The Last One by Will Dean is a fast-paced, tension-filled, edge-of-your-seat thrilling read.

Wow what a crazy ride reading "The Last One"!
This was a quick, heart-stopping, exciting psychological thriller that had me reading till early morning hours to scarf this story down!
It pulled me in from the very start, and I just could not stop until I got to the end.
The characters are well developed, interesting and they really pull you into their world.
Deans storytelling is excellent, the story is accompanied with an amazing storyline, and the plots are superbly executed and revealed by the author, making this overall such a pleasant read.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Whoa. What a crazy story. I didn't read any reviews before diving into this one. I just read a quick blurb that hooked me in and away I went. Boy, I am so glad that I knew so little before I started. Things heat up quickly and the reveals pour out on every single page. While I struggled to like most of the characters, by the end I understood why they fit the mould that they each did.
This one is fun and while you may or may not love the main twist, you'll certainly be entertained for the duration of the voyage.

This was so unexpected and I appreciated that the synopsis gave nothing away! I had no idea what this story was actually going to be about, and once I found out what was really going on, I was IN. It was unique and addicting and I couldn’t put it down. The last sentence was BANANAS and I kinda wish it just kept going.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the digital advanced copy.

When Caz wakes up to find herself alone on a cruise liner, she starts to panic. Where is her boyfriend Pete who she’s on the cruise with? Where is the captain, and other travelers? Where did they all go? As she gets closer to the truth, she’s determined to survive the journey.

I really wanted this to work but it felt like two different stories. It’s explained why it changes genre direction, but it didn’t feel seamless. The first half of the book reminded me so much of the Netflix’s 1899 series, which if you love mind bending science fiction movies you have to watch! The second half of the book felt like a mixture of SAW toned down with Blair Braverman’s Small Game. Our characters felt flat and I never connected to any of them. I didn’t even find myself rooting for anyone in particular.

*Spoilers but not really*

Plotwise I was invested but there are so many things that don’t make sense. Why would anyone just leave their loved one behind on the ship? What exactly is this show? Why did we have to get the actors involved? What the HECK with that is with that ending and is there a second book planned Who greenlighted this show and I hope they have the bunch funding set aside for PTSD claims.

Realistically, I get why people are giving it 5 and 4 stars. It’s unique and it definitely held my attention but then it just tries to do too much. At over 400pages it’s just too long and didn’t stop while it was ahead. For me it worked, until it didn’t, and I just CANNOT with the ending. This has probably been the least helpful review I’ve ever written, as it’s hard to talk about without giving away major plot points. My advice, if you want to give it a go though, get it from the library.


The Last One comes out August 8, 2023. Huge thank you to Atria for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion. If you liked this review, please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my instagram @speakingof.books.

Picture this: You go on a cruise with your partner, but when you wake up the next morning, they're gone, and you find yourself alone on the cruise. Where is everyone? Who is driving the ship? What's happening?

Prepare for a non-stop, heart-pounding, action-packed thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. This was a wild ride! The anxiety-inducing plot and short chapters will leave you craving more, making it impossible to put this book down. It's definitely a binge-worthy experience, and I'm genuinely sad that it's over.

One of the best thrillers I've read in a long time, but be prepared for a truly criminal ending. What was that? How could you do that to us, Will Dean?

I can't help but mention that a major plot twist reminded me of one of my favorite Goosebumps books. Even though I doubt anyone else would pick up on it, I couldn't help but see the R.L. Stine vibes throughout the entire book. It's not a complaint because it actually made me scream and toss my Kindle aside. This was an awesome experience to say the least.

Overall, this book is scary summer fun, and Will Dean has gained a fan in me!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Atria Books, and Will Dean for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for this eARC. “WOW” and “WTF” are all I can really say without giving away more than the book’s description. This is a page turner with short chapters and many twists. It was less mystery and more action packed/survivor oriented than I anticipated, but I enjoyed every bit of it! The Last One by Will Dean comes out on August 8, 2023.

Caz is on the Atlantica, a luxury cruise liner with her new boyfriend. After their first night, Caz wakes up alone. She quickly realizes the entire ship is empty.

This was a very exciting and fast paced read. Once I started it I couldn’t put it down. You definitely want to avoid spoilers for this once because it would be easy to ruin the experience. It’s all a big mystery and you find out a little more and a little more as time goes by. The few last pages were too much for me, which was also my experience with Dean’s last novel, but I was so entertained throughout, I forgive.

“Take away basic comforts and authority figures and it’s not long before people reveal their true personalities.”

The Last One comes out 8/8.

