The Last One
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Author: Will Dean

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Atria Books and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: 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.

My Thoughts: First and foremost, you have to suspend belief some for this book. At first, I was like what? It took awhile to get connected and on page and with the character(s). The synopsis is short for a reason, actually, I did not even read it going into this book as I loved the last Dean book, “First Born.” Caz wakes up after a wonderful night with her boyfriend, Pete, on a luxurious ship, all alone, she soon realizes. She explores the ship to discover any clue as to why the entire ship is abandoned. Then a series of things happen revealing the real premise of the story.

The story is narrated solely by Caz, in her perspective. You really do not get a grasp for the story until about a third of the way in. I will try to vague up the details to not spoil the reading adventure. I can say it has been awhile since I was taking on a “reading adventure,” but this story really does. Our MC, Caz, has had a hard life and I did relate to her character. There was one character that rubbed me wrong most of the story, but in the end, he/she surprised me. The characters were well developed with depth, banter, mystery, and really were creatively designed. The author’s writing style was complex, multifaceted, suspenseful, twisty, and absolutely brilliant. The characters are built up, the plot is delivered in many twisty layers, the pace and flow were right on, the twists were intense, and the ending is a two part. You really had no clue as to what would happen next. The story had an ending that you thought was the ending, then another late twist that was mind-bending and thought provoking.

This book has been released as “The Last One” in the US market and “The Last Passenger” in abroad markets. This was a long read or listen at 448 pages or almost 13 hours, and at times, you thought what else could happen? Overall, I did enjoy this read and would definitely read other books by Dean. Since this is on the longer side, it might be easier to follow along in the audiobook. The reviews have been mixed with either loving it or hating it, I think I fall in the middle, while I loved most of the book, there were parts that I did not like. I recommend giving it a try and going in as blind as possible.

Caroline (Caz) and her boyfriend, Pete, embark on a cruise from Southampton to New York. The first night on the ship is a pleasant evening filled with good food and company. But, when Caz wakes up the next morning Pete is gone and she soon discovers that she is on a deserted ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

Is it a bit farfetched? Yes (maybe?). Do you have to suspend disbelief? Oh, yes. But, all I can say is Wow! It was such a compelling book. The story grabbed me from the beginning and just didn’t let go. And if you realize this book will provide entertainment and not necessarily realistic, then you’ll be happy to go along for the ride.

My description was a little deceiving in that Caz isn’t completely alone on the ship. The characters are so well-described, the tension on the ship is palpable, and the descriptions of the events are very well-done. I swear, at times I could almost fell the ocean spray. This is a book I thoroughly enjoyed simply because, at least for a while, I was as mystified as Caz about the mysteries surrounding the ship. And don’t get me started on the ending. Sometimes I can’t help myself and I read the last chapter or two. This time I didn’t and I’m so glad I restrained myself.

This is a great book for a lazy summer day. It’s entertaining, well-written, the chapters are short (although I found it nearly impossible to read just one), and the action nearly non-stop. I really enjoyed it! NetGalley provided an advance copy.

This story is rough. It is extremely fast-paced and completely entertaining, but it has an absolutely ridiculous conclusion. I finished reading this and felt disappointed. It teeters between the thriller and horror genre without settling on one. I wish it would have pushed itself into the horror genre with a bit more action and gore, then the ending would have been more satisfying and, honestly, believable.

Guys, holy guacamole!!!

What an insane read. This book gave me all of the Ghost Ship/Survivor/Titanic like vibes and I am here for every single bit of it!

I devoured this in about 2 days. I was so intrigued with where this was headed and how it was going to play out that there was no way I was waiting to find out.
The twist and turns and surprises just kept coming and man oh man was it so enjoyable!

My first read from Will Dean and I will absolutely be checking out more!
If you haven't read this one yet, bump it up your TBR!

Major thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC copy - out now!!!

This book is so creepy. Exactly the way I lie them. I loved how the author paced this so well as pacing is EVERYTHING to me. Particularly well depicted as Caz searches and slowly begins to understand what is happening.

