《The Last One at the Wed­ding》 is a domes­tic thriller by Jason Reku­lak, pub­lished on Octo­ber 8, 2024. The nov­el fol­lows Frank Sza­tows­ki, a UPS dri­ver from Penn­syl­va­nia, who is sur­prised when his estranged daugh­ter, Mag­gie, con­tacts him after three years to invite him to her wed­ding in New Hamp­shire. Upon arrival, Frank dis­cov­ers that Mag­gie’s fiancé, Aidan Gard­ner, is the son of a renowned tech bil­lion­aire, and the wed­ding is set at the fam­i­ly’s seclud­ed and opu­lent estate. As Frank attempts to recon­nect with his daugh­ter and under­stand the Gard­ner fam­i­ly, he encoun­ters Aidan’s eva­sive behav­ior and notices the locals’ hos­til­i­ty toward the Gard­ners. Deter­mined to uncov­er the truth, Frank risks fur­ther alien­ation from Mag­gie. ​

The nov­el delves into themes of fam­i­ly dynam­ics, class ten­sions, and the com­plex­i­ties of parental rela­tion­ships. Crit­ics have praised Reku­lak’s sto­ry­telling, with Michael Kory­ta, a New York Times best­selling author, describ­ing the book as “a mar­velous blend of mys­tery, fam­i­ly dra­ma, class ten­sion, hor­ror, humor, and heart.” How­ev­er, some read­ers have not­ed that while the plot is engag­ing, cer­tain char­ac­ter behav­iors may chal­lenge read­er sym­pa­thies.