I have to be frank with you all. I almost DNFed this multiple times. Ultimately I was glad I didn’t, but this was a rough one to get through.

My main issue with the book is the dialogue was so, so terrible. It felt contrived and extremely fake. Literally, no people talk the way these characters do, and I wish the author had found a more natural way to convey the information to the reader.

That being said, it wasn’t all bad. The premise of this is very unique, and I not only genuinely had no idea where this was going, I really wanted to find out, so I’m glad I pushed through. I think the ending wasn’t as exciting as I’d hoped it would be, but the final scene was delightful and the journey to get there was interesting.

Also Dean did a great job of conveying tension with the way he laid this out. I was physically anxious a lot of the time I was reading this, which made me even more invested in finding out what was going on.

So overall, I do think this was worth the read, if you ignore the atrocity of the dialogue. Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for the ARC of this. The Last One is coming out August 8th!

Thank you NetGalley, Atria Books, and Will Dean for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

I loved Will Dean's last book First Born so I had high hopes for this one and this one did not disappoint! I highly recommend going into this one blind and I don't want to say too much because I don't want to spoil anything but this one kept me on the edge of my seat THE ENTIRE way through! There were so many twists that I didn't see coming which I absolutely love, but while I wasn't crazy about the ending, I'm still giving this one 4 stars because the rest of the book was so wonderfully done!

Cannot wait for his next one!!

✂️ P L O T L I N E
Caz is finally getting away for her first oversees cruise vacation with her boyfriend Pete. On her their first night away they have the time of their lives making friends, exploring the ship, and just enjoying life. The next morning Caz wakes up and Pete is gone, in fact everyone is gone and the ship is deserted. This is not the vacation she ever imagined. This is just the beginning of the twists and turns this book will take you through. Get ready to have a mind blowing experience in this mystery read.

💭 ⓂⓎ ⓉⒽⓄⓊⒼⒽⓉⓈ
This book was a trip. Completely mind blowing and fast paced. I was fully invested for most of it…then I got to the end and it just didn’t do it for me. I’ve been debating between rating this 3.5 stars or 4 stars. I think I’m going to go with 4⭐️ because although I didn’t love the ending, there were so many twists and turns that I didn’t see coming and this book really kept me on my toes. I highly recommend going in blind for this one. I’ve kept my review pretty vague because anything else I say would totally be a spoiler.

📚 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
💫Fast paced page turners
💫Lots of twists and turns
💫Mystery on cruise ship
💫Short chapters

🛳️𝕄𝕐 ℝ𝔸𝕋𝕀ℕ𝔾🛳️
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🙏 Thank you NetGalley, Atria Books, and Will Dean for this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts 💕

When Caroline and Pete go on a long awaited cruise she is so excited she owns a café and it is her first time away not to mention Pete is the first person she has been close to since the tragedy with her father. When she wakes up the first morning of the cruise he is gone and she eventually finds she is left on a big cruise ship with an American man name Smith an Asian American named Danny and a fellow Britt named Franny, Who is a student. Let me just say they said this book was like a locked room mystery but a cruise ship is bigger than most small towns with great restaurants casinos shows ET see I also want to say I did not like Caroline who went by Cass I was so over listening to the tragedy about her dad I was over how self-important she thought she was I mean she was worried her 50 year old sister and her elderly mom wasn’t going to make it without her and her mom was in a care home with professionals all around. Not to mention this book would’ve been half the length if the author would’ve taken out all of her moaning and groaning about everything mentioned above. Now having said that I couldn’t stop reading this book and although there were times during Carolinas inner dialogue that I did flip a page or two and usually when I do that I don’t read the book more than three stars but this book was so good besides all that I gave it for. I really thought Smith was going to be the enemy of the four people left but he turned out to be my favorite character. He kept talking about how he paid for the diamond level service how he was going to soon the tourism company and kept demanding things and I really thought he would be the least dependable person on board but turned out to be just as reliable as the rest. I also want to say the white evil dog broke my heart because I kept thinking if someone paid for him to go on a cruise they must really love him and where were they now? They have a lot of great West in this book and OMG the ballroom was the best! Especially since just having heard about the red room I think welding deathly plotted the book I just think the narrative needs a little cleaning up because he definitely got the point across about Caroline and her issue with her dad. I gave this book 4 stars in it deserves everyone of them and has the potential to get an even higher rating if when they make the movie they leave out 50% of said narrative. The twist or phenomenal and I didn’t read first born by this author but I am definitely downloading it as soon as I post this review because everyone says it’s way better than The Last One by Will Dean and this one was so close to phenomenal I can’t even imagine how great that one can be. I love this book and highly recommend it if you love a great intellectual game of cat and mouse then you definitely need to read this book. I want to think atria books and net galley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

