Announcing my next book!!!
+ the VERY first excerpt...
If you’ve got ten seconds, may I suggest spending them mesmerized by my new cover reveal video?
Did it just get really sexy in here??
I’m SO excited to tell you about The Last Ferry Out, coming your way in Summer 2025 and now available for preorder. And I’m so grateful to People.com for doing a cover reveal and exclusive excerpt! Let’s do a quick TLFO FAQ:
What’s it about?
Please enjoy this catalog description:
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?
I had so much fun writing this book! There are enigmatic expats, tight-lipped locals, creepy ruins, a mountainous wilderness preserve...all the good stuff.
Where’d the idea come from?
Like all my books, this one was inspired by real events. In February 2020, I spent the month traveling in Mexico solo. (Talk about lucky timing!) I met a ton of friendly, quirky expats along the way, and I was fascinated by their tight-knit communities. I wondered what led these folks to leave behind the lives they were born into…and if they’d even be friends if they all lived in an English-speaking country! I love exploring closed-door social milieux in my thrillers, and a tiny, isolated island felt like the perfect place to set a mystery.
As the daughter of a Hungarian immigrant, I’m also really interested in questions about who “owns” a place and what it means to call somewhere—or someone—home. I had a blast exploring these topics through my cast of characters and weaving together a page-turner.
(More of a comment than a question but…) I want to start reading noooow!
The book won’t hit shelves until summer, but you can read an exclusive excerpt at People.com right now!
How is it similar to and different from your other thrillers?
Like We Were Never Here, The Last Ferry Out is a globe-trotting thriller set in a stunning foreign land…where the sun-splashed dream quickly becomes a nightmare. TLFO is packed with tension and complex group dynamics, and I think fans of my previous books will enjoy the messy, imperfect heroines and twisty narrative.
My latest novel, The Spare Room, was sexy domestic suspense all cloistered in a Gothic mansion. TLFO, on the other hand, is more of a traditional thriller and much more outdoorsy—it takes place on a sunny, mountainous, beach-lined island far from the protagonist’s Wisconsin home. I hope it’s escapist and transportive, a true vacation (and adrenaline rush!) for readers.
Finally, I gave this book a puzzle-box-like structure I haven’t tried before, with multiple narrators and timelines (including one in reverse chronological order)—so the pieces slide into place at just the right moment. It was, well, a bit of a puzzle to put together, but I’m so happy with how it turned out. I hope it’s as fun to read as it was to write!
How can I support you/this book?
Thank you for asking! You can preorder The Last Ferry Out wherever you buy books…for reasons I’ve shared, preordering from your local independent bookstore is the most powerful way to prop up a forthcoming book. You can also share this cover reveal with people who might enjoy the book (by forwarding this email, sharing the People.com article, or reposting my (deep breath) Instagram, Reel, Thread, TikTok, or Facebook post about it). Getting the word out and letting booksellers know their customers are hankering for it are two key ways to support a release!
What do you think? Thoughts on the cover, description, and/or excerpt? Can’t wait to hear from you!
Congratulations, cover looks fantastic and the books sounds great — love that there's a "puzzle-box-like structure" to the novel.
Gorgeous cover! So happy for you and can't wait to read.