If They Knew
Theo Parrish didn't just inherit a cruise line from his deceased father; he inherited a legacy—and a colossal burden. With his twin, Tyler, opting out, the maiden voyage of Parrish Cruise Lines’ flagship rests squarely on Theo’s shoulders. He’s determined to prove himself, to honor a dream.
But what begins as a simple training voyage quickly plunges into a nightmare. A relentless storm rips through the ocean, shattering communications, cutting power, and leaving the vessel a lifeless hulk adrift in the vast, unforgiving sea. Theo, once a reluctant heir, now holds the fate of every soul on board in his trembling hands.
Days blur into weeks, then endless months. Supplies vanish. Hunger and desperation become the new normal. Alliances shift, leaders rise and fall, and the darkest corners of humanity begin to surface. Because among the stranded, one passenger harbors a secret so profound, so devastating, it could doom them all.
Rescue seems a distant myth. The real question isn't if help will come, but who will be left alive when it does.
- Theo - Owner of Parrish Cruise Lines, Julie’s husband
- Julie - Theo’s wife
- Tyler - Theo’s twin brother
- Benjamin - Theo’s father
- Mark Whitaker - Captain
- Logan - Second in command onboard the ship
- Kelly/Sophie - Sara’s friend
- Sarah - Chris’ girlfriend
- Chris - Sarah’s boyfriend
- Mary - Retired nurse
- John - kitchen worker
- Morgan - Cruise entertainer
- Blake - Morgan’s brother
- Brent - Passenger
- Karissa - Passenger
- Xander - Karissa’s brother, passenger
- Cyrus - Passenger
- Theo, Julie and Tyler are among the crew and their families on Parrish Cruise Lines’ maiden voyage.
- Theo’s father falsified paperwork so the ship could sail early, leaving several floors unfinished with exposed wiring.
- The ship sails into a storm and lightning strikes the ship, causing the power to go out.
- When Julie was young her mother died in a car crash when her family was hit by a drunk driver.
- A fire breaks out on deck, the ship sways wildly and an explosion happens just outside the bridge.
- Passengers die as they are crushed to death by furniture.
- Other passengers fear the ship is sinking and jump overboard.
- Theo and Tyler find Captain Mark electrocuted to death in the engine room.
- All the electrical wiring is fried, so Theo is no longer able to control the ship.
- Once the storm and panic settle, there are only about one hundred passengers still alive.
- Theo takes control of the survivors, appointing John to gather and portion out the food and putting Mary in charge of the medical area.
- They never received final approval for the voyage, so no one knows they are sailing and won’t know to look for them when they don’t arrive home.
- Blake finds Morgan’s dead body, then takes a piece of glass and slices his own throat with it.
- Part Two: Five months drifting
- The bodies of the deceased are put out to sea.
- Tyler has become romantically involved with Kelly.
- John keeps undermining Theo’s authority and letting his power over the food go to his head.
- During a heated argument Theo beats John very badly.
- Kelly intervenes and stabs John in the neck several times with a fork, killing him.
- Some survivors get sick, and the thing they all have in common is that they received extra food rations from John in exchange for spying on other survivors and reporting back to Logan.
- One of the sick patients tells Theo that John and Logan had been making plans to kill Theo.
- Logan tells Theo that John put rat poison in the sick survivors’ food.
- Logan gets the other survivors to turn on Theo by telling them Theo was the one poisoning people.
- Theo, Julie, Tyler and Kelly lock themselves in the medical unit with Mary for three weeks.
- Theo and Tyler sneak out of the medical unit in the middle of the night and find that the survivors have split into two groups; Logan’s followers are in possession of all the food, while another group led by Sara has all of the water.
- Theo and Tyler hear Logan say they are going to kill Sara’s group and steal the water, so they relay the information to Sara, who agrees to move her group to the medical center for safety.
- Kelly is pregnant with Tyler’s child.
- Logan marches his group to the medical center, where a fight breaks out between the two groups.
