3.5

I have to confess that I was quite disappointed by this book. The Last Thing to Burn was such a wonderfully creepy book that I was expecting the same sort of thing.

In the beginning of Last Passenger there is a wonderful confusion about what is going on. Even as the book begins to develop you are still left unclear about why these passengers are left behind. What has happened in their lives? Are they being punished? How far will they be pushed?

We see the action from the point of view Caroline Ripley (Caz) who had woken up after her first night on board the luxurious Atlantica to find not only her boyfriend, Pete, missing but all the other passengers as well. She now has to find out what has happened and, more importantly, why she has been left behind.

It does start well. It's hard to say anything without giving away the plot twists except that all is not as it seems and the reason behind Caz (plus three other passengers) being abandoned are discovered very quickly.

But in the end I felt very let down. We are given Caz's story over and over in slightly different terms; we learn next to nothing about Smith, Daniel or Frannie. The promise of a slow burn simply disappears in the last few chapters and it almost felt like the author simply didn't know how to give it a big finish. At times it felt like more of a diatribe about how we entertain ourselves than a novel

Another unputdownable book from Will Dean! Caz is about to enjoy a luxury liner crossing the Atlantic with her new boyfriend burdened by feeling of responsibility for her late father’s gambling debts. She wakes alone on the ship, it is deserted and finds herself caught up in a nightmare. Difficult to say too much without spoilers but I was left deeply unsettled by her experiences. The twists are like a wet slap in the face and the final one is a shocker…

Brilliant! An amazingly written story. Full of great characters and a storyline that will grip you straight away. I really enjoy Will Dean books, they are always slightly terrifying (in a good way) and this book is just as good as the others. I'll definitely be reccomending this book to others.

I really enjoyed ‘The Last Thing to Burn’ and so was expecting another very well written and engrossing story by Will Dean when I picked up ‘The Last Passenger’. It is well written – Cas’ panic when she understands that she is on a deserted ship is palpable – but, as the narrative developed, I found myself becoming more and more disengaged from the action. It’s clear pretty early on what may be happening and, once I had my suspicions, I just couldn’t connect with the scenario.
Plenty of readers will enjoy the trickery but this just wasn’t for me. And, as for the ending …!
My thanks to NetGalley and Hodder& Stoughton for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

Caz is on holiday on a cruise ship with her boyfriend.
When she wakes up in the morning she finds him gone.
On inspection of the ship it looks like she is the only passenger left on board.
She eventually finds three other passengers and they try to find out what has happened.
A implausible story with lots of action.
Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review

Wow wow wow, where do I start and how do you review a book without giving away the twists.
Caz (Caroline) and her new love Pete, embark on an exclusive cruise on the cruise liner RMS Atlantica. The first night is wonderful as they enjoy themselves and mingle with the other passengers. When Caz awakes in the morning Pete is not there, in fact every single person on board has vanished, passengers and crew, but the ship is still steaming onward across the Atlantic. In this “locked room” mystery, Caz has to find a way to survive and when she finds 3 other people on board, they soon realise the horror has just begun for them. To say what happens next is to tell a plot twist so I will stop here, but it’s an absolute page turning read and the ending will leave you gobsmacked!

I was intrigued by the premise and couldn't wait to read this book. It drew me in initially but then I found myself struggling to persevere. The twists and plot are unbelievable and I didn't like or really care about the characters. I can see a lot of readers have loved this book so I am in the minority here but it just wasn't for me.

The plot intrigued - a woman who wakes up the first morning of an ocean crossing on a luxury liner to find she's the only person on board. Her partner, the other passengers and the crew have all simply vanished overnight.

It started out really well and the opening chapters had me totally invested in the drama aboard RMS Alantica as it ploughed on through the ocean waves (presumably on auto-pilot) with its lone passenger aboard. It was when the plot took a major swerve midway through that I became less convinced. Having a novel turn into something I wasn't expecting isn't necessarily a bad thing but I'm a cynic and wasn't really buying it.

