Synopsis
'Haunting, heartbreaking, quietly terrifying. Unforgettable' CHRIS WHITAKER
'Devastatingly good. Tense as all the best thrillers are, but with an emotional heft that will leave you deeply moved. Will Dean's storytelling just gets better and better' JENNIE GODFREY
'Vivid, heartbreaking, and written with a deep understanding of how complex a family's love can be, Adrift is pure suspense from start to finish' JANE CASEY
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.
The author of the 'master class in suspense' (Shari Lapena, Sunday Times bestselling author) The Last Thing to Burn returns with a high-tension thriller about a family's descent into darkness that is perfect for fans of Denis Lehane and Lisa Jewell.
Early readers are loving ADRIFT:
'Easy 5 stars! This book has such a sinister, chilling slow burn, and then BAM! It's brilliantly character-driven, claustrophobic, and tense' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'This is a dark, and uncomfortable read and such an emotional one. I was hooked from the start... This book is going to be big 10/10 from me' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'The tension in this book is extreme, I wanted to find the barge and scream at Peggy and Samson to leave, such is the strength of Will Dean's writing' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'I found the characters to be drawn beautifully, while contained in a story that was both riveting and harrowing, The book manages to make the hairs stand up on your skin as you read it. Exquisite' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Publisher information
- Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
- ISBN: 9781529382891
- Number of pages: 400
- Dimensions: 236 x 154 x 40 mm
- Weight: 625g
- Languages: English
Customer Reviews
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Another hit from Will Dean
Will Dean's standalone books are just excellent and "Adrift" is his latest novel. It seemed slightly different in tone to his other books which are tense, ... READ MORE
Adrift
Adrift is a chilling depiction of a toxic family environment that oozed menace from every word, sentence and chapter. Raw, emotional and tense it had me gr... READ MORE
An emotional rollercoaster read, gripping
What. Did. I. Just. Read?
I picked this up earlier today and finished it in one sitting. I am wrecked. Completely drained. This book put me through the ... READ MORE
sad, bleak, heartbreaking and absolutely brilliant.
I loved The Last Thing to Burn, so I was excited to read this book.
We have a nuclear family living on a canal boat. Our main characters are Drew, Peggy ... READ MORE
A hard read!
Peggy and Drew, both aspiring writers, move to an isolated canal boat with their fourteen-year-old son, Samson. As Drew moves their boat farther and farthe... READ MORE
A tense emotional read
This is the third book I have read by this author who seems to like giving his stories very claustrophobic settings, and it was an incredibly tense read.
... READ MORE
control your family to do your will.
Peggy and her son Samson are made to move onto a canal boat in the Midlands. Her husband controls everything and anything, what and when they eat, use of w... READ MORE
Absolutely amazing.
Haunting, heartbreaking, beautifully written......truly a complete masterpiece.
This is a must read book.
One for the ages.
Go and read this book
Another absolutely brilliant book by Will Dean. Exploring the lives and relationships in a small family told through the eyes of mum Peggy and teenage son ... READ MORE
a hard read
This was such a difficult book to read, each event was horribly predictable and Mr Dean's great writing made it harder to continue. However, I did also fi... READ MORE
Dark and desperately sad.
A chilling and desperately sad tale. Well written with rounded characters, and you can feel the desperation and claustrophobic atmosphere from page one. An... READ MORE
A stand out of 2026
Adrift is one of those books in which, before you realise, you're sucked straight into a disturbing narrative as if you're in the room with the characters,... READ MORE
Brilliant!
This was the first book I have read by Will Dean. After reading Adrift I will definitely be looking out for his other books.
Adrift had me in a spell. I... READ MORE
Such a powerful read
Three lives adrift on a narrow boat on a remote stretch of a canal in the Midlands. Peggy Jenkins volunteers in the local library and is secretly writing a... READ MORE
Tense and overwhelming
Firstly, I have no idea why Adrift is described as a crime thriller? It is a psychological drama, and a brilliant one but anyone picking it up thinking it ... READ MORE
hauntingly dark, compelling read
What a dark, hauntingly addictive read this was, I’m never disappointed with Will Dean’s books and Adrift is one of his best to date. This story revolves a... READ MORE
Adrift
I am a big fan of this author and usually love his books, especially the Tuva Moodyson series but, sadly, this one really didn't hit the spot for me at all... READ MORE
Hauntingly Brilliant
Warning! This book will affect your nervous system. I actually don't feel like I breathed through the whole of the book. Intense is an understatement. T... READ MORE
Compelling and Disturbing Thriller
This is a story that will stay with me for a while, it’s absolutely harrowing, but it’s also an important story to tell.
