Famous Last Words

by Katie Alender

Overview

Hollywood history, mystery, murder, mayhem, and delicious romance collide in this unputdownable thriller from master storyteller Katie Alender.

Willa is freaking out. It seems like she's seeing things. Like a dead body in her swimming pool. Frantic messages on her walls. A reflection that is not her own. It's almost as if someone -- or something -- is trying to send her a message.Meanwhile, a killer is stalking Los Angeles -- a killer who reenacts famous movie murder scenes. Could Willa's strange visions have to do with these unsolved murders? Or is she going crazy? And who can she confide in? There's Marnie, her new friend who may not be totally trustworthy. And there's Reed, who's ridiculously handsome and seems to get Willa. There's also Wyatt, who's super smart but unhealthily obsessed with the Hollywood Killer.All Willa knows is, she has to confront the possible-ghost in her house, or she just might lose her mind . . . or her life.Acclaimed author Katie Alender puts an unforgettable twist on this spine-chilling tale of murder, mystery, mayhem -- and the movies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545639989
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	09/30/2014
Sold by:	Scholastic, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	44,573
File size:	7 MB
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Katie Alender is the acclaimed author of several novels for young adults, including the Bad Girls Don't Die series, Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer, Famous Last Words, The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall, and The Companion, which won the Edgar Award for Young Adult Fiction. Katie lives in Los Angeles with her family.

Read an Excerpt

From FAMOUS LAST WORDSI prepared to plunge under again and swim back to the shallow end. Then something brushed my ankle. I yelped in surprise and spun around, treading water as I searched for whatever had touched me. Nothing -- there was nothing. It must have been bubbles, a random current -- maybe a sunken palm frond. But then I felt it again. Only this time it took hold. And pulled me under. Fear and adrenaline burst through me in a massive soul-shaking pulse. My heart slammed around in my chest like it was trying to break out of my ribcage. Then something grabbed my other foot. It happened so fast that I didn't even process it as something that was really happening. Because it couldn’t be happening -- it wasn't happening -- Only it was. I tried to kick free, but my legs were held fast. I managed to flail one hand above the surface of the water before being yanked down toward the blue-tiled bottom of the pool. My brain was on red-alert, acting on a purely animal instinct. THIS IS NOT OKAY. I thrashed and grabbed at my ankles in an attempt to pry off whatever had wrapped around them. But I couldn't free myself, because as far as I could see, there was nothing to free myself from -- not another person. Not a rope or piece of plastic. Not even a nightmarish monster. There was only water, and the sharp outlines of my own body as I flipped and struggled. Panicked, I looked up toward the sky -- and saw another person in the pool. For the briefest second I thought it was someone else swimming, and I wondered wildly why they wouldn't help me. But then it hit me with ironclad certainty -- this person wasn't swimming. They were floating. And it wasn't a person. . . . It was a corpse.

Editorial Reviews

08/01/2014
Gr 8 Up—Willa's new stepdad, Jonathan, is a movie director, which is how she finds herself transplanted to Hollywood from suburban Connecticut. Willa isn't particularly thrilled about her mom remarrying—she is still reeling from her father's death two years ago. But for her mom's sake she is determined to make it work. On the plus side there's Marnie, a new friend at school, and Reed, Jonathan's cute, young assistant who seems to like Willa as much as she likes him. Unfortunately, there's also a murderer, aka the Hollywood Killer, on the loose who enjoys re-creating iconic scenes from classic movies, such as the final attack scene from Hitchcock's The Birds. The murderer's victims—always young aspiring actresses—play the starring roles. Wyatt, Willa's unfriendly chemistry lab partner at school, seems oddly obsessed with the crimes. As if that weren't enough, Willa's new house is haunted. The ghost is desperate to tell her something; Willa thinks it might have something to do with the Hollywood Killer. The plot moves at a breakneck pace as Alender has jam-packed her latest novel with murder, ghosts, and romance. At the heart of this story, however, is Willa coming to terms with her father's death. Fans of the author's "Bad Girls Don't Die" series (Disney-Hyperion), as well as readers who enjoy suspense and supernatural elements with their romance, won't be disappointed.—Ragan O'Malley, Saint Ann's School, Brooklyn, NY

School Library Journal

Praise for FAMOUS LAST WORDS"Katie Alender spins a killer ghost story that will haunt your heart." —Margaret Stohl, #1 NYT bestselling co-author of BEAUTIFUL CREATURES"A compelling supernatural thriller." —KIRKUS REVIEWSPraise for MARIE ANTOINETTE, SERIAL KILLER"All the flavor of a macaron, bound by a ganache of sweet, supernatural grit." —KIRKUS REVIEWS"A story that mixes slice-of-life teen drama with supernatural menace, infused with the sights, sounds, and tastes of a Paris that comes to life in the process." —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

From the Publisher

2014-06-30
Willa uses her mysterious ability to communicate with the beyond to track a murdering psychopath.After moving to Los Angeles with her mother and stepdad, Willa discovers a ghostly presence haunting their new home. The local news is consumed with reports of a serial killer stalking up-and-coming actresses, and it doesn't take long for Willa to figure out that their specter is one of the butcher's victims. It's a clever premise, and the whodunit fails in only one aspect: It's incredibly obvious who did it. Once the killer is introduced as an ancillary character, even novice detectives will be able to point and cry, "Guilty!" Luckily, the characters and their investigation more than make up for this. The procedural elements are well-executed and complemented by characters that readers will truly come to care about and a romance that resonates. Alender enhances the mystery by setting it in Hollywood, a town where no one is quite who they seem to be. The result is a mystery that's worth it for the chase if not for its conclusion.A compelling supernatural thriller. (Paranormal mystery. 12-16)

Kirkus Reviews