The plot is as deep and dark as it gets, multi-layered with 'who knew what when?' as the strands come together and the finer details get filled in.

The E-Book could be improved and more user-friendly, such as links to the chapters, no significant gaps between words some text written has been typed in red and a cover for the book would be better. It is very document-like instead of a book. A star has been deducted because of this.

This is an absolutely compelling, gripping book full of mystery and suspense. Only a few authors can write deeply involving psychological drama of the very highest quality. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Wow
Loved it !
It’s great 😊
I am awarding four stars as was kinda different and though not totally original it was refreshing
U feel the peril ,u are totally sucked in and u are so very fearful for them and with them
Scary but not overly horrific and v v v readable
Like if will write few more stand alone as not come across his work before and this was a delight so will look out for him again

The Atlantica is a very grand cruise liner. Caroline, Caz everyone she knows is on her thirteenth date with Pete and the amazing ship is where they’ll be spending it, in the height of luxury.

After an evening of the best food, they sleep in their room, looking forward to their trip.

Come morning, Caz wakes up and Pete isn’t beside her. When she can’t find him on the balcony or in the bathroom she decides he must’ve headed for breakfast without wanting to wake her so she heads out to find him. Only when she wanders the cruise liner she finds in empty. There is nobody else around, not even staff, she is aboard the Atlantica completely alone!

This book was one of those that has you hooked from the moment your eyes hit the page. It was a brilliant and unique storyline unlike anything else I’ve read recently. It is packed with twists and unexpected games. I’m also loving the mentions of the Humber bridge, Grimsby and the Ross Tiger. As a Grimbarian these small details made me smile and if I could add an extra star for those I would.

Thoroughly enjoyable read, highly Recommend.

Woah! Never ever has there been such a page-turner, psychological thriller so tense as Will Dean's "The Last Passenger". I was addicted, as was my husband who I was giving nightly updates on what was happening. The thought that this could happen is very sick but possible, especially in light of tv shows like Squid Games and The Traitors, people will literally vote for the worst conditions possible. Loved every minute of it and the ending was so very tense.

This book is seriously tense! I was obsessed and quite frantic as I raced to find out just what the heck was happening! Fabulous read and definitely one that will get talked about - a lot!

Wow! Wow! Wow! I've given this the maximum 5 stars but would have happily given 10. I literally couldn't put it down and stayed up late to finish it.
Hard to say more without spoilers. Highly recommended.

With many thanks to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for this ARC

Oh this book is good - this book is sooo good! Let’s dispense with the usual topics and write a completely unique one off - Will Dean you are a literary genius. Could not put this book down, the tension just builds and builds. Great descriptive narrative and you never were quite sure who to trust. And THAT ending - well I expect everyone will have a different take on it but then that’s what makes this book SUPERB!

I really wanted to love this book. It's well-written, pacy and fill of Will Dean's trademark twists and turns. But the underlying setup is just so implausible it ruined it a bit for me. Not a bad book by any means but not as good as his other work and really not one for me.

An exhilarating journey. Tense, thought provoking and heart breaking.

The writing was accomplished and the pace pitch perfect. Characterisations were brilliantly realises and I rooted for every single one of them.

Great concept and fabulous execution. Without a doubt this will be at the top of the charts.

I am genuinely struggling to find the right words to describe how amazingly brilliant this novel was. I’ve literally just finished reading it, I’ve been awake for the last three hours desperate to know how it ends, and wow! What an ending! I have no idea if any of it was real or not, it messes with your mind, but in a good way! I am seriously excited for everyone to read this.

This book needs to be made into a film. I can’t wait for the next one.

The premise of this sounded so good, so I knew I had to read it.

The descriptions of the ship were fantastic, the writing was very atmospheric and I really felt at times that I was on board the ship too. I've never read anything with a plot like this, it was refreshing to read something new in a genre where storylines tend to be repeated.

My only issue with the book is that I feel the pace lagged a bit in the middle. There was a lot of repetition in the actions of the passengers and I found myself getting a bit bored. Having said that, I flew through the final 30% as by that point it was really exciting.