Despite my misgivings there was never a time where I was going to stop reading, I needed to know where this was going and how it was going to end. There are several really scary moments and credit where its due, the author built the tension well, making parts of it impossible to put down.

If you're looking for something that will have you glued to the pages and don't mind it being a bit far-fetched then I'd definitely recommend. This would be a good choice for a holiday read, unless of course you're going cruising in which case you're probably better off steering clear.

Ok so you'll want to go in as blind as possible. So I am going to give you my final line first so you can just buy the book and read it already...
The ending - genious!
There you go. Job done. But if you are still with me, and I guess I really should expand on my review a little...
Caz is going on a cruise. Not really her thing but partner Pete suggested it and she didn't want to let him down. The holiday of a lifetime he said - hahaha Well, it turns out to be just that - with bells on!
First day goes ok, they embark, find their cabin, find their table in the dining area, have a mooch round the ship, return to their cabin and go to sleep.
Next morning. Caz wakes up alone. Maybe Pete has gone for a walk. But no note, no text. Strange. She decides to go look for him. She doesn't find Pete. In fact, she doesn't find anyone. She passes several open doors with stuff inside but no people. No passengers. But even more strange, no staff...
And when I say no staff. I mean no staff... who is piloting the ship?
And that's all I'm saying. I will only add that all the way through I was trying to work out where we were going? And then when we got there I was satisfied but still a bit confused.
Ok - full disclosure I did think it dragged a bit in the middle but it really had to to get the full picture over to the reader of what was going on. It just frustrated me a tad - maybe cos I was confused and desperate to find out what in the heck was going on...
But then, the ending. All was forgiven. My Jaw Dropped. And then I actually stood up and applauded. It was THAT good.
Buy the book, read the book, you can thank me later. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

I had high expectations from this book but unfortunately it failed to deliver. The plot was ridiculously unbelievable and the characters were weak and flawed. Not for me at all.

I have read Will Dean’s books before. The Tuva Moodyson thrillers were excellent so I was looking forward to reading The Last Passenger. I did enjoy the majority of the book, it was fast paced and scary about a cruise ship where overnight most of the passengers disappear leaving 4 people alone onboard.
There are lots of twists and turns and towards the end I was looking forward to seeing how the book would finish. Unfortunately it left me underwhelmed and a little annoyed that after reading it, it ended the way it did!

Absolutely wow!!!!! I absolutely adored this book and devoured it in two sittings. It's a long time since a book has hooked me and kept me engrossed as much as this did.

I don't want to pick another book up now, as whatever I read next is sure to be a disappointment.

I absolutely loved this book . Right from the start I was completely hooked and wondered where this story was going . At the end of every chapter there was another cliffhanger so I just had to carry on reading . I can’t rate this book highly enough. I haven’t read anything from this author before but I will in future . O and that ending to the book , just perfect . 5 stars from me and I will definitely be recommending it to my audience

Lots of mixed reviews for this book but books are meant to be escapism. It plays on one of everyone’s nightmares where you are completely stranded and or completely alone. I would recommend you give it a go it’s not a great classic it’s more fun and okay it’s very different but worth giving it a go!

Sorry, I really did not like this. The idea is all fine but the twist is ... horrible. Then it just tracks entirely as you expect it to and it makes finishing the book quite a struggle. None of the characters or their actions ring true and eveything is predictable :(

Imagine waking up on a transatlantic cruise to find you are the only one on board? Bizarre idear isn't it?
This is certainly one of the hardest books i have given a review on as i just can't make my mind up as to whether i enjoyed it or not?
It took me longer to read than i usually take as i kept going back to it and then would get annoyed by it. Something different for sure but maybe a little to over the top.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy.

