The Last Passenger

Title: The Last Passenger

Author: Will Dean

Published in: 2023

Date read: 2nd May 2024

Score: 4/5

Genre: Mystery, Thriller

Plot: (Warning, may contain spoilers):
"The Last Passenger" by Will Dean, published in 2023, is a chilling locked-room mystery set entirely on a luxury cruise ship, where an unsettling disappearance plunges the protagonist into a claustrophobic nightmare.

The story introduces Caz Ripley, a woman who, along with her fiancé, is embarking on a week-long cruise to celebrate their engagement. However, just hours into the voyage, her fiancé inexplicably vanishes from their cabin, leaving behind no trace except for a cryptic note.

Caz immediately reports his disappearance to the ship's crew and security, but she is met with dismissive scepticism and a chilling lack of concern. The crew insists that no one could have left the ship unnoticed, and they are reluctant to treat it as anything more than a misunderstanding or an unlikely accident. With no body and no clear evidence, the official line is that he must be onboard somewhere.

Isolated on the vast ship, which now feels less like a pleasure vessel and more like a floating prison, Caz begins her own frantic investigation. She quickly realizes that the ship is a world unto itself, filled with a diverse cast of passengers and crew, each with their own secrets and motivations. As she questions people and searches for clues, she encounters increasing resistance and strange behaviour, making her question who she can trust.

The luxury cruise ship, with its confined spaces, lack of external communication, and the constant hum of its engines, becomes a character in itself, amplifying Caz's sense of paranoia and dread. She feels trapped, knowing that if her fiancé is truly gone, his killer must still be on board with her, hidden among the holidaymakers.

As the days pass and the ship continues its itinerary, Caz uncovers disturbing details about her fiancé's past, and about the ship itself, suggesting that his disappearance is part of a larger, more sinister plot. The "last passenger" of the title takes on a dual meaning, hinting at both her fiancé's final presence and perhaps Caz's own growing isolation.

The novel is a tense, suspenseful thriller that capitalizes on the claustrophobic setting of a ship at sea. The climax involves Caz risking everything to expose the truth, facing off against a cunning and dangerous adversary who is determined to keep the secrets buried beneath the waves. She must rely on her wits to survive and uncover what truly happened before the cruise ends and all hope of finding answers disappears forever.

Comments:
There were three distinct parts to this book and each had a very different response from me. It changed direction twice and I enjoyed them very much so. I did not, however, like the very last part. I just felt like it was "too much". Well worth reading though.

Books that we've read by Will Dean (1):
The Last Passenger (2023)