Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Jan 2019
320 pages
Genre: Thrillers
Publication Information
From the author of Good as Gone ("So gripping you might want to start to question your own family's past" - Entertainment Weekly) comes a brilliant and timely thriller: Strangers on a Train by way of Thelma and Louise.
Dana Diaz is an aspiring stand-up comedian - a woman in a man's world. When she meets a tough computer programmer named Amanda Dorn, the two bond over their struggles in boys' club professions. Dana confides that she's recently been harassed and assaulted while in L.A., and Amanda comes up with a plan: they should go after each other's assailants, Strangers on a Train–style. But Dana finds that revenge, however sweet, draws her into a more complicated series of betrayals. Soon her distrust turns to paranoia, encompassing strangers, friends - and even herself. At what cost will she get her vengeance? Who will end up getting hurt? And when it's all over, will there be anyone left to trust?
"Gentry ably explores issues of gender, violence, and rage, though the too pat ending comes as a letdown." - Publishers Weekly
"Combining high-tech mayhem with good old-fashioned gore and violence, this extended fantasy of truths revealed and vengeance wreaked will be a satisfying read for those who share its righteous rage." - Kirkus
"A gripping psychological thriller...the relationships and interactions painted by Gentry are both vividly realistic and taken straight from #MeToo headlines. A topical, compelling read that librarians should hand to Paula Hawkins' fans." - Booklist
"A twisty and engrossing thriller that will keep you guessing until the very end." - Karin Slaughter, International Bestselling Author
"Last Woman Standing may be the first standout suspense novel of 2019. Female rage, stand-up comedy, Highsmith homage, and some surprises that got even me." - Sarah Weinman, author of The Real Lolita
"A harrowing and razor-sharp thriller, Amy Gentry's Last Woman Standing feels both ripped from the headlines and utterly timeless as it takes on gender and violence and the far limits of female rage. As the story twists and turns, you'll feel breathless, troubled and helplessly propelled to its deeply satisfying final pages." - Megan Abbott, author of You Will Know Me
"Savage, brilliant, and pulse-poundingly gripping, Last Woman Standing will leave you stunned...Gentry's gift for tapping into both the humanity and darkness of every character works its way into the reader's subconscious, making us attempt to draw an impossible line between justice and vengeance. An absolute must-read for 2019." - Mindy Mejia, author of Everything You Want Me to Be and Leave No Trace
"I read Last Woman Standing over the course of one thrilling afternoon - it's a heart-pounding look at the line between justice and vengeance, and what happens when someone leaps over that line. It's also a thoughtful look at how women are perceived and treated in male-dominated industries and beyond, and the lasting effects of such treatment, shedding light on an important and pertinent topic in our culture." - Rena Olsen, author of With You Always and The Girl Before
This information about Last Woman Standing was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Amy Gentry is the author of the debut thriller Good as Gone, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2016. She frequently contributes book reviews to the Chicago Tribune, and her freelance writing has appeared in Salon, Fusion, The Rumpus, LA Review of Books, Austin Chronicle, Gastronomica, The Best Food Writing of 2014, and many more. Amy holds a doctorate in English from the University of Chicago and lives in Austin, Texas.
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