The Last One by Will Dean is an adrenaline-pumping thriller that will leave you breathless. From the moment I picked up this book, I was hooked. The suspense and mystery had me racing through the pages, desperate to uncover the truth. I had no idea what was happening, but that only added to the thrill. The author kept me guessing until the very end, and oh boy, that ending! It's the kind that will leave you stunned and craving more.

The setting of the story, an empty cruise ship in the middle of the Atlantic, was brilliantly depicted. I could vividly imagine the terror and isolation that Caz, the protagonist, experienced when she realized she was completely alone. With no way to communicate with the outside world, the sense of helplessness and fear was palpable.

I won't go into detail about the plot because it's best experienced firsthand without any spoilers. Just trust me when I say that The Last One will keep you on the edge of your seat, questioning what happened to everyone and how it will all end. Will Dean has crafted a masterpiece of suspense, intrigue, and relentless thrills. The twists and turns are abundant, and each chapter ends with a cliffhanger that compels you to keep reading. It's a book that will stay with you long after you've turned the final page.

I want to express my gratitude to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with an advanced digital copy of this gripping novel. If you're a fan of suspense, mystery, and thrillers, I highly recommend picking up The Last One. You won't be disappointed.

I’m sorry, WHAT?! This book wasn’t what I expected AT ALL, and I’m here for it! This was like a locked room mystery on steroids! I mean, WHAT?! I’m still trying to grasp that ending.

After reading this book, it’s safe to say I’m never taking a cruise again or if I do, I’ll definitely read the fine print 😉

Y’all need to add this to your tbr! Save! Preorder! Whatever you have to do, but you are going to WANT to read this book.

🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️/5

Releasing in August. Thank you @netgalley and @atriabooks for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

O.M.G.

I have no words to describe how I felt when I got to the last page of The Last One. Will Dean created a world where I felt as though I was living on the edge from the first page to the last.

Cas (short for Caroline to her family and close friends) finally agrees to go on a cruise with her boyfriend. At one point she mentions she's gone on a total of 13 dates with Peter. [At that same point I thought to myself, that I'd never have agreed to go away with someone I've seen a grand total of 13 times... and perhaps Caz should have listened to me!]

They board the ship and when Caz wakes up the next morning, she's alone in the cabin. But in fact, she is actually alone on the ship.

Or is she?

This story had my blood pressure much higher than it should be from start to finish. And I certainly don't believe in spoilers so just let me say this: O.M.G. Just WAIT until you read the last page!!!

4.5 stars.
I am a SUCKER for survival stories. (Can thank my fifth grade teacher for making us read Hatchet) This book took me on a ride, that's for sure. It made me feel uncomfortable many times, especially when talking about how unexplored the sea is o•
This was a lot darker than I anticipated, which is a plus.
The only thing keeping it from being a full blown five star was the ending, not that it was bad, it just wasn't what I was hoping for.


Review will be posted to tiktok shortly

4.5⭐️

I have never read a premise like this before. It was like a combination of The Hunger Games and Yellowjackets (showtime). It was utterly original and SO much fun to read. I would recommend this to people who love a good thriller mixed with life or death competition.

Caroline, Daniel, Francine, and Smith (four strangers) have the opportunity to take the cruise of a lifetime. One morning, Caroline wakes up alone without her boyfriend. She looks everywhere on the ship to realize, that she is the only one left aboard. After frantic searching, she comes across Daniel, Francine, and Smith. All four of them team up together to try and find out where the rest of the passengers have gone. In their search, they realize that all the luggage is gone, the lifeboats are locked, they have no access to food or water. As they become increasingly more desperate to survive, they begin to receive televised messages from "her" who tells them they must complete different tasks. They tasks are dangerous and will push them to their limits.

This book was the ULTIMATE thriller. I hope that this gets adapted to the big screen because this would be such an amazing show to watch. This is also definitely worth a preorder if you ask me!!

Thank you to to Atria/Emily Bestler Books for the ARC!

Hunger Games meets Truman Show meets the Leftovers. it's all about survival for the four passengers. It's gripping, disturbing and a whole new level of "no, this is not ok".

That ending though. I'm 100% perplexed. Did it all start over again? And HOW?

Dean is a great writer, no matter how preposterous the plot you get hooked.

3.5 stars.

I DEVOURED this read. So good this is definitely my new favorite over First born. If you have the chance grab it!