At times, later on the author gets bogged down a bit, but overall this is a very clever, creepy read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for the eARC.

This book was wild. As with many others, I fear that too much of a review will give it away. All I know is this was twisty, I did not know where it was going, and the last chapter had my mouth agape. Can't wait to read more Will Dean!

2.5 stars ⭐️⭐️.5 stars! I really liked the premise of this book, and some parts of this book were good, but overall it didn’t grab my attention the way that I wanted it to. Caz and Pete were taking a much needed vacation and Caz wakes up the next morning and everyone is gone and she’s trying to figure out what happened and where did everyone go, including Pete. This book started off really good, and I was excited. As I continued reading, I realized that it just wasn’t for me.

Thank you NetGalley, Will Dean and the publisher for this eARC!

I found this story captivating from the very beginning. Holy smokes- I could never imagine being the only one on a huge cruise ship. It created an eerie atmosphere despite the cruise ship setting. As the story progressed, the captivation held on but I also felt unsettled reading about Caz going without food and other horrific things happening on the ship. I realized then that I became very invested in this story! BUT WHAT ABOUT THAT ENDING? I needed more and ultimately it made my rating of 4.5 round down to 4.

The Last One is about a 49 year old woman named Caz who goes on a cruise ship with her boyfriend Pete. This is supposed to be a nice holiday for the couple. They enjoy their first night together on the voyager but by the time Caz awakens the next morning, Pete is gone along with a thousand other passengers and staff. This story follows Caz along with three other survivors and their time on the ship. Caz does a lot of reminiscing about her father and the turmoil she experienced growing up. While this story has a great plot, it feel a little flat for me. The characters were not that interesting to me. There was some repetition that got to be a bit much. But the twist at the end was quite shocking. Over all this book was a 3star book for me.

This was quite the page turner! I loved all the twists and turns and thought that some parts were so suspenseful! I definitely stayed up late at night reading this one because I needed to know what was going to happen next.

This was going to be a five-star read until the very end. Everything was wrapping up nicely, and then there was a big twist thrown in that I didn't care for.

I definitely recommend this one and think it's best if you go into it blind!

Thank you, @Netgalley, @atriabooks, and the author for the #gifted e-arc of this book!

4.5 stars rounded

This book was a fun read, even though I guessed the ending before it was revealed. I love when a thriller/mystery takes place in a completely different setting than most do (basically not a married couple in a house), so it was intriguing to read what Dean did with this entirely different set of circumstances. Also now I never want to go on a cruise ship again.

This was such a surprise! I’ve never read something like this and look forward to your back log. Thanks!

Caz is ready and excited to embark on the cruise liner RMS Atlantica with her boyfriend Pete for some relaxation. All of that changes once she wakes up the next day on the cruise liner, alone. Pete is missing, along with all the other hundreds of passengers that were on board just the night before. Confused and terrified, Caz wonders the ship looking for answers and what she finds will put her very own life in danger.



This is a really good book to just dive into without knowing too much. It’s a great shock and captured me right away. The author does a good job of building the tension and the whole book is just one wild ride. The beginning initially captured me but as the story goes on it did seem to drag a little in some parts with some explanations being a little too far fetched for me personally. Keeping this review a tad short because I don’t want to spoil but this was a very unique read though that did keep me on edge and invested! Thank you NetGalley for an eARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This title is now available to purchase.

The Last One was a locked room style adventure on a seemingly abandoned ship steaming across the Atlantic. The premise was intriguing, the execution was just ok for me. It was a little bit of a slow burn and took awhile to get to the action. For me, that’s not a problem UNLESS I’m expecting otherwise, and I guess I was expecting more of a thriller from the get-go.

This was an edge of your seat thriller that sees one British woman going on a cruise with her partner only to wake up and find all the passengers and crew members have disappeared. What follows is a crazy, blood-thirsty reality tv show that pits her against a few other passengers as they try to fight to survive and win a chance at $5 million dollars, all while viewers watch and vote on the dark web from the comfort of their own homes. A Hungers Game esque plot that honestly didn't seem that far from the realm of possibility with just how much people crave real-life drama. Good on audio too and definitely my new favorite from this author! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

Wow this was probably one of the most fun thrillers I’ve read this year!