- Logan stabs Theo in the shoulder with a knife, so Tyler drives a broken piece of wood into Logan’s heart, killing him and stopping the fighting.
- Kelly tells the others that she was diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder when she was a teen after watching her stepfather kill her mother. Her alter, Sophie, formed and killed her stepfather. It was Sophie who killed John, and Kelly has no memory of the event.
- Part Three: Eight months drifting
- Theo and Sara are co-leaders of the group.
- It is now winter and only thirteen survivors remain.
- Brent punches Sara in the face and then throws all of the remaining food supply overboard.
- Theo hangs Brent in the atrium as a reminder to the other passengers of what will happen if other people start turning on each other.
- Julie has been hoarding food for herself while everyone else has been starving.
- Cyrus and Tyler start fighting and Cyrus falls into the fire and burns to death.
- The survivors eat Cyrus.
- Julie jabs needles into Theo and Tyler.
- She tries to put another needle into Kelly but Mary intervenes and gets stabbed instead.
- Mary directs Karissa to the antidote, and Karissa administers it to Theo, Tyler and Mary.
- Julie gets into an inflatable life raft and floats away.
- Theo finds a note Julie wrote to him explaining that Theo’s mother was the alcoholic who caused the car crash that killed Julie’s mother when she was young, but Benjamin paid off officials to report that Julie’s mother was the drunk driver to protect his family’s reputation. Mary was a paramedic at the crash scene that night. Julie tracked her down and offered her money to help her get revenge on the Parrish family. Mary set off the bomb on the bridge, which was supposed to kill Theo, and was going to kill Tyler so Julie could get her revenge and inherit the Parrish wealth.
- The remaining survivors find a life raft and get in it.
- Kelly has her baby and names her Hope.
- Epilogue: Julie is rescued.
- One year later: Theo returns after some survivors, including a toddler, are rescued from an island.
- Julie is arrested for the attempted murder of Theo and Tyler.
I love when a thriller jumps right in, and this book gets to the carnage so fast. Once everything starts unraveling, it doesn’t let up. Being stranded on a cruise ship with no hope of rescue made for the perfect setting for chaos and madness. The story is told from several characters’ POVs, all in the present, with short chapters - but that doesn’t matter because once you start reading, you won’t want to put it down.
The main twist wasn’t anything unique, but I thought it was executed well. More importantly, there was so much else happening that it never felt like the book was built around that one reveal. For me, it almost felt like a bonus side plot within a much bigger story, and I was perfectly happy with that. I also found the characters’ reactions and behavior believable, which made everything easier to buy into rather than feeling like people were making ridiculous decisions just to move the plot along.
And then there’s that ending! I did not see it going the way it did, and I loved where Wooding took it. There is so much left swirling around in my head after finishing this, and I’m already praying there will be a sequel because I am not ready to leave this story behind yet.
If you like chaotic thrillers, stranded-at-sea settings, and unexpected endings, then you will love this book.
- Theo - Alive - Survived
- Julie - Alive - Arrested for attempting to murder Theo and Tyler
- Tyler - Unknown - Left unclear whether he made it off the island
- Kelly - Unknown - Left unclear whether she made it off the island
- Mary - Unknown - Left unclear whether she made it off the island
- Chris - Unknown - Left unclear whether he made it off the island
- Sara - Unknown - Left unclear whether she made it off the island
- Mark - Dead - Electrocuted
- Blake - Dead - Slit his own throat with a piece of glass
- John - Dead - Stabbed with a fork by Kelly
- Logan - Dead - Killed by Tyler
- Brent - Dead - Hanged by Theo
- Cyrus - Dead - Burned to death
- Car accident
- Loss of a parent
- Suicide
- Blood
- Violence
- Cannibalism
- Murder
ISBN: 9798995254706
Publication Date: October 10, 2026
Note: Details are for the original edition. Other formats, editions, and audiobook versions may be available.
