The Final Chapter

"C.B. Everett is a master of fiendishly-plotted, intelligent mysteries." --Mark Edwards, internationally bestselling author of The Wasp Trap

A missing bestselling author. A final manuscript encoded with clues to his fate. And a best friend racing to get to the final chapter...

From the author of the "blackly funny" (John Connolly, New York Times bestselling author) The Other People, a gripping book-within-a-book thriller that is perfect for fans of Anthony Horowitz and Janice Hallett.

Ten years ago, a bestselling, critically acclaimed literary author disappeared without a trace...and without a final novel. In recent days, that missing manuscript has surfaced, but strangely enough, it's not another genius work of literary fiction, but an espionage novel full of all-too-stereotypical spycraft and James Bond-like twists.

His former publisher has asked the author's best friend--and fellow author named C.B. Everett--to annotate the novel with details from real life to give the strange novel context within his larger oeuvre. But as C.B. reads, he finds the espionage thriller is filled with references to events and people who feel a little too familiar, and soon he's wondering if the novel might in fact be a key to his missing friend's disappearance. There's text and subtext aplenty, and C.B. is determined to learn once and for all what happened to his friend through solving the mystery woven into the pages. But the final chapter may hold secrets darker and more threatening than anyone anticipated.

An unputdownable, twisty thriller, The Final Chapter asks us: how well do we really know our closest friends? And how well do we know ourselves?

Author: C. B. Everett
Publisher: Atria Books
Published: 06/02/2026
Pages: 384
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.15lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.20w x 1.50d
ISBN: 9781668058336


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 04/13/2026

About the Author
C.B. Everett is the pen name for author Martyn Waites. He trained at the Birmingham School and worked as an actor for many years before becoming a writer. His novels include the critically acclaimed Joe Donovan series, The Old Religion, and The White Room. In 2013, he was chosen to write Angel of Death, the official sequel to Susan Hill's The Woman in Black, and in 2014 won the Grand Prix for Born Under Punches. He has been nominated for every major British and French crime fiction award and has also enjoyed international commercial success with eight novels written under the name Tania Carver.