"Skiing is better than sex actually, because for me a good round of sex might be seven minutes. Skiing you can do for seven hours. - Spalding Gray

Greta Westerlind is 35 years old and has been in Aspen, Colorado since her Swedish mother died and her twin brother joined the Army Rangers fifteen years ago. She loves skiing and has been on the Ski Patrol at Aspen for the last ten years, getting paid to do what she loves.

She lives in an A-frame an old friend left to her in a life trust and she's pretty darn happy with her life. Until she and her best friend are caught in an avalanche. She lives and he doesn't. And she can't remember why they were in the dangerous avalanche prone area to begin with.

Events go rapidly downhill after that with a series of accidents and someone actually trying to kill her and she's second guessing herself at every turn.

I loved this mystery thriller that revolved around downhill skiing. I spent years in Colorado and love downhill skiing. I never made it to Aspen (too spendy for me) but skiied at many nearby ski resorts so this book brought back many great memories to me.

I liked protagonist Greta. I like that this is the first book in a series about her. I enjoyed the mystery - I figured out who but not why beforehand.

I received this book from Severn House through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review."

"It’s a hell of a bachelorette party when you wake with a stranger in your bed. Then hell gets even hotter when you remember you are the bride. But the guy is hot, so maybe it ain’t all bad. Wait, wait, what are you thinking?
But then hell really turns up the flames when you get the phone call telling you one of your dearest friends, Angie, is dead, murdered type dead. Well at least you have an alibi, but not one you want to use under almost any circumstance.
In The Last Night Out; Suzanne, Carole Anne, Kelly, Angie and bride Maggie are the closest of friends. They celebrate Maggie’s upcoming nuptials to wealthy and socially prominent Flynn at Carol Anne’s house, and afterwards Maggie, Suzanne and Angie decide to finish the night at a Rush street bar. It is refreshing to read a mystery set in Chicago rather than L.A or New York.
Maggie is the lucky bride, and the “author� of this “manuscript� that comes into Kelly's possession years after the events, so there is an epilogue and a postscript. It is an interesting concept of the author and works well.
I liked the different POVs, even though they are Maggie’s creations for the manuscript.
I enjoyed the twist and turns of this story, I thought Catherine O’Connell did an excellent job with her plotting and characterizations.
The five women are far from perfect; for some, their sins would keep a priest in shock for a long time, especially in 1988 when all this takes place. A few of the other women are more sinned against than sinning,
I also thought The Last Night Out was an original story and I was caught by surprise several times, although O’Connell’s steps were logical.
There was one plot twist I either missed or misunderstood. I’m going to blame the author for not being clear enough.
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange of a fair and honest review."

"What I really liked about this book is the unique protagonist, a savvy ski patroller named Greta Westerlind. She's wants to get to the bottom of the mystery of why she and a friend were skiing in dangerous terrain that tooks her friend's life and left her with no memory of the avalanche. Great scenes of Aspen lifestyle and the luxury of St. Moritz. There's a double mystery that reveals itself at the end. I don't even ski and I loved this book. Finished in a day. Totally recommended!"

"
I read this book in no time, perhaps about the same speed as it takes to ski down a mountain lol.

The opening to the book captured me straight away and I felt the anxiety and claustrophobia of Greta as the avalanche came down around her. Greta can’t recall what happened or why she was on the mountain and is heartbroken to learn her friend and ski buddy Warren died in the avalanche. Following this there is a CO leakage at Greta’s home in the middle of the night and she narrowly escapes with her life. The doctor who is treating her jokes that she is at the hospital more often than he is and so he asks her out for dinner. If doesn’t take Greta long to become smitten with him.
However she can’t help thinking someone is out to get her and she desperately wants to remember what happened that day with Warren. But who can she trust?

This story was a little slow at times but it helped build up the atmosphere and characters. The descriptions of Aspen really made me feel like I was there and I was immersed in the story. Overall a great, quick thrilling read. "