Terrifying. Imagine waking up on a luxury ocean liner and finding that you are one of only a few people remaining on the ship. Caz thinks that she and her partner, Pete, are crossing the Atlantic to America. However, the day after embarking, she wakes to find Pete, and all the other passengers gone. Then, she slowly encounters a few other people on the ship, and they realize they are on the ship alone, with no one steering the boat, no food, no electricity, no chance.
Where is everyone else, and why did they all disappear.
Just when you think you are OK, you read the last line of the novel. Utterly terrifying! ( )

This is an enjoyable thriller most of the way through, although it suffers from an implausible premise. Narrator Caz and her boyfriend are crossing the Atlantic from Britain to America by ocean liner, but when she wakes up on the first morning at sea, she's alone. REALLY alone. Not only is the boyfriend gone, but so are a thousand fellow passengers and the entire crew. Eventually Caz locates three other travelers, and together they try to figure out how they survived an apparent onboard apocalypse, and how they can sustain themselves through the six day crossing after the electricity goes out (or was it turned off, and by whom?) with little access to food and water. Eventually a TV screen on the Lido Deck is illuminated by the lips and the cheery chirping of a TV reality show host, who offers the four the choice of either opting out of the survival game they are being forced to play and being removed from the nightmare or staying on and competing to win five million dollars if they're the last one alive on board. I think the story went downhill as the contest began, but it was still very suspenseful until an extremely questionable "Oh, come on!" ending. Those who are repelled by reality TV will be put off by the hardships faced by the unwitting cohort, but there are those who would take pleasure in their suffering. ( )

A woman goes ona cruise with her boyfriend only to wak up the first day at sea to discover he and almost all of the other passengers have disappeared. This is the kind of book that leaves you thinking that things can't possibly get worse, but they do. It certainly keeps you reading. ( )

The Last One is the most recent book from Will Dean, author of the Tuva Moodyson mysteries. In this stand-alone novel, Caz and Peter embark on their honeymoon aboard the Atlantica, a luxury cruise liner. On the first morning of the cruise, Caz wakes up and finds Peter missing. Not just Peter, everyone is gone. Well, not everyone. There are four passengers, one of whom is an example of the worst of humanity.

They face several challenges and it becomes clear that even with all the provisions for hundreds of passengers, they are not guaranteed they will survive until they are rescued. It’s not particularly credible, so I did not feel invested in the outcome.

I so loved Will Dean’s Tuva Moodyson series that I was eager to read The Last One. This left me reluctant to review this book because it was a complete disappointment. I don’t mind being fooled by a twist, but I absolutely have no interest in being played. The length of the book would be pushing it in a book I loved. In a book that ticked me off, it was far, far too long. If the book description had been more accurate, I never would have read the book in the first place despite my respect for Will Dean.

The final paragraph, though, is unforgivable.

The Last One at Atria | Emily Bestler Books | Simon & Schuster
Will Dean agency

https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2023/11/12/the-last-one-by-will-dean... ( )

This book was excruciating to read, which was probably the author's objective. At one point, two characters have this interchange: "Whoever is orchestrating this is some kind of sick genius." "I think they're probably just sick." That sounds like a perfect description of the book.

Not recommended. Readers who are interested in the author's criticisms of extremism in pop culture would be better served by The Chaos Machine by Max Fisher. ( )