I can’t say I loved this book as it kept me tense every time i was reading it. So i guess I can say it was a good book if you like a good thriller. It did keep me guessing . I was actually on a cruise ship as I was reading it so that added a little more creepiness. I cant imagine waking up and finding myself as the only person on the ship. Im giving it four stars since it did keep me guessing and anticipating outcomes so i was definitely involved with the characters! I am glad it is a story coming from the author’s imagination and not from the reality in a newspaper!!

One trope that I always enjoy is the high-seas murder mystery, a locked room mystery out on the ocean. The Last One by Will Dean is about a woman who is basically abandoned on a ship, the only person on a boat previously occupied. I’ve been on many cruises and cannot begin to fathom what would happen if I woke up to find I was totally alone. Interesting concept, isn’t it?

It’s a suspenseful read as you follow Caz’s journey and the story plays out. I enjoyed the writing style and absolutely loved Will’s book, First Born. I’m looking forward to whatever he writes next.


When Caz steps onboard the exclusive cruise liner RMS Atlantica, it’s the start of a vacation of a lifetime with her new love, Pete. On their first night they explore the ship, eat, dance, make friends, but when Caz wakes the next morning, Pete is missing.

And when she walks out into the corridor, all the cabin doors are open. To her horror, she soon realizes that the ship is completely empty. No passengers, no crew, nobody but her. The Atlantica is steaming into the mid-Atlantic and Caz is the only person on board. But that’s just the beginning of the terrifying journey she finds herself trapped on in this white-knuckled mystery.

Out on August 8.

I liked the premise of this one, but ultimately I felt the execution was just a bit off. Like so many others have said, do not read too much about this one ahead of time. The author had some solid messages about social media and society's obsession with tragedy, but he was a bit heavy handed in his delivery. This one had moments of great tension and page flipping, but much of it was predictable. I HATED the ending!!

What would you do? You and your boyfriend board the luxurious cruise liner Atlantica to start the vacation of a lifetime. You spend your first evening doing mandatory lifeboat drills, exploring fine dining and meeting your fellow passengers. Then, exhausted, you settle into your comfortable bed in a Platinum Cabin and fall soundly asleep. And when you wake up…you are alone. I mean alone. All the rooms are empty. So are the restaurants, the shops, the decks…you are alone. This is what happens to Caz Ripley. And what happens next is what makes The Last One impossible to put down. It is suspenseful and totally unique. I’m a little afraid of what Will Dean will write next. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Atria/Emily Bestler Books and Will Dean for this ARC.

This book started off with a bang right from the start, but then it became very slow going until about 40% of the way through. However, when the action started, it didn’t stop! Every single chapter was full of action and twists and this book literally had me on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next. I really connected with the characters and felt like I was right there with them. The plot of this book was very unique and I would highly recommend this to others! If you feel bored in the beginning, hang in there! It is worth it!

I was immediately drawn into Will R. Dean's new book The Last One simply based on the premise alone. I love a locked-room thriller and I LOVE cruise ships, so this one sounded promising. Thankfully, it delivered on every front. It will be difficult to review because I believe readers should go in knowing next to nothing about this. Actually, I really appreciated how little the synopsis gave away. Nowadays it seems that synopses give away too much about a book's concept, so I was happy with how short The Last One's was.

When I realized Dean set the whole thing up in the first two chapters, I was a little worried about how he would maintain the momentum for another 131 chapters of first-person POV on an abandoned cruise liner. My worries were almost as instantly quelled, though, because I could not put this down. If I hadn't made the mistake of starting it right before going to bed, this would've been a book I could've easily finished in one sitting. The chapters were short, breezy, and almost always ended with a cliffhanger that required me to keep reading.

I don't read mysteries or thrillers with any intention on trying to guess the twists or solve anything. Even still, I didn't see any of it coming. Every few chapters the stakes changed and I was left with whiplash. It takes a lot for me to vocalize my thoughts while reading, but I let out a few "Oh my god"s throughout. May others be able to guess what happens? Surely. I wasn't, so I count that as a win.

We follow Caz's point of view throughout, so we naturally get some background information, especially in regards to her family and their issues. I would say we get information in about 60-75% of the chapters, ranging from a paragraph to two pages. With that much real estate, there were times that I felt her stories to be a bit repetitive, but Dean didn't spend long enough to make me bored or feel the need to skip past a paragraph. I can see how it might be problematic for other readers, though.

With most thrillers, the ending is a true make or break point of the book. For me, I felt Dean (almost entirely) nailed it. It did wrap up very quickly and I do wish we got a little more of the after, but overall I was satisfied.