Peggy and Samson are mother and... READ MORE
Coercive control as a way of life
Peggy lives on a narrow boat in the Midlands with her husband Drew and son Sammy. Drew rules the household with a rod of iron. He controls the money,the fo... READ MORE
Tense and emotional family drama. Brilliant read.
Well I can say for certain that this is going to be in my top 10 books of 2026! I know it’s an overused and inaccurate statement but I couldn’t put this b... READ MORE
Absolutely Horribly Brilliant!
Will Dean is an amazing author and I immediately requested this book on the strength of his name alone. I was therefore totally hooked when I read the firs... READ MORE
Hold on tight!
Another fantastic thrilling read from Will Dean. The pace was excellent making me not wanting to put the book down!
Took my breath away
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Wow, I devoured the audiobook in 2 sittings! Will Dean has written another masterpiece.
Drew, Peggy and Samson live aboard their narrow b... READ MORE
Another amazing book by this author!
This is one of the darkest and most harrowing domestic thrillers I’ve read this year, and I absolutely loved it. Peggy lives in constant fear of her husban... READ MORE
Taught, Troubling and Traumatising!
Oh wow. Will has done it again, I thought after The Last Thing To Burn I wouldn't ever feel the gut wrenching sorrow I did for a character. But with Adr... READ MORE
Incredible.
Peggy Jenkins and her son Samson live on a canal boat in the Midlands. They live with Drew, her husband and Samson’s father. He is more their jailer than a... READ MORE
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 r... READ MORE
Compelling
A riveting read! Centering around a couple and their teenage son this compelling tale of a family and the secrets they hide, not only from the people arou... READ MORE
Dark, disturbing and claustrophobic
Whooft! This book took my breath away. It is beautifully written and by far the best thing Will Dean has written since The Last Thing to Burn. The characte... READ MORE
Unflinching,Raw and Unsettling
Set on a houseboat in the East Midlands, Adrift unfolds as a psychologically heavy story of a family. Told through the voices of Peggy & Samson, with their... READ MORE
Dark, disturbing and heart-breaking
Peggy Jenkins lives on a narrowboat with her husband, Drew, and their teenage son, Samson. Life revolves around the struggle to make ends meet and supporti... READ MORE
Haunting, raw, and incredibly tense. A masterpiece
This book well and truly wrecked me - shouldn’t have finished reading on the train. I didn’t think it was possible to increase the intensity of Last Thing ... READ MORE
Amazing
Samson is fourteen boy and everyday goes to school and gets bullied by the other kids in his class because of his lack of money. When he comes home to the ... READ MORE
This novel will linger in your mind
Adrift is an astonishing novel. Superbly written authentic characters. It was a challenging read with unrelentlessly harrowing themes of domestic abuse, su... READ MORE
dark and disturbing
I finished this book a week or so ago and I just keep thinking back to it, wondering how to capture the essence of the plot in a review! What a powerful re... READ MORE
Gripping Read
Man, Will Dean knows how to make people uncomfortable! His books have an amazing ability to affect your breathing, the way you’re sitting, the tautness of ... READ MORE
Adrift
Its a few days since I finished this book yet I can't stop thinking about it. I went through a whole range of emotions whilst reading it. Drew and Peggy Je... READ MORE
Emotional rollercoaster
Wow - I'm emotionally drained after reading this book. It grabbed me from the first page and didn't let go. I finished it in one sitting.
Peggy and her te... READ MORE
Slowly builds to its climax
This book draws you in until you had read it all.
Peggy lives on a narrow boat with her husband Drew and her son Samson. It's a hard life because Drew is... READ MORE
Good if formulaic
Peggy has been with Drew since she was a teenager and they have a son, Samson. After her mother's death Drew wanted to move away from the home she inherit... READ MORE
Gripping dark thriller
Gripping dark thriller with a focus on a family living a restricted life on a houseboat under the control of Drew, the father and husband. Taking the persp... READ MORE
A tough red but it will restore faith in humanity too.
This heartrending thriller is an object lesson in the evil that one person can visit upon others, especially those closeted to them. A father, mother and s... READ MORE
Five stars!
Adrift is tense, claustrophobic, and deeply unsettling in the most gripping way.
It explores control, isolation, and generational trauma through a domes... READ MORE
A hard book but good
This is a very well written novel full of tough subjects and so while the characters and their stories are fully fleshed out and real, it was quite a stres... READ MORE