The First Time I Saw Him by Laura Dave is a thrilling story feat. Hannah and Owen, who has re appeared suddenly after 5 years and so is the danger on the family…
What happens next…let’s dive in.
If you like such thriller, then you can take a sneak peek of The Tenant by Freida McFadden.
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“Five years after her husband, Owen, disappeared, Hannah Hall and her stepdaughter have started putting the past behind them.
But when Owen shows up at Hannah’s new exhibition, she knows that they are in danger again.
Hannah is forced to go on the run in a relentless race to get Bailey to safety—and finds there just might be a way back to Owen and their long-awaited second chance.”
Book Review: The First Time I Saw Him (Hannah Hall #2)
Five years ago, Owen Michaels disappeared and no one knows why. He left behind a bag of cash (??), a cryptic note that said “Keep her safe”. Telling his wife Hannah to look after his daughter Bailey. Fun times.
Somehow—miraculously—Hannah and Bailey grew out of that mess. They finally get to know each other. They healed. They built a quiet out of all the chaos kinda life in California with Bailey’s grandfather Nicholas, who loves her very much and definitely has a past.
Bailey grew up, found her voice, wrote a musical (overachiever behavior), and Hannah finally started believing that the chaos chapter was closed.
Spoiler alert: it was not.
Also Read: The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark
Because Owen shows up. Briefly. Casually. At Hannah’s art exhibition. Like a ghost who never learned social boundaries. One look at him and Hannah knows—danger!. Why now? Why after five years?
Cue the running.
As Hannah and Bailey go back on the move, the story bounces between the present-day escape and the past that caused all of this in the first place. We dig into families with background as red as blood.
Can love survive betrayal, abandonment, and years of silence? And is a second chance possible?
| Genre | Mystery Thriller |
| Number of Pages | 288 pages |
| My Rating | 4⭐⭐️⭐️⭐️ |
| Release Date | January 6, 2026 |
The First Time I Saw Him Summary Spoilers
Trigger Warnings:
- Grief/loss
- Violence and blood
- Threats
So, the story gets its pace when Bailey is grown and no longer looking at Hannah like she personally ruined her childhood. Nicholas, Bailey’s grandfather, is always loving and protective. Really..? Hiding something? What’s say..??
And then—peace is an illusion—Owen shows up.
Just briefly. At Hannah’s art exhibition. someone is saying: you’re in danger again. No hugs. No explanations. Just vibes. Bad ones. Guess who..?
So Hannah does what she was trained to do years ago: she runs. With Bailey. Again.
“The past doesn’t stay buried when it knows your name.”
As the stuff moves in quick, the story flips between the present everything which is going and the past mess that caused all of this.
The readers soon gets to know about complex relationship between Nicholas and Frank, a crime boss who proves that loving your family and making other people’s lives difficult can, unfortunately, coexist. Who’s actually protecting whom here?
Meanwhile, Owen stays mostly in the background only, watching from afar, still choosing distance over comfort for Hannah and Bailey’s safety. Romantic? In a deeply stressful, emotionally complicated way—sure.
Similar Read: The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
The First Time I Saw Him Ending (Spoiler-Free):
The big question hanging over everything isn’t will someone die so much as can this ever really be over? Can you protect the people you love without disappearing from their lives?
By the end, the danger settles. Hannah and Bailey are safe. The past loosens its grip—just enough.
Messy. Human. Exactly on brand.
Quotes:
“Some people disappear to protect the ones they love.”
Also Read: Strangers in Time by David Baldacci
Final Verdict?
But all in all, if you like mystery thrillers with a solid female lead then you will surely like it.
Who should read it:
- If you are one who loved The Last Thing He Told Me and need closure.
- If you like to enjoy fast-paced, one-sitting reads that fly.
- If you want to see a strong FMC who doesn’t fall apart.
- If you love imagining, “What would I do in their place?”
Books like The First Time I Saw Him by Laura Dave:
- The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen
- The Night We Lost Him by Laura Dave
About the Author:
Laura Dave is NY Times bestselling novelist, few of her famous books are The Last Thing He Told Me and Eight Hundred Grapes etc.
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