Flynn's girlfriend, January, is missing. All eyes are on Flynn—he must know something. After all, he was—is—her boyfriend. They were together the night before she disappeared.
But Flynn has a secret of his own. As he struggles to uncover the truth about January's disappearance, he must also face the truth about himself.
One fall night, January was last seen leaving her private school. She never came home and no one had heard from her since. Not her distant mother, politician step father, psychotic step brother, or even her boyfriend Flynn. While Flynn tries to figure out what happened to January, he’s led down a path of discovery that reveals January wasn’t the person he thought she was, as are none of the other people in her life the way she made them out to be.
Initially I was intrigued by the mystery side of Last Seen Leaving, but as I kept reading it felt like it became two conflicting stories. On one side there was the disappearance of January, and the mystery behind what happened to her – following the clues, and the whodunit, Flynn playing the role of the loyal boyfriend. On the other side is Flynn hiding a giant secret, which inevitably comes out, and to seems to take over the entire narrative overshadowing the plot of previously mentioned missing girlfriend.
Without going into too much detail and giving anything away, basically it began to feel like it was more about Flynn finding himself than January, and dealing with the fallout from the revelations of his personal life than the actual disappearance of his girlfriend, which was not the story I was expecting going in.
Flynn is a likeable character and I sympathized with him for the most part. He was January’s boyfriend and the prime suspect in her disappearance, as usually happens when something like this occurs. It’s understandable that he’s under a lot of stress and he doesn’t necessarily make the wisest decisions.
Much of the time I felt like the author was trying to sell me something, as if he was paid to write product advertising into the book – similar to product placement in television shows. It became obnoxious - constantly mentioning Lexus, smooth rides, and supple leather seats, iPhones, etc, when a simple mention of “we got into his car” would have been sufficient. I don’t know if this is a thing now, but if it is, I’m begging you, please make it stop! It reminded me of when you watch a tv show and they add a whole unnecessary scene with the characters waiting for their new car to back up and park itself just for the benefit of showing the audience *barf*. Give me a break. Books are a place we’re supposed to be safe from that crap! If this wasn’t intentional, I’m sorry to Mr. Roehrig, but this is how it came off. I understand a high level of detail can immerse a reader into the story, but I think there's a line where it can be too much. Last Seen Leaving crossed that line for me.
Overall, I give it three stars, mainly because I felt the story lines were conflicting and it didn't feel like one arc but two. I know some readers will greatly disagree with me, and that's okay! Perhaps I wasn't in the right mood for it, but I wouldn't rule out reading it completely. If you're a fan of mystery, some romance, and some back and forth with the story, give it a shot!
*I received a copy of book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review
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