One Last Breath

By: Ginny Myers Sain

Narrated by: Sophie Amoss

The New York Times bestselling author of Dark & Shallow Lies delivers another chilling supernatural thriller filled with murder, romance, and a decades-long mystery that haunts a small Florida town.

The perfect blend of Natasha Preston, Krystal Sutherland, and Delia Owens, with a paranormal twist.

Mount Orange, Florida, is famous for two things: cerulean freshwater springs, ideal for free divers who aren't afraid of lurking gators. And the gruesome cold case murder of best friends, Bailey and Celeste, twenty years ago.

Bailey and Celeste's murders cast a permanent darkness over sunny Mount Orange. Tru has always lived in that shadow. Now she's supposed to head to FSU in the fall with her boyfriend, but those unsolved murders—and the death of her own sister—invade her every thought. It’s only in the shadowy deep of Hidden Glen Springs that she can breathe.

When a strange girl named Rio rolls into town, hell-bent on figuring out who killed Bailey and Celeste, Tru can't resist entangling herself in the thrill of solving the decades old mystery any more than she can resist her familiar, aching attraction to Rio.

As the summer heat ignites, so does the spark between Tru and Rio…along with their otherworldy connection to Bailey and Celeste. But when someone begins stalking them, the girls become convinced the killer is back in town. And if they keep digging into the past, Tru and Rio know this time, it could be their blood that makes the springs run red.

©2024 Ginny Myers Sain (P)2024 Listening Library

Critic reviews

"Suspense drips from every scene, and the alarming and scary elements build expertly toward a thrilling climax that will surprise even devoted fans of the genre." —Kirkus Reviews

"Murder, suspense, and reincarnation blend together in Sain's latest psychological thriller. Sain pulls no punches in telling her story." —Booklist

"Sain weaves together a grounded depiction of the stifling closeness and quirky personalities of a small Florida town, beautiful descriptions of free diving in freshwater springs, and a propulsive, true crime–informed murder investigation to craft a page-turning thriller." —PW

Take a breather!

The author makes me feel that I am part of the story an escape from my everyday life! I love how she leads you through the emotions and grabs your soul. Her style is worth the time you take from your day to catch your breath from the world! This book is captivating and it took my breath away!

Keeps You Wondering

What am absolutely awesome listen. my first Murder, Mystery, Romance novel. What a gem! I was always wondering what would happen next. Great story!

Excellent Read!

I love the Florida setting. I loved the supernatural, true crime themes. The characters were so easy to love and I could easily imagine the setting. The author does such a wonderful job describing Florida. It felt like my backyard. The twists and turns you go through in the end will keep you guessing!! Totally worth listening to or reading!!

Look forward to every new book!

I love these stories. They really captivate me. I look forward to each new one you come out with. Thank you for sharing such awesome stories!

Terrible, poorly written with redundant filler.

This book just kept getting worse. Ridiculous, irrelevant to the plot, redundant filler.

I’ve binge read Ginny Myers Sain for the last couple months after reading her 5 star Secrets So Deep. I don’t know how this was written by the same author. This will absolutely be my last Sain novel, ever.

The premise started off well in the first few chapters, but derailed with the distracting, forced, interjected relationship subplots. The “romances” were boring and did not further the plot. So much filler with these relationships and some awkward attempts at trying to push the not so hidden author’s agenda of “finding yourself”, “coming out”, and “becoming who you were meant to be” caused the mystery plot to be lost.

The character development was extremely weak. Their physical characteristics, conversations, mannerisms, and actions were described in detail over and over and over, but there were no layers to the characters. It kept me from really caring what happened to any of them. It was made acceptable for ALL of the shallow characters to engage in recreational drug/alcohol use as an outlet for trauma and sadness, rather than overcoming and persevering.

The ‘clues’ to the mystery were implausible, conveniently laid out to try to provide some kind of staged evidence that had been overlooked by incompetent (of course) law enforcement, another of the authors agendas. Example: cigarette butts from 20 plus year old crimes, crime photos in plain sight that no one had bothered to look at, and the logic to the chain necklace as “clues” was ridiculous.

There is an attempt at a twist, with the wholehearted belief in reincarnation to explain and resolve the mystery.

The only thing I found good about this book was the narration by Sophie Amoss. She easily transitioned between male and female characters, young and middle aged, well done.

I had to set the audio speed on 1.5x for the last 4 hours, as I struggled to DNF…and the ending was just more of the same.