Calling THE LAST ONE AT THE WEDDING a domestic thriller merely skims the surface of everything going on inside these pages. Coming off his hugely popular HIDDEN PICTURES, Jason Rekulak returns with a new book that once again shows off his amazing skills at plotting and storytelling.

No one is more surprised than proud UPS driver Frank Szatowski when he receives a phone call from his estranged only child, Maggie, following a big fallout three years ago. Not only is she cordial, she announces that she is getting married and wants him to walk her down the aisle. Her future husband is Aidan Gardner, the son of famous tech billionaire Errol Gardner. Frank will need to travel from Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, to New Hampshire for the wedding, which will take place at the Gardners’ Osprey Cove camp in Hopps Ferry.

"The finale is intense and ultimately satisfying. It also speaks to Jason Rekulak’s abilities as a first-class author."

Frank’s older sister, Tammy, also received an invitation, and she lets Frank know that she needs to bring her foster child, Abigail, with them. Before the big date, Frank has the opportunity to meet Maggie and Aidan at their apartment for dinner. Throughout the evening, he sees a few red flags about his future son-in-law, specifically the hidden pouch he finds in the toilet tank. As the months fly by, Frank receives something alarming and curious in the mail --- an envelope containing a photo of Aidan with his arm around a young woman and a handwritten message: WHERE IS DAWN TAGGART???

Frank immediately tells Maggie, who sighs and says she’s aware of the situation. She insists that it’s just a family trying to get money out of the wealthy Gardners, and it has no merit. Once the wedding weekend arrives, Frank, Tammy and Abigail make a stop in the town outside the camp where they are accosted by an apparently drunk man claiming to be Dawn’s uncle. He warns them about Aidan, “the Prince of Darkness.”

Already unsettled, Frank’s feelings only get more rattled by various oddities he observes at Osprey Cove. There is the overly suspicious head of security, Hugo, who will not let him enter before signing off on a 56-page agreement. There is also the question of Aidan’s mother, who no one ever sees and is explained away as someone who suffers from chronic migraines. What really sets Frank off is when he overhears a discussion between Aidan and an art school friend, Gwendolyn, that sounds quite threatening. At one point, Gwendolyn gets Frank alone and tells him that Aidan’s mother should be the least of his worries. She agrees to skip a planned group event the next morning and tell Frank everything she knows.

That meeting never happens as Gwendolyn’s body is dragged from the lake in what is reported to be a drug-induced drowning. Frank, who is now really running scared, keeps trying to get Maggie’s attention to warn her of his suspicions. But whenever he has a few moments with her, she simply shrugs everything off and makes him feel guilty for causing problems. Still, Frank is so driven to find out the truth that he takes his car into town and seeks out Dawn’s loved ones, who give him much more to think and worry about.

The remainder of the weekend will bring more disturbing revelations and another death. For Frank, it quickly will turn into an “us vs. them” situation as he definitely is deep in enemy territory.

THE LAST ONE AT THE WEDDING is a slow burn of a novel, which is a good thing because it allows the reader to absorb bit by bit all of the plot pieces that will explode in the last act. The finale is intense and ultimately satisfying. It also speaks to Jason Rekulak’s abilities as a first-class author.