Always The First To Die Review

Author: R.J. Jacobs

Genre: Suspense Thriller

Publisher: Sourcebooks

Release Date: Sept. 13, 2022

Order Link: Amazon

Many thanks to Sourcebooks for an arc of this book.

Review published in Mystery & Suspense Magazine

For fans of Riley Sager with a classic slasher twist, Always the First to Die follows a former horror movie actress as she returns to the set of her most iconic film, only to find that the strange circumstances begin to resemble the plot of her most famous film.

Review:

Always The First To Die is a highly atmospheric, dual timeline thriller with a killer setting, including an old, rundown hotel known as Pinecrest Estate that was once the site of the filming of the ill fated, some say cursed,  horror film Breathless.  The film was directed by the famous Rick Plummer who was known to terrorize his actors in order to capture their authentic terror on film. Adding to the sinister ambiance in the present is the Category Four hurricane raging across the island, leaving everyone who didn't get out in time cut off from the outside world.  No power.  No phone.  No help.  Jacobs delivers a setting that reeks of danger complete with torrential rain, shutters flapping, wind howling, trees toppling and could it possibly be old ghosts taunting?  Rick now owns the decaying mansion and is planning to film the sequel to Breathless there . . . and mother nature has provided the perfect backdrop.  He couldn't have set the scene any better if he tried.

Liv escaped the Keys twenty years ago and vowed never to return. As a teenager, her walk-on roll in the horror film was upgraded to a major role when the lead actress became too spooked to continue.  When the movie ended in tragedy, Liv left home with the only good thing to come out of the nightmare - she married Cam Plummer, son of Rick.  They moved away and had a daughter.  Now Liv learns that their daughter Quinn lied to her about a school field trip in order to slip away and travel to Pinecrest Estate to see her grandfather Rick Plummer, knowing she's forbidden to speak to him.  Cam had mysteriously disappeared the previous year while at the haunted estate writing a book and is presumed dead.  Liv is both scared to death and angry at her daughter's deception, but for the moment her main goal is to get to the island and rescue Quinn from both the storm . . . and Rick Plummer.  The story that ensues is a horror film in the making.

Always The First To Die unfolds through dual timelines - twenty years ago at the filming of the original film and now all these years later in the present in Liv's point of view.  It's a highly effective way of rendering this story as it serves to keep the musky air of impending doom ever present and hanging over each character's head.  In many ways, the past/present stories mirror each other as events spiral out of control.  Characters are well fleshed out and mostly believable although I feel like the daughter Quinn presents as younger and less mature than her age would indicate.  The tone and pace elevate as the story progresses, building tension and trepidation.  There seems to always be a question as to the source of the incidents randomly occurring  in the old mansion - are they caused by a real person or something else?  And why are events so reminiscent of the original film screenplay?  Coincidence?  Or set up? 

Fans of old horror films with slasher vibes are sure to enjoy the dark, convoluted and twisted Always The First To Die with it's eerily creepy tone and setting.  While it didn't have me looking over my shoulder at every creaking noise, I found it to be well written and expertly delivered.  In my eyes, the setting is the main character and star of the show.  Grab this one if you enjoy a touch of horror with suspense now and then.  You may be surprised at who done it.

Synopsis:

After her husband's death, Lexi has refused to return to the Pinecrest Estate on the Florida Keys, too many hard memories on that strip of land. Memories of meeting her husband on the set of an iconic horror movie. Of being cast as an extra, of watching herself get killed on screen. And of scoffing at the rumors of the Pinecrest Estate "curse," until she witnessed a cast member die that very summer. But when her daughter sneaks away to visit her grandfather, legendary horror movie director Rick Plummer, Lexi is forced to face her past. That's when a Category Four hurricane changes course, and hits the southern coast.

Unable to get through to her daughter, Lexi drives to the Keys in the wake of the storm. What she finds is an island without cell service, without power, and with limited police presence. A desolate bit of land, with only a few remaining behind: the horror director, the starlet once cast as the final girl, the young teenager searching for clues of her father, the mother determined to get off the island, and...the person picking them off one-by-one.

Soon enough Lexi's life begins to resemble Rick's most famous horror film, and she must risk her life to save her daughter before someone, or something, destroys them all.