The Last Ferry Out

By: Andrea Bartz

ISBN: 978-0593597972

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Random House

Publication Date: 05/20/2025

Format: Other

My Rating: 4 Stars (ARC)

MAY 2025 MUST-READ BOOKS

On a trip to the tropical paradise where her fiancée died, a young woman begins to suspect the death was no accident—and the killer’s still on the island—in this twisty thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Reese's Book Club pick We Were Never Here.

When Abby decided to come to Isla Colel, she wasn't sure what—if anything—she'd find. She only knew that she needed to see the place where her fiancée, Eszter, died, to try and make sense of everything that happened.

The island is nothing like Abby expected; though it was once a bustling tourist hub, a hurricane a few years earlier left it a shell of its former self, with only a few locals and expats remaining. Even the once-daily ferry to the mainland now only runs every week or so.

There, Abby befriends an alluring group of expats, but her sense of unease surges when one of them says he knows the truth about Eszter's last days. Before she can see him, though, he vanishes from the island. Hours turn to days with no sign of him, and the other expats are chillingly cavalier about his disappearance.

As her quest for the truth unearths dark secrets, shady pasts, and a web of lies, Abby grows more determined than ever to find out what happened to the love of her life. And the deeper she gets in the close-knit expat community, the more she suspects one of them is Eszter's killer—and will do anything to keep the truth buried. But will she discover who it is before she becomes the island’s next victim?

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Praise

“Andrea Bartz is a master of suspense, and her fifth novel, The Last Ferry Out, is maybe the most unputdownable yet. I was hooked from the first few pages as Bartz expertly drew me into a gripping narrative. . . . It still makes my heart race thinking about it. Bartz keeps the twists coming ’til the last page.”

—Elle

“Set on an eerie and beautiful island, The Last Ferry Out is a methodically paced suspense novel with richly drawn characters. Expect to lose sleep with this one. Readers will be up late, racing to put the puzzle pieces together.”

—Emiko Jean, New York Times bestselling author of The Return of Ellie Black

“A captivating mystery whose beating heart is the relationship between the main character and her fiancée . . . I couldn’t put it down.”

—Lauren Ling Brown, USA Today bestselling author of Society of Lies

“The Last Ferry Out has it all: drama, mystery, and a heroine seeking the truth about how her fiancée died. The setting on this remote tropical island comes to life like it was hit with an adrenaline shot. You won’t know who to trust in this motley crew of characters until the satisfying conclusion of this compelling story of determination and deception.”

—Jaime Lynn Hendricks, bestselling author of A Lovely Lie

“The island setting pulled me in and the shocking twists kept me on the edge of my seat as I raced to finish The Last Ferry Out. Immersive, tense, and masterful—vacations will never be the same!”

—Ashley Elston, #1 New York Times bestselling author of First Lie Wins

“Andrea Bartz is an auto-buy for me and The Last Ferry Out is Bartz at her best. This island mystery is twisty, shocking, and riveting—with a narrator you won’t stop rooting for.”

—Laura Dave, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Last Thing He Told Me and The Night We Lost Him

“Set on a paradise island that won’t divulge its deadly secrets, this twisty, breathless page-turner is at once a scorching destination thriller and an emotive exploration of how well we can ever know even those who have our hearts. . . . Loved it!”

—Ellery Lloyd, New York Times bestselling author of The Club

“When her fiancée’s mysterious death on a remote island raises more questions than answers, one woman’s investigation unearths a chilling web of secrets and lies. As paranoia mounts, she becomes convinced that every move she makes is being watched. In this pulse-pounding thriller, Andrea Bartz proves once again why she’s a master of suspense.”

—Liv Constantine, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Mrs. Parrish

“A salt-encrusted, propulsively cinematic thriller . . . You won’t want to put it down. Escapist and haunting, Bartz’s prose is immediate, visceral, and richly atmospheric. . . . A perfect vacation read.”

—Catherine Steadman, New York Times bestselling author of Something in the Water and Look in the Mirror

“Grabs the reader with a killer premise and keeps the reader flipping the pages with a combination of intricately rendered characters and impossible-to-predict twists and turns. . . . A first-rate thriller.”

—Booklist

“[A] stylish, serpentine thriller . . . pairing tender explorations of grief and homophobia with a series of horrifying twists. [Readers] willing to follow Bartz’s lead are in for a memorable ride.”

—Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Hi! I’m Andi. My debut thriller, THE LOST NIGHT, received starred reviews from Library Journal and Booklist and was optioned for TV by Mila Kunis and Cartel Entertainment. My second novel, THE HERD, was named a best book of 2020 by Real Simple, Marie Claire, Good Housekeeping, and CrimeReads. My third thriller, WE WERE NEVER HERE, was a Reese’s Book Club pick and an instant New York Times bestseller; it’s in development at Netflix. And my most recent thriller, THE SPARE ROOM, was a GMA Bonus Buzz Pick, a Marie Claire book club pick, and a best book of summer per People, Shondaland, Glamour, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, and more.

I’m also a journalist whose work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Travel + Leisure, Marie Claire, Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Women’s Health, USA Today, Elle, and many other outlets, and I’ve held editorial positions at Glamour, Psychology Today, and Self, among other titles.

I’m originally from Wisconsin, and I live in Brooklyn and the Catskills with my girlfriend, cat, and dog. WEBSITE