech or the type who has “forgotten his wallet.” Sister Tammy is amazed by the luxuries, inquisitive Abigail asks questions about everything but Frank just wants to finally meet the in-laws and get his father-of-the-bride speech written.
As the wedding gets closer though, questions keep popping up for him and he just can’t turn off wanting to get to the bottom of what’s really going on. Frank will allow some smoke to be blown up his ass but it’s only because he wants so much to reconnect with his daughter – enough that he overlooks and rationalizes a few things. What parents don’t, though?
Clues about what is going on under everyones’ noses are scattered along the way but I’ll be honest and admit that the bombshell was still only on the edge of my radar when it exploded. Poor Frank is floundering out of his depth when presented with the truth and then neatly boxed into something he despises. Still I admire Frank for trying and can sort of understand why he keeps believing as he does. Still there are more than a few moments when I mentally urged Frank to just keep his mouth shut and pay attention to the shark tank he’s swimming in. Frank’s basic decency stands him in good stead, his fix-it know-how gives him the edge, but his situational awareness is what really comes in handy. B
~Jayne
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Well, this certainly sounds intriguing, Jayne. The cover art is interesting, too, with what remains after the strikeouts.
Pretty sure “Sz” is pronounced like “Sh” in Polish. I have some family members whose surname starts that way.
@Janine: It’s specifically brought up early in the book when someone says it properly and Frank is impressed that they know how to pronounce his last name correctly.
@Kareni: In the acknowledgement, the author compliments the person who designed “the wonderfully sinister cover of the North American edition.” The same artist apparently drew “the grisly bouquets that appear throughout these pages.” Sadly I didn’t get those in the arc edition I read.
I admit I’m intrigued.
@Jayne: Well, in the case of my family members, some who were born and raised in Poland pronounced it that way. But the third letter was Y, maybe that changed the pronunciation of the Sz.
I recall author Amy Dacyczyn writing that her name was pronounced like “decision,” and author Mihaly Csiikszentmihalyi pronounces his mane Cheek-sent-me-hah-yi, if I recall correctly (I loved his books on flow). In that case it’s the Z in the Sz that’s silent, and not the Z. Polish pronunciations confuse me.
Help! When Frank wants to leave after finding Maggie and Errol together, Tammy says she needs the shares Errol gave her. When did this happen?
@Nancy: When Frank, Maggie and Abigail first arrive at the compound. In Chapter 7 –
Note that the transfer wasn’t going to happen until Monday – after the wedding.