This is a spoiler free review...which means it's going to be pretty short as the book takes a major turn at 1/3 of the way through to make it a very different story to the one it starts as.
Waking up on a deserted ocean cruiser the novel starts with the protagonist, Caz, roaming around trying in Twilight Zone-esque manner to figure out if she really is the only one left and if she's not...who else might be on board and what exactly is happening?
Plot wise let's leave it at that - suffice to say, at the 33% mark this turns into a different kind of book.
The Last Passenger is a very different offering to Will Dean's previous work: a fact that will disappoint some and intrigue others.
As many of the other reviewers have shown, this is going to be a divisive book full stop and I can see why: it was divisive for me even as I read it.
The question is how far you're prepared to go along with the ever increasingly outlandish (in the looking or sounding bizarre or unfamiliar. sense of the word) plot.
I read it in two sittings - it's a fast moving, ever escalating story but ultimately I have to agree with some of the others: sometimes a plot can get SO big the resolution will struggle. I could reference a movie this ending reminded me of which drew a similar reaction but that would be a spoiler.
There is a social commentary at work here: one that reminded me of (title redacted because again, to mention it would be a spoiler) published in 1982 and, in some ways, updated for everything that has come to pass in the field it describes since then. If that all sounds a bit fuzzy, it may make more sense once having read the book.
As the reviews show so far those that liked this book REALLY liked it. Some others seem almost angry at the turns the story took leading to and, in particular, the climax.
Me? I'm somewhere in the middle. I wanted to keep reading at all times: really wanted to know what happened, but felt the ending was a little too 'and here's the explanation for everything you've just read'.
Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for a chance to read the book.

They say hope is the last thing to go...

Caroline (Caz) Ripley and her boyfriend Pete embark on what should be a wonderful and relaxing transatlantic crossing on an expensive cruise liner, where your every whim is taken care of but unfortunately for Caz, she finds herself in a nightmare.

On the first morning of the crossing Caz wakes up to find Pete missing, assuming he's just gone down for breakfast without her she leaves her cabin to find him but all is not as it seems... and she quickly realises that there is not a single other person on the ship... or so she thinks...

This is the first novel I have read from Will Dean so I wasn't sure what to expect. The first 50% of the book had me rolling my eyes, although it is a very interesting plot, it quickly became outlandish. The characters we met were irritating and stereotypical and I just wasn't gelling with the book. However, this changed with the second half of the book and I was gripped!

There were a few moments during reading this that I physically had to put my Kindle down because I was too tense! Closer to the end of the book was a scene that was so intensely chilling. Unfortunately though the ending was extremely disappointing. I felt really cheated as a reader and annoyed! Why would you end a book that way???? I honestly feel frustrated even thinking about it!

However, despite the ending, this book is an enjoyable read. Sinister, tense with a lot of WTF! moments. If you enjoy a pacey thriller and don't mind a disappointing ending to a book, give this one a try. A solid 3.75

Actual rating 3.5 stars.

I was expecting amazing things from this, and for most of the book I thought that was what I was getting. But when the twist happened it kind of blew everything out the water and I found it really hard to believe anymore.

The story itself was told well, however it does end on a bit of a cliffhanger. Although I didn’t totally love the way the story went, I can honestly say I’d be interested to see how the next book goes, assuming there is another book.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a copy.

I really enjoyed this author's two previous novels, both in the crime/thriller genre, so I was really excited by this one, and intrigued by the premise.

Caz has had a somewhat troubled life with more than a few family issues. Newly romanced by the charismatic Pete, and whisked away to New York on luxury liner RMS Atlantica, it seems like things are finally on the turn. But on their first morning, Caz wakes up to find Paul gone, and the ship completely deserted...

I was really expecting to love this as per my first paragraph, but it was like it was written by a different author. I'm all for authors writing cross-genre, but had I known this was dystopia/borderline sci-fi rather than a straightforward crime thriller, I wouldn't have requested the book, Add to that a slew of two dimensional characters, weak dialogue, and decisions/reactions that made me want to pull my own hair out, this really was not the book for me.

I see that a lot of people loved this one so I'm clearly in the minority, but I hated the angle, found the twists completely unbelievable, and the ending frustrating.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for granting a free ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.