I’m a big fan of Will Deans work after reading his debut Scandi novel Dark Pines. This. Book is amazing, I did wonder part way through if it was going to be a copy of a well known film from 1998 but I needn’t have worried. The characters are truly believable and the plot becomes more edgy and captivating with each chapter. Personally I would have chosen a different ending but it didn’t detract from the whole story line. I highly recommend this book, I couldn’t move away to get on with my day until I’d finished the last few chapters.

I’m not usually a thriller person but I enjoyed this. A bit like a mash up of Squid Games and The Traitors - it was really well done and scarily believable! I liked the ending and can’t wait to see what everyone else makes of the final twist!

This is both a compelling and shocking read, but one that you’ll want to finish. There’s no way you’ll want to leave this down even as it plunges to unthinkable depths. Do you like the watery puns? Appropriate given Will’s subject matter. Cas and her partner are on board the RMS Atlantica for a passage to New York. It’ll be a chance to spend time together, dine and drink, and soak up some of that luxury liner living. But when she wakes up on the first full day of the trip, realising her partner isn’t there… and neither are any other guests living on the corridor… well, you can imagine her panic. So begins a beautifully plotted but deeply unsettling story wherein human limits are going to be tested and you’ll begin to wonder how much more Cas can go through. It’s a refreshingly new read, one that has been in my head for weeks after I finished. What would you do when your holiday of a lifetime came crashing down around you?

Tense, impossible, nail-biting, dramatic… and certainly unpredictable. These are the words I would use to sum up Will Dean’s next novel, coming in May 2023. From the moment I read those first few chapters I knew I wouldn’t be stopping – I needed to know how this would play out. How does an entire cruise ship of passengers and crew just disappear into thin air? Well… read this book and you’ll find out exactly how.

The storyline is complex, for a book that has so little characters (no spoilers, a whole cruise ship of passengers LITERALLY disappears) it is incredibly full. Of what? Well, secrets, lies, challenges, darkness and so much more. It’s also a book that will have you craving the isolation…but only for a short while. Then, the lights go out.

I have absolutely adored Will Dean’s Tuva Moodyson series as well as his more recent standalone, The Last Thing to Burn. This is another standalone moving away from nordic noir, but not without the occasional reference of course!

This is going to be big in 2023 and really really really needs to become a movie or a series on the screen. A complex but creative storyline that’s crying out to be continued…

Will Dean’s latest book is right up there with Gillian McAllister (Wrong Place, Wrong Time), Louise Beech (writing as Louise Swanson – End of Story), Sophie Hannah (Haven’t They Grown) and Sarah Lotz (Impossible). All of these titles were books I couldn’t put down because of the intricate, impossible, intriguing and addictive storyline, just like this one.

The Last Passenger is a bit of a heart stopper, very dark and twisted and often unexpected.

It is difficult to review plot detail without giving things away so I'll stick with - one person wakes up alone on a cruise ship and obviously this is not great. Where did all the passengers go? Well you'll have to read to find out but it is clever, every chapter bringing more edge of the seat reveals to the mix, such a brilliant read.

You'll have to ask me again how I felt about the ending after I've had time to consider it, I imagine everyone will have their own thoughts but as a whole this novel was addictive, written brilliantly and you'll likely devour it in one sitting if you save it for a lazy, rainy day.

Loved it.

This is Will Dean as you have never read him before! Totally different to any of his other works - is this man one or several ? He can conjure up some characters and situations though. Boy can he.
This was so out of your mind that it couild be said to be implausible but hey - it's darn right compelling and could it not happen? I worry as to which kind of cruise Mr Dean may have been on in the past.
It's flipping awesome to read and get carried along with. So many twists and surpises. Then at the end, in one line....BOOM. HA! It floored me but in a good way.

This book can caused shortness of breath. Be warned.

Spiral Of Descent..
A holiday cruise of a lifetime? Perhaps not, but it will most certainly be a cruise to truly remember when survival becomes the name of the game for Cas, the feisty protagonist of this swiftly moving suspense. As Cas is quickly transported into a spiral of descent where she simply cannot comprehend the circumstances - the reader, too, will feel a similar shift of perspective as they, bizarrely, begin to accept the fictional circumstances of the tale and become swiftly immersed. With a well done cast of characters, a perfectly described setting and an ominous underlying thread of menace this has the reader galloping forwards towards the rather surprising denouement and the final tongue in cheek twist.