The Last One wasn't entirely perfect, but I still thoroughly enjoyed my time reading it. With the way my reading has gone this year, I anticipate this showing up in my top reads of 2023 list. I anticipate the publication date so I can interact with other readers and see their takes on this gripping thriller.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for sharing the digital advanced readers copy with me in exchange for my honest review.

The Last One is a book unlike any other. Here’s what we are told: a women boards a ship for a vacation with her boyfriend. They enjoy a nice evening dinner together and go to sleep. When the woman wakes up, no one else is on the ship. What happens next will have you frantically reading and you won’t want to stop.

This book was INCREDIBLE. There were so many twists and each page was a surprise. I haven’t read anything like this and I don’t think anything will ever compare.

I don’t want to share too much, as the synopsis was left vague for a reason. I think more thrillers should leave out plot details because this was such a fun read.

This was my first book by Will Dean and I will be reading his other work immediately.

This book was a crazy wild ride, but so good! A woman goes on an ocean liner with her boyfriend, only to wake up the next morning and find every single person is gone - just disappeared. Like nothing I've read before, and kept me interested until the very end!

2.5 Stars

Thank you to Will Dean, Atria/Emily Bestler Books, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I requested this book after I saw people on TikTok raving about it. How unpredictable it was, how scary parts were. But honestly, I wasn't the biggest fan of this book at all. I was able to figure it out and was able to figure out a character's part in it way before the end.

This book was long. Way longer than it should have been in my opinion. Caz talked about Pete, Gemma, and her parents over and over again. It became repetitive and if half of that was cut out this book would probably have lost about 100 pages. Let's not talk about the ending.

I also couldn't connect to any of the characters. Though I did like, Frannie. She was my favorite. Maybe it was because she cared so much about the dogs. I wanted more background on Smith. It was mentioned that he had a criminal record, but this was never mentioned again. I felt like there should have been a few details regarding this.

There were things that I loved, like the boat diagram in the beginning. It helped me picture the story better. I also loved the short chapters. But this was far from a 5-star read for me. Don't get me wrong, I liked the aspect of the book. It was just way too long and not thrilling enough for me.

This was one of the most unique books I have ever read! All the synopsis tells you is that Caz, the main character, goes on a cruise and wakes up the only person left on the ship. I literally can’t say anything else about what happens in this book or I will give the craziness away. I have never felt true anxiety while reading before, but the end of each chapter had me feeling so worried for Caz. I also felt manipulated and gaslit towards the end and really felt for Caz as she processed what was happening. My only issue with this book was the ending, I didn’t love the cliffhanger it left you on. I felt like what the characters went through deserved a little more closure than what was given.

Overall this story was a wild ride from the start. I definitely recommend this if you want something unique and just absolutely crazy.

This was really good and definitely kept my attention throughout which is what I want in a thriller. If you like short chapters, cliffhangers, and super twisty, you will like this. Also has a good 'creepy factor'. I did find the characters unlikable in parts.. like just doing things and you want to scream at them not to. And then I really can't get behind that ending... like just a little too far fetched. But still rating it high because of how good it was throughout and kept me reading.

3.25/5

I really liked the premise here, I can’t even imagine waking up alone on a cruise ship and I was so curious about what direction the author would take here. How did an entire ship full of passengers vanish into thin air? I had zero idea where this was going and as thing started to be revealed I was skeptical. You have to be able to suspend all disbelief here to even begin to enjoy this because there are a lot of things that happen that will make you go, umm no that doesn’t even make sense. But I went along with it for the most part and I would say I mostly enjoyed the ride. It did feel a bit drawn out and long winded at points for me, I think it could’ve been a little shorter and the ending did throw me for a loop. Not sure if I loved the clever last chapter or not but it made me think. This definitely won’t be for everyone, I can see it being very divisive but that’s always kind of fun for me to see different perspectives. I can’t really say anything else without verging into spoiler territory but this one was definitely unique.

Caz and Pete are on a vacation onboard the cruise liner RMS Atlantica. Caz wakes up the next morning and reaches out for Pete. His side of the bed is empty, and the sheets are cool. Where could Pete have gone! The ship is moving full speed. She opens the balcony door to look out and he's not there either. She checks her phone and there's no missed call or text message. Then she sees that all the cabin doors are open and every room is unlocked and unoccupied. There's no one onboard. Believing that she is alone, she panics! The ship is going full-steam ahead. I loved the premise of the book. There were some good moments and some moments were just bonkers. Would I recommend this book? Of course, I love a good locked-room suspense story and this one delivered. #THELASTONE #NETGALLEY