Adrift by Will Dean

🔥🔥🔥 Due out 19 February 2026 🔥🔥🔥

Description from Goodreads:

"Three of them adrift on the narrowboat.

Mother, son, and wickedness.

Peggy Jenkins and her teenage son, Samson, live on a remote stretch of canal in the Midlands. She is a writer and he is a schoolboy. Together, they battle against the hardness and manipulation of the man they live with. To the outside world he is a husband and father. To them, he is a captor.

Their lives are tightly controlled; if any perceived threat appears, their mooring is moved further down the canal, further away from civilisation. Until the day when the power suddenly shifts, and nothing can be the same again."

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One of the most claustrophobic and tense books I've read in a long time

I've been a huge fan of Will Dean for a while now, having previously read The Chamber, First Born and the absolutely harrowing The Last Thing To Burn. He really is the master when it comes to building a thick atmosphere and that slow, creeping sense of dread that just gets under your skin. Adrift is no exception and it honestly had me on pins almost as much as Peggy was.

The story follows Peggy and her son Samson as they find themselves in an unthinkable situation. What makes this book so powerful is how Dean handles the emotional weight of their journey. I found the scenes involving the horrendous bullying Samson faces at school particularly tough to get through. They're genuinely heartbreaking and felt very real, which only added to the protective instinct you feel for them as a reader.

It isn't an easy read by any means, but it's incredibly well written. The way the tension ramps up is just brilliant and I couldn't put it down even when things got really dark. If you've read his previous work you'll know he doesn't pull any punches, and this definitely feels like another masterclass in suspense. It's a gripping, emotional rollercoaster that stayed with me long after I finished the last page.

Thanks to the author, Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for enabling me to read this difficult but powerful book.

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