I liked the description of the book but there was such a large cast of characters that it became a bit confusing at times and to add to that, a great many of them were just "window dressing" and had really nothing to do with the story. To Dani Sanders, turning 50 seemed like one more disappointment in her life. Her career has come to a screeching halt, her nineteen-year-old daughter with developmental issues is regressing, and Dani’s ex-husband Craig, a fertility doctor worshipped by Hollywood’s elite, is constantly upending her life. Though she doesn’t feel much like celebrating, she can’t say no when her best friend insists on planning a “creative” birthday weekend in wild, wealthy Topanga Canyon. Dani and six of her closest friends gather in the hills above the canyon at “Celestial Ranch,” 18-acres of rugged, wooded mountainside where they’ll spend three days hiking, meditating, and enjoying catered cuisine. They will also indulge in a little bit of a short-acting psychedelic drug, DMT, designed to open their senses and transport them to a higher plain. As the weekend unfolds, they discover that is often the case when "close" friends know too much about one another long-buried tensions, unresolved grievances, and old secrets usually emerge...this leaves Dani to solve or at least come to grips with these issues in her life. Dani and her friends take the drug late at night on an open hillside beneath the stars. When Dani returns from her intense “trip,” she learns that one of her friends has gone missing. Then another one disappears. Soon, Dani finds herself alone on the dark mountainside, seemingly abandoned by the people who are supposed to love her most....or have they somehow been taken from her? Dani asks herself what could she have possibly done to deserve a devastating birthday night like this...and how will she make it to the morning alone? Overall, "interesting" is the best I can describe it. Not bad but not what I really expected either. If you like a twisty and atmospheric thriller about friendship and illusion, you will probably enjoy this one. ( )

The Last Party is Cassidy Lucas's new book.

It's a first read of this author for me. And quite honestly after reading the first chapter, I thought it might not be.

Each chapter is prefaced with a date and a confirmation of whose point of view we're reading. The first chapter introduces Raj (the Drifter). Raj is mentally ill and/or high as a kite. Or both. I finished that first chapter and wondered about what I'd just read. Did I want to keep going?

It was curiosity that had me picking up the book again. The setting is the Celestial Ranch in the Topango Canyon. Seven old friends get together to celebrate Dawn's fiftieth birthday. Okay, friends might be a stretch. They used to have a connection, but something went wrong many years ago. But it's all good now - right?

Each and everyone of the guests is unlikable, dysfunctional and honestly quite cruel. The ranch staff is only Twyla, her husband and a friend of Twyla's who is a psychic. I liked Twyla and that's about it. Everyone else has their own agenda. And the birthday activities? Seriously? I won't reveal them in case you do choose read The Last Party. Bad decisions abound. Peer pressure at fifty.

The connections and behaviour of each and every player was patently ridiculous. I still kept reading, because I simply had to know what the ending would bring. Why did the author give Raj the final pages? And end it the way they did? Why not tie up the loose ends of the group of seven? What happened after the basement?

On looking at the Cassidy Lucas webpage, I learned that Cassidy Lucas is actually the pen name of writing duo Julia Fierro and Caeli Wolfson Widger. Maybe too many ideas between the two? It felt like every last one seemed to make it into this book. There were some good ideas that would have benefitted from focus, instead of so much and so many. On turning the last page, I felt a kinship with Raj - what the heck just happened.... ( )