Adrift by Will Dean

 

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 supporting her husband in his writing. It's imperative that nothing disturbs Drew's writing; woe betide anyone who does!

The last book I read by Will Dean was the unbelievably claustrophobic One At A Time (previously published as The Chamber, you can read my review here). I honestly didn't think it would be possible to write anything as oppressive, but the author has almost accomplished this in his latest offering, Adrift. The close confines of the living arrangements on board the narrowboat are so well described that you can almost feel the walls pressing in on you. More importantly, the fact that every movement is observable and every sound magnified makes you apprehensive, as there's nowhere to hide.

The opening pages, which take place twenty-one years earlier, are ominous ones, but don't immediately seem to fit the rest of the story. As you become immersed in the narrative, the connection slowly dawns and you are filled with shock and untold questions. Further questions arise when you discover the conditions Peggy and her son are living under, the emotional, financial and physical abuse they suffer is disturbing. I found my anger intensifying the more I read, wondering why an intelligent woman would remain in such a relationship. Much of my anger was directed at Drew, one of the most loathsome creatures I've come across in literature. He's one of those quietly menacing characters whose intimidation of his family has gone on for so long that a simple glance from him will have them cowering.

While all of this is taking place, Samson is dealing with problems of his own. He's been targeted by school bullies, and the abuse he has to face daily is distressing. My heart went out to him. There's no rhyme or reason for him being targeted, and he knows that at some point, another poor soul will take his place. At the forefront of his mind is simply surviving each day so that his parents don't find out; he doesn't want to add to his mother's burden or draw the wrath of his domineering father.

There are people watching out for Peggy and Samson, trying in their own small way to offer help and support. Unfortunately, Drew is well aware of this and always seems to be one step ahead. You begin to realise that he will go to any length to prevent his from wife leaving. Everything builds to a climactic ending, one in which you are filled with terror, wondering who will be the victor.

Adrift by Will Dean will be published on 19th February 2026 in hardback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for a review copy.

Author Details

Will Dean grew up in the East Midlands and had lived in nine different villages before the age of eighteen. After studying Law at the LSE and working in London, he settled in rural Sweden where he built a 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. His debut novel in the Tuva Moodyson series, Dark Pines, was selected for Zoe Ball’s Book Club, shortlisted for the Guardian Not the Booker prize and named a Daily Telegraph Book of the Year. Red Snow was published in January 2019 and won Best Independent Voice at the Amazon Publishing Readers’ Awards, 2019. Black River was shortlisted for the Theakstons Old Peculier Award in 2021. Will also writes standalone thrillers: The Last Thing to Burn, First Born, the top twenty hardback bestseller The Last Passenger and One at a Time.