The First Time I Saw Him
Will be published approx. on 30. July 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
352 pages
978-1-80494-598-8 (ISBN)
Description
Get ready to be gripped by the edge-of-your seat new mystery thriller and long-awaited follow-up to the bestselling Richard and Judy Book Club pick, The Last Thing He Told Me.
*A REESE WITHERSPOON BOOK CLUB SELECTION!*
*AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER*
*NOW A MAJOR APPLE TV SERIES - The Last Thing He Told Me. Season Two, based on The First Time I Saw Him, out now!*
'I could not stop flipping the pages' Reese Witherspoon
'Out of this world... Five stars' Jennifer Garner
'Action-packed and deeply felt... incredible' Mary Kubica, bestselling author of Local Woman Missing
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HE DISAPPEARED. NOW HE'S BACK. AND THEY HAVE TO RUN.
Five years ago, Hannah's husband Owen vanished without a trace, leaving Hannah and her stepdaughter Bailey to piece together a new life from the wreckage.
When Hannah spots Owen at her Los Angeles exhibition - silent, watching - she knows immediately that the danger they once escaped has found them again.
Then comes the message:
'GET OUT OF THE HOUSE. NOW'
Hannah and Bailey are forced to go on the run in a relentless race to keep their past from catching up with them, pursued by enemies they cannot see and haunted by questions that have never been answered.
Why has Owen returned? Who is hunting them?
And can they finally uncover the truth before it destroys them all?
-----------
Praise for Laura Dave and The First Time I Saw Him:
'Clever, compulsive and twisty as hell. Cancel all your plans before you start this one, I had to remind myself to breathe during the final, devastating pages' CHRIS WHITAKER, bestselling author of All the Colours of the Dark, on The Last Thing He Told Me
'Powerful, intense and beautifully observed' T.M. LOGAN, bestselling author of The Holiday
'You won't want to miss this one' HARLAN COBEN, bestselling author of Nobody's Fool
'It's gripping, twisty, exhilarating, and utterly unputdownable. Five blazing stars from me!' 5-star reader review
'Wow, I couldn't put this book down!' 5-star reader review
'Oh my word. This much-anticipated book is everything I had hoped for and more' 5-star reader review
'This book has fantastic pacing and will keep you up all night' 5-star reader review
'Pure adrenaline' 5-star reader review
'A truly gripping psychological thriller!' 5-star reader review
'One of the best books I have read this year' 5-star reader review
*A REESE WITHERSPOON BOOK CLUB SELECTION!*
*AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER*
*NOW A MAJOR APPLE TV SERIES - The Last Thing He Told Me. Season Two, based on The First Time I Saw Him, out now!*
'I could not stop flipping the pages' Reese Witherspoon
'Out of this world... Five stars' Jennifer Garner
'Action-packed and deeply felt... incredible' Mary Kubica, bestselling author of Local Woman Missing
-----------
HE DISAPPEARED. NOW HE'S BACK. AND THEY HAVE TO RUN.
Five years ago, Hannah's husband Owen vanished without a trace, leaving Hannah and her stepdaughter Bailey to piece together a new life from the wreckage.
When Hannah spots Owen at her Los Angeles exhibition - silent, watching - she knows immediately that the danger they once escaped has found them again.
Then comes the message:
'GET OUT OF THE HOUSE. NOW'
Hannah and Bailey are forced to go on the run in a relentless race to keep their past from catching up with them, pursued by enemies they cannot see and haunted by questions that have never been answered.
Why has Owen returned? Who is hunting them?
And can they finally uncover the truth before it destroys them all?
-----------
Praise for Laura Dave and The First Time I Saw Him:
'Clever, compulsive and twisty as hell. Cancel all your plans before you start this one, I had to remind myself to breathe during the final, devastating pages' CHRIS WHITAKER, bestselling author of All the Colours of the Dark, on The Last Thing He Told Me
'Powerful, intense and beautifully observed' T.M. LOGAN, bestselling author of The Holiday
'You won't want to miss this one' HARLAN COBEN, bestselling author of Nobody's Fool
'It's gripping, twisty, exhilarating, and utterly unputdownable. Five blazing stars from me!' 5-star reader review
'Wow, I couldn't put this book down!' 5-star reader review
'Oh my word. This much-anticipated book is everything I had hoped for and more' 5-star reader review
'This book has fantastic pacing and will keep you up all night' 5-star reader review
'Pure adrenaline' 5-star reader review
'A truly gripping psychological thriller!' 5-star reader review
'One of the best books I have read this year' 5-star reader review
Reviews / Votes
A master storyteller * Harlan Coben * Action-packed and deeply felt, this sequel is every bit as incredible as The Last Thing He Told Me. Clear your schedule because once you pick this book up, you won't be able to put it down. I loved everything about it * Mary Kubica * Every single review is just out of this world and I am going to add mine. Five stars * Jennifer Garner * Dave's ability to chart her characters' emotional geography-mapping love and loss-and the way she explores their intimate connections help explain her popularity; propulsive pacing doesn't hurt, either. * Vogue * [Dave] provides plenty of twists and emphasizes the love that binds her characters together, even the bad ones. How far will they go to keep their families safe? * New York Times Book Review * An essential sequel that ties up loose threads while providing a thrilling ride across continents * Kirkus Reviews * Twists and turns will keep readers guessing throughout the novel at how it will all end. The characters' love and concern for each other show through their thoughts and actions ... This sequel is sure to be a hit. * Library Journal * Dave's writing is clear and sharp as a diamond * Time Magazine * [A] heart-pounding sequel ... The pacing is brisk from the very first page, with Dave nimbly juggling multiple perspectives and timelines en route to a finale that provides readers with satisfying answers to their questions. * Publishers Weekly * The distinctive mix of mafia saga, love story and globetrotting action thriller is just as beguiling as before * Sunday Times Culture *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Cornerstone
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 35 mm
Weight
500 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-80494-598-8 (9781804945988)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Laura Dave
The First Time I Saw Him
The unputdownable thriller from the bestselling author of The Last Thing He Told Me - now a blockbuster Apple TV show
E-Book
01/2026
Penguin (Cornerstone)
€12.99
Available for download
Person
Laura Dave is the global number one bestselling author of several novels, including The Last Thing He Told Me and Eight Hundred Grapes. Her novels have been translated into thirty-eight languages, and six of them, including The Night We Lost Him, have been optioned for film and television. She resides in Santa Monica, California.