What in the actual world. That ending. THAT ENDING! My mind is blown.

THE LAST ONE is a wild, unpredictable ride. Caz is on a cruise with her boyfriend, but when she wakes up after her first night on board, everyone is gone. Like, there are no other passengers or crew or even a captain on board. The Atlantica is just cruising along in the Atlantic Ocean with Caz as its lone passenger.

I don’t want to say anything else because it will ruin the surprises.

THE LAST ONE is definitely a mystery. It’s a thriller, too, but I was really creeped out in some parts, so it has some definite horror elements.

I didn’t expect the twists in this book. At all. The ending gave me full body chills. And it brought a three-star book up to four stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an ARC of THE LAST ONE and the opportunity to give my honest opinion.

Will Dean returns following First Born with his latest, THE LAST ONE —a mind-bending locked-in thriller when a woman finds herself trapped on an exclusive cruiser liner and everyone goes missing.

Caz and Pete are on vacation, the exclusive cruise liner, RMS Atlantica. Everything goes well on the first night, and they enjoy themselves; however, the following day, Pete is missing along with the other passengers.

She is shocked and fearful when she discovers all the cabin doors are open and horrified there are no passengers or crew. What comes next is a terrifying journey.

Three other passengers turn up: Smith, Daniel, and Frannie, and we do not learn much about them.

Will Caz make it out alive and solve the mystery?

While many may enjoy this one for entertainment alone, for me, not so much—The setting was good; however, I found it to be too over the top with two crazy twists.

THE LAST ONE reminds me of a TV series (which I do not care for) —one I will not name, which would be a plot spoiler. Yes, there are twists and turns, a maze of danger, madness, intrigue, mystery, and misdirection, with feelings of claustrophobia and fear, grappling for survival and a way out. However, I prefer my thrillers to be more believable. I was not invested in any of the characters and felt the book was too long.

One place you will never find me is on a cruise ship, even before this book. While I did not enjoy this one as much as First Born, I look forward to his next one.

Thanks to Atria Books for a gifted ARC via NetGalley for an honest opinion.

Blog review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 3.5 Stars
Pub Date: Aug 8, 2023

The last one by will dean is a very intriguing set up that sets it apart from the field. Caz and her boyfriend Peter are vacationing on a cruise ship across the Atlantic when she wakes up one day to find herself completely alone on the ship. Where is everyone else and why was caz chosen to remain on board? That set up hooked me up, but I wouldn’t consider this a “locked room”thriller. Once the reader finds out what is going on on the ship, the genre slightly shifts (I don’t want to give too much away). I was slightly disappointed about halfway through as the intriguing premise begins to become bogged down and starts to drag a bit. Overall, an enjoyable read but definitely not what I expected and not as fast paced as I hoped it to be.
However, fans of dean will enjoy this no doubt and he will garner new fans I’m sure.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I had a very hard time getting into this "locked room thriller" I have decided that locked room thrillers are not my thing. That being said this book had an interesting plot but I felt it dragged out.

