Jennifer Garner stars as a woman whose husband has mysteriously vanished in the Apple TV+ thriller “The Last Thing He Told Me.”

Nine hot shows you need to watch in April Jennifer Garner avoids Ben Affleck memes: ‘It doesn’t make me feel good’ I’m a Gen Z’er who’s not on social media apps: I’m happier and healthier for it Dave has given readers what many people crave right now-a thoroughly engrossing yet comforting distraction.J-Lo’s mom ‘prayed for 20 years’ that she and Ben Affleck would reunite This is the antithesis of the way novels like Gone Girlor My Lovely Wifeare constructed in The Last Thing He Told Me, the surface is ugly, the situation disturbing, but almost everyone involved is basically good underneath it all. Hannah’s insights and epiphanies about how to parent an untrusting teenager aren’t all that revelatory, but they certainly are reminders of what’s most important.Īs a result, Dave pulls off something that feels both new and familiar: a novel of domestic suspense that unnerves, then reassures. Beyond that, stepmother and stepdaughter are able to maintain anonymity as a firestorm of drama unfolds around the company’s CEO.ĭownplaying the conflict might be a trade-off for the novel’s greater focus on character development and relationships. They primarily encounter friction from authorities, Bailey’s classmates and Owen and Hannah’s friends.

The novel’s backdrop is a half-billion-dollar financial disaster, but despite Owen’s high-profile role, there’s no press hounding Hannah and Bailey.

Deep-rooted abandonment issues shape her choices in the present, and the attorney she reaches out to for help navigating these treacherous waters is her ex-fiancé. Along the way, her own history also comes into play. As she searches for the truth about her missing husband and contends with the legal troubles caused by his disappearance, she also tries to nurture a stepdaughter who barely wants anything to do with her.Īs these events unfold in the present, flashbacks show how Hannah’s relationships have developed and offer clues about her husband’s story. Hannah desperately wants to fulfill his request, but she also wants answers. And for his bewildered wife, who is Bailey’s stepmother, he leaves a cryptic note with a single directive: “Protect her.” He leaves behind a suspiciously large duffel bag full of cash for his 16-year-old daughter, Bailey. Hannah Hall’s adoring husband, coding genius Owen Michaels, vanishes on the same day that his company is raided by the FBI for massive securities fraud. Extraordinary circumstances severely test the bonds of one such family in Laura Dave’s The Last Thing He Told Me. In this era of domestic thrillers, a novel about a functional, loving family can feel refreshing and downright unexpected.

The last thing he told her