MY REVIEW
Adrift was so much more than I thought it would be. The subtle evil of Drew’s manipulations had Peggy questioning her own actions. Drew stepped up his machinations when he found out his wife, Peggy, had sold a novel. They were both authors, but he has turned into a has been. He begrudges Peggy’s success in every way, whether it was getting a check from a publisher or getting a job with the library. He sabotages all her successes. Denies her and his son food and water. Isolates them, continually moving their canal boat farther and farther away from everyone else.
Peggy is determined to find a way out for her and their son. She didn’t want him growing up to be like his father, a failure in every way. Samson is fourteen years old and bullied by the kids in school. His determination to do well in school and leave town when he is older drives him to endure. The isolation and poverty is brutal.
My emotions were all over the place. If you want a character to hate, Will Dean has supplied one. Every time I didn’t think Drew could do something worse, he did. As Peggy searches every nook and cranny in their canal boat, she discovers some truths.
As their worst moments came about, I saw the ending unfold. Some I knew and some I hoped for.
My thanks go out to NetGalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read Adrift by Will Dean. What a wild ride it was. He’s definitely on my radar now.
GOODREADS BLURB
The author of the “master class in suspense” (Shari Lapena, New York Times bestselling author)The Chamber returns with a high-tension thriller about a family’s descent into darkness that is perfect for fans of Dennis Lehane and Lisa Jewell.
Peggy and Drew, both aspiring writers, move to an isolated canal boat with their fourteen-year-old son. Peggy is the glue that holds their family together, even as their son is bullied relentlessly for his physique and his family’s lack of money. But when Drew becomes frustrated by his wife’s sudden writing success, he moves their boat further and further from civilization.
With their increasing isolation, personal challenges become harder to ignore, even as they desperately try to break toxic generational patterns. But when Drew’s gaslighting becomes too much for Peggy to take, it sets off a catastrophic series of events.
With Will Dean’s signature “well-drawn characters and excellent prose” (Sarah Pearse, New York Times bestselling author), Adrift is gripping exploration of the ties that bind when everything spirals out of control.
- Genre: Adult, Dark, Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
- Kindle Edition
- Expected publication February 17, 2026 by Atria/Emily Bestler Books
ABOUT WILL DEAN
Will Dean grew up in the East Midlands, living in nine different villages before the age of eighteen. He was a bookish, daydreaming kid who found comfort in stories and nature (and he still does). After studying Law at the LSE, and working in London, he settled in rural Sweden. He built a wooden house in a boggy clearing at the centre of a vast elk forest, and it’s from this base that he compulsively reads and writes. He is the author of Dark Pines.
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