THE LAST PASSENGER by Will Dean is one of six titles selected for the ever popular Spring W H Smith Book Club with Richard and Judy.
The titles selected for the Book Club include bonus content exclusive to W H Smith and are available both in W H Smith stores across the UK and online. There is also a podcast series to accompany the selection hosted by Richard and Judy themselves, which features interviews with the Book Club authors and more.
The other Spring titles are: OVER SHARING by Jane Fallon, WEYWARD by Emilia Hart, BRIGHT YOUNG WOMEN by Jessica Knoll, NO ONE SAW A THING by Andrea Mara, and THE TRIAL by Rob Rinder.
THE LAST PASSENGER is Will’s third standalone novel and was published in the UK in May 2023, while Emily Bestler Books (Simon & Schuster) published in the US. It was a Financial Times ‘Best Summer Books of 2023’ pick and received glowing reviews from readers and critics alike.
The W H Smith Book Club with Richard and Judy describes the novel as: ‘A tale not so much of the unexpected, but the impossible. Picture this. You’re on a giant ocean-going liner (much bigger than the Titanic) steaming from Southampton to New York. The voyage has only just begun; you and over a thousand fellow passengers are enjoying their first evening meal on board. Everyone drifts off to bed and the great ship settles for the night. You wake next morning to find everyone – everyone; passengers AND crew – have vanished. It’s just you. And the great ship steams on… utterly engrossing, from the first page to the last.’
Richard Madeley on THE LAST PASSENGER: ‘In many ways THE LAST PASSENGER is a classic “locked room” mystery; a sort of literary conjuring trick where the impossible seems to have happened. There is simply no way you will guess the answer to the central conundrum until you get to the end. No way. Unless you cheat! And what a riddle!’
Judy Finnigan on THE LAST PASSENGER: ‘Just what the HELL has happened? You’ll get a huge kick finding out.’
Lucy Swinburn, W H Smith’s group trading director for books, commented: ‘We love teaming up with Richard and Judy as they carefully select each new collection for the book club, which has been a platform for so many bestsellers and debut novels. We’re delighted with the books that have been chosen by them for spring, with every author new to the W H Smith Book Club, and we’re excited to share this fantastic selection of recommended reads with our customers.’
Will is currently working on his fourth standalone novel, THE CHAMBER, a tense and suspenseful locked-room thriller – this time set in a hyperbaric chamber. Hodder will be publish in the UK in June 2024, with Emily Bestler Book set to publish in the US in August 2024.
About Will Dean
Photo credit: Rosalind Hobley
Will Dean grew up in the East Midlands, living in nine different villages before the age of eighteen. After studying law at the LSE, and working many varied jobs in London, he settled in rural Sweden with his wife. He built a wooden house in a boggy forest clearing and it’s from this base that he compulsively reads and writes.
Will’s first standalone novel, THE LAST THING TO BURN, was a word-of-mouth sensation reviewed positively by readers and media alike. It was shortlisted for Thriller Book of the Year at the Fingerprint Awards 2022, Crime Novel of the Year at the Theakston Old Peculier Awards 2022 and the Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award 2022 and was longlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger Award 2022.
Praise for THE LAST PASSENGER
‘A new high-water mark in high-concept thrillers… astonishing.’ – Ian Rankin
‘Lord SAVE us! What a ROLLERCOASTER of a read THE LAST PASSENGER by Will Dean is! The twists! The turns! The hairpin bends! It’s utterly compulsive reading.’ – Marian Keyes
‘THE LAST PASSENGER is exceptional. Great premise, vivid characters, and truly, deeply, unbelievably tense.’ – Emma Flint
‘Will Dean’s THE LAST THING TO BURN is one of the most terrifying thrillers I’ve read in years, so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on his latest, THE LAST PASSENGER. The premise is excellent… Supernatural explanations aside, this seems an impossible trick for a writer to pull off satisfactorily, but Dean, who also writes the excellent Tuva Moodyson crime series, makes it work. I won’t tell you how, because it would spoil this mile-a-minute, bite-your-nails-to-the-quick ride of a novel, but I will tell you to trust this writer, because I guarantee you’ll enjoy where he takes you. Extra kudos for the final twist, which brought me great pleasure.’ – Alison Flood, The Observer, ‘Thrillers of the month’
‘If you think the notion of the “high concept” thriller has been fully exsanguinated, think again. In Dean’s new novel, a luxury liner adrift without a crew in the mid-Atlantic has one passenger, Caz Ripley, left on board, dealing with a Mary Celeste-like mystery. Irresistibly compelling fare.’ – The Financial Times, ‘Best Summer Books of 2023: Crime’
‘The narration is breathless and brisk, with a tiny suspenseful hook to keep you guessing, and reading on, at the end of each chapter. A number of strange and troubling things will go wrong for these unfortunate people before they’re hit by a giant plot twist. Get your bowl of popcorn.’ – The New York Times
‘This thriller is perfect if you’re addicted to cruising – or indeed if you can’t imagine anything worse… Will Dean’s ingenious plot developments will keep you, like Caz, guessing wildly, and Jenny Funnell’s narration keeps belief suspended until the very end – and indeed beyond it.’ – Christina Hardyment, The Times, ‘The best audiobooks for summer 2023’
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