In this crazy thrill ride by Will Dean, our main character Caz is starting her long awaited vacation on the RMS Atlantica, along with her new boyfriend, Pete. On their first night they enjoy a nice dinner and explore all that the ship has to offer as they get ready for a relaxing week. However, when Caz wakes the next morning, she notices that Pete has gone missing, and as she walks out into the corridor, she soon realizes that the ship is completely empty and that she is the only person on board. But she finds that this is just the beginning of a terrifying journey that she will find herself in, and that she may not be alone on the ship after all…

After reading this book, I found this to be such a crazy, unique and different plot that I have ever read in a mystery/thriller book before, and not only was it super fun, but it also could be very sinister in nature. The setting of the book, which is a locked room mystery and finds our characters feeling isolated while being out in the middle of nowhere, really gave this book a creepier and thrilling aspect to it, while our main character’s fight for survival made the situation very high stakes. I loved how the main plot of the story gets mentioned right at the end of the first chapter, so you’re already on the edge of your seat waiting to find out what happens next, and i desperately wanted to find out the big mystery of why everybody vanished off the ship & where the final destination was really going to be.

The one con that I have with this book would have to be how I feel that the plot stalled at parts in the middle to the point where I found myself not getting into the book and fighting to get through a lot of the filler parts. I also felt that some of the conversations between characters sounded like unnecessary filler & didn’t make any sense to the storyline. However, the plot really picks up towards the halfway point all the way to the end, and it starts to get really interesting once we know why they’re all really on the ship in the first place.

Overall, I thought this was such a fun and intense read with a lot of crazy plot twists and turns that I certainly never saw coming, and I loved a lot of the character development that happens throughout. And the ending of this book?? Absolutely speechless!

Thank you to Atria & NetGalley for my advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review!

Link for my Goodreads review attached and listed below 👇🏼:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5409398296

Will Dean has become one of my favorite authors. This book is as good or maybe even better than his others. The characters are very believable and you definitely end up rooting for them, even the one that’s not that nice. This story feels very “now” - which makes it all the more eerie and unsettling. I could not quit reading and I think I’m still holding my breath even after finishing. What a ride! Luxury cruise anyone? Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to review this book. All the stars!

The Last One is a LOT. The premise is compelling - Caz and her boyfriend board a ship for vacation. The next morning when she wakes, she’s alone. Not only is Pete gone from their room but when she leaves the room she discovers she’s alone on the ship.

From there, things just get crazier. I expected a thriller but at times felt like this was leaning more towards horror. You need to really suspend your disbelief. And the very ending made me roll my eyes.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the free ebook.

Thank you Atria Books, and author Will Dean for sending me both physical and eARC in exchange for an honest review. This book is out now!

✍🏼 My Thoughts
Oy vey. This is another book where it can be challenge to write a review because it might just ruin the whole story. I will do my best though not to! Let’s start with the main character Caroline, or Caz — the author showed her conflicts and inner demons that influenced her decisions throughout the book. This novel definitely gave me a feel of a specific movie that I loved years ago…again, if I said it, it’s like I told you the ending already lol! It could’ve easily been shorter, 448 pages is a LOT for this story but the good part was the chapters were a breeze, only a few pages each. I give it 4 stars because it was intense, definitely kept me hooked to keep reading, but to me I find the ending to be unsettling where I needed answers. This is still a fun, fast-paced read; but if you don’t want to pull your hair out at the end of the book, I advise you to take a moment and see if you really want to read it—perhaps you would still want to pick this up since it has now piqued your curiosity ;)

This book was fantastic! I was hooked from the very beginning. I enjoyed that the main character had a traumatic past because that made her more realistic and it gave a foothold for the story to develop alongside it. The very end would be my only complaint (and not even a ‘complaint’) but I thought the last 30 pages or so happened so fast and I was left a little confused until I read it a few times (and I hadn’t been confused for the entirety of the book thus far). Overall, a great read and would recommend.