That ending, wow! Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and Will Dean for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review. As mentioned, what an incredible ending. I mean from the very beginning I was hooked. This is my 2nd Will Dean novel and not disappointed at all. The story follows Caroline (Caz), an introvert middle-aged woman, who goes on vacation with her boyfriend, Pete. This said vacation is on a ocean liner (said to be twice as big as the Titanic) crossing the Atlantic. Getting the vibes?
Everything is going great until the next day Caz wakes up alone...entirely. MIND BLOWN!

Now, I try to put myself in her shoes and honestly, I would've died from the initial shock of, well, everything! But then again, we don't know what we're capable of until we're put in extreme situations. All in all, I had fun, I had small heart skips, I was entertained. Dare I say a sequel? We can only dream and wait. 4.5 stars for me! Thank you, Will.

The intriguing premise was sadly undercut by the lackluster reveal, which felt like a cheap trick. No spoilers but I found it horribly disappointing.

This was a highly entertaining novel. I loved all the twists and turns, but it's definitely not for everyone. If you don't enjoy horror/psychological thrillers, look away now.

[My only real annoyance with this novel is that it was really long. Most of the time, I expect thrillers to be quick reads, but this one took me several days to finish. At the same time, I felt like I couldn't flip the pages fast enough. I wasn't a huge fan of the first ending, but the second ending was an absolute cliffhanger and I hope there's a sequel because I need answers (hide spoiler)]

Review will be posted on Instagram (@ellie.reads.a.lot) by publication date

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria publishing for this advance copy of The Last One by Will Dean in exchange for my honest review.

WOW this one was a trip! Such a unique premise - Caz is aboard a luxury cruise liner with her boyfriend when all of a sudden, she wakes up and there is no one on the ship. While this premise is unique, this happens in the first 30 pages of the book, and what spirals from there is WILD. I honestly don’t want to say too much more because this one took off on a totally random direction. My one very minor critique is that this book is long - a bit too long IMO. There’s quite a few introspective sections into Caz’s inner monologue, and while that’s important for the story, I’m not sure it really needed to be done as much as it was. Also, I’m struggling to find the connection with all the dogs on board (for my animal lovers that worry about this stuff, yes, the dogs are all fine and nothing bad happens to them!) - I *think* it might have represented that there was some sort of “life” on the ship alone with humans, but I’m not totally sure. Overall, still enjoyed this one immensely and was super engaged the whole time.

Thank you again to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC - The Last One by Will Dean is out next Tuesday, 8/8/23!

This was a page turner for me. I read it in 2 days and every chapter kept me coming back because I just needed to understand what was happening and why it was happening. The short chapters were a gigantic plus for me too. It was such a unique storyline and I loved the idea of it.

However, once we figure out what’s happening it was all so disappointing for me. I also couldn’t form any emotional attachment to any of the characters and the book was entirely too long - it could have been at least 100 pages shorter. I also don’t understand why the author had to go there with that very last line. I wish he would have ended it when he should have ended it.

I’d LOVE to hear your thoughts on this one if you decide to pick it up. It is a ride!

Read if you enjoy:
📺 Reality TV
😬 Fast paced, nail biting situations
🙁 Unreliable narrators
👍🏻 Short chapters

Ok, WOW. This was a new author for me, and I was not totally enamored but was not disappointed either. The story is a total trip, and it is best to go in blind like I did. Also, don't expect a believable story, just go with it. If you do these things, you are in for a wild ride. Caz wakes on a cruise to find her boyfriend and pretty much everyone else gone. What follows is a pretty fast-paced, mostly thrilling, dark and disturbing tale. I enjoyed this for the most part. What did I not like? Extremely short chapters. Normally I like that, I just found some of them a bit jarring as each one seemed to end on a major cliffhanger. That was not all bad, though. There is also not a lot of character development and I found it hard to root for Caz. What did I like? Pretty much everything else! I still couldn't put this one down! Give it a chance, as it is very different as locked room thrillers go and I am definitely looking forward to reading more from this author!

Thank you to #NetGalley, Will Dean and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I will post my review to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Instagram and various other retail and social media sites upon publication.

Hoooo. Leeeee. Crap!!!

That was one thrilling, sadistic, just plain messed up roller coaster ride. I devoured it.