Loved this! The premise of this book made it impossible to not read. A woman and her partner board a luxury cruise ship, but when she wakes up that first morning, she’s the only one remaining on the ship 😱 This book obviously could have gone in a hundred different directions, and I was worried that it would either be too easy or too far fetched. But the direction that Will Dean took it was absolute PERFECTION and something I never would have thought of yet still super believable!! I loved this so much. High rec!!!

What did I just read!? I cannot get over this book! I canno recall a book ever making me panic like this one did. My heart was seriously racing during some parts. The ending I am not a fan of and I’m questioning some things because of it? But this one will have you reeling!

oh boy, go into this one only knowing the vague synopsis because the reveals start revealing immediately and knowing any of them ruins the fun!

this is a survival thriller and be warned, this definitely gets darker than i expected from a mainstream thriller (some of its descriptions borderline horror), it’s very tense and definitely fast paced. really surprised by how much I liked this one since I was lukewarm on this author’s previous stuff.

After years of hard work in her cafe and heartbreak over her father's suicide over his gambling addiction, Caz decides she deserves a holiday. Her boyfriend, Pete, suggests they get tickets for the Atlantica, a luxury ship destined for New York City.

One morning during the transatlantic voyage, she wakes up and realizes she's alone on the ship. Everyone else has vanished, seemingly into thin air. She manages to find a few other people who have also been left behind, and they band together to try and figure out what happened.

I don't want to say too much as I don't want to spoil any of the book, but trust me, it's worth it to go in completely blind.

This book started a little slow for me, but WOW I'm glad I stuck with it. It had so many twists and turns that I truly didn't see coming, and at the last page I almost screamed out loud. Definitely one of the best endings of any book I've read so far this year!

I think my students will enjoy this one, and it raises lots of questions, ethical questions that would make for good discussions with the class. How we are manipulated by the media. How we decide what is fair and what we need to survive and intense curiosity about other lives

I loved his other books so my expectations were high and unfortunately this one didn't work for me. It was interesting but also went too far, I think a lot of the points could have been made without it being so over the top. And an ending of how she coped after the level of trauma would have been more interesting. Hard to talk about without spoilers, but it didnt have the depth i was hoping for , so if i read it as a light thriller, it was interesting 3.5

The Last One
By Will Dean
Pub Date: August 8, 2023
Atria
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
* thriller, suspense, crime
triggers- if you want to go on a cruise you may never want to again after reading this book
The characters in this book are very well written. These four characters soon discover they have to work together to survive. There are things in our society have gone wrong, I believe this book would make a great movie too.
I recommend this book - but not for the faint.
4 stars

This was such a unique and wild ride of a story!

At the start, I thought it was setting up for something that resembled LOST and I was eager to see the character growth and how they all worked together. But as the story progressed and we reached our first handful of plot twists, I found myself engrossed in something much more unique and entertaining to read.

The characters felt genuine and well flushed out, and I really found myself rooting for them along the way. The prose and writing style was also very digestible and made for a fast-paced thriller.

The only aspect I didn’t love was the length of the book. Not because it felt like some parts dragged on by any means, but for the genre, it seemed longer than necessary.

Overall, I’ll be raving about this unique thriller on Bookstagram and Goodreads leading up to the publication date and I’m excited to read more works by Will Dean in the future!

Holy Sh*t. This book puts the thrill in thriller. It's a wild ride that you just gotta experience for yourself. Oh and I'm never taking a cruise. Ever. Get this one on your must read list!!!

I always love a good thriller and I appreciate the crazy twists and turns. I can truly say that I was caught off-guard by some of the revelations. However, I can also say that I felt some of the content was a bit bizarre. I get perturbed by things that are simply ridiculous added in for shock factor. The ending fell a bit flat but tied things up nonetheless.

Enjoyed reading this. The twists were cleverly plotted and for 99% of the book made perverse sense. My biggest problem is with the ending which is too cute and in the context of a plane doesn’t work. The characters were believable and helped make the bizarre situation work. All in all a very satisfying read, up to the last page.

Um, I’m not even sure what I just read. It’s a bizarre locked room mystery that suffers from poor writing, ridiculous characters and unbelievable twists. This book was not for me!

Mild spoilers below:

It certainly is thought provoking though, in this age of reality TV, YouTube and entertainment.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced digital
ARC. All opinions are my own.

This is the kind of book that's going to stick with you. Just the pure terror and helplessness of being stuck in the middle of the ocean while a truly bananas thing is happening to you is imagery that will stick with me for a long time. While you have to suspend A LOT of disbelief to get through this one, I could not read it fast enough.