I really did not know what to expect - even the description of the book (that I read afterwards, because I like surprises) wouldn’t have ruined anything except for maybe the first 5 percent of the story.

At one point, I thought the book was ruined. I had been guessing and guessing what could possibly be going on and then it was answered. Plain and simple. And I thought it was going to be horrible. I kind of wanted to guess until the end - it was that suspenseful.

But it was crazy good. And bad. Because I felt guilty reading it and enjoying it so much. I can’t explain why to avoid spoilers. Let’s just say I felt like a spectator - and that was wrong. But I know it isn’t real, which is my only defense!

This is a spectacular book. And that ending!?! OMG.

Welcome aboard the RMS Atlantica! Caz and her new boyfriend, Pete, are looking forward to a relaxing vacation as they cruise from Great Britain to New York on the luxury liner. But when Caz wakes up after their first night at sea, it is to an empty bed -- Pete is nowhere to be found. And then she makes an even more startling realization: All of the passengers are missing. Caz is alone on a massive ship in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean.

That's all I'm going to say about the plot, because the less you know going in to this unputdownable book, the better your reading experience will be. Will Dean has taken a traditional locked room thriller to the seas in this intense, adrenaline-fueled thrill ride, and I couldn't devour it fast enough. With short chapters, propulsive writing, and lots of cliffhangers and life-or-death circumstances, this 400+-page book felt much shorter, and I was riveted the entire time.

Dean manages to balance an incredibly exciting plot with rich character development and thought-provoking criticism of certain elements of modern life, and it all makes for a fascinating, dramatic, and at times incredibly dark reading experience. And that ending! I have some theories about what it really meant, but definitely wouldn't be opposed to a sequel.

There are so many twists, there is so much suspense, it's so engaging and has a bit more meat to the characters than I typically find in a locked room thriller. The Last One is exactly the kind of book I love to read in the summertime, preferably with a cold drink in my hand...but definitely not on a cruise ship. Thank you to Atria/Emily Bestler Books and NetGalley for the early reading opportunity.

Just wow! Will Dean hits it out of the park! Full disclosure I’m exhausted and have a huge book hangover from this book!
The characters were fantastic. This story was off the charts heavy and intense. What a creepy great deep dive of the human mind, heart and soul.
Thank you to NetGalley, Will Dean and Atria Books for the opportunity to read and review this book

Caz wakes up after her first night on a luxury cruise ship to find she is the only one on this ship. What happened? Where is everyone? Who is steering the ship?

To keep this completely spoiler free my review is limited, and you should go into this book knowing nothing other than…

It is supposed to be a very long overdue vacation for Caz, but boy did it take a turn towards terrifying. This one had be strapped in. I could not put it down. The tension was unbearable, never knowing what would come next. The twists were shocking, and the ending left me speechless.

I don’t think I can fully convey how much I enjoyed this book. Will Dean kept me guessing to the very end. It was utterly gripping, and a fresh story filled with thrills, horrors, and suspense. If you’re looking for a book that will have your anxiety at 100, you will love this.

- Short Chapters
- Cliff Hangers
- Unpredictable
- Locked Room Mystery
- Survivor on steroids

This was my first Will Dean novel, and it will not be my last.

*Thank you to Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for my ARC in exchange for an honest unbiased review *

After boarding a luxury cruise ship with her boyfriend, a woman wakes up the next morning to find that she is the only person left onboard. It’s survivalist story, part locked room mystery, and full blown nuts. The writing is bad, the book is too long, the story is absolutely ridiculous, but I’ll be dammed if I didn’t stay up all night reading this. If nothing else, it’s certainly memorable.

Overall, this was a fun ride. I would advise other readers to go into the story without knowing too much about what is REALLY going on (that is revealed about 30% of the way in). There were some good twists and turns throughout the book. The one thing that didn't work for me were the super short chapters - normally that is catnip for me! But in this case, I think the chapters were so short that it took me out of the action at a few points.

** I received an e-ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.