The Last To Drown
Five days. Twenty strangers. A killer current running through a seven-year-old mystery.
Kaia’s whitewater adventure turns to icy dread with every whisper of Camas Creek. This isn't just a scenic route; it's the site of a brutal massacre from seven years ago, where a guide murdered his raft group. The killer's body was recovered, but the true-crime community never stopped questioning.
Now, the incidents begin: a flipped raft, missing supplies, screams in the dead of night. The pattern is sickeningly familiar. Eighty-four miles of treacherous river separate them from civilization, trapping them with a rising terror. Kaia suspects a guide is lying. A guest knows more than she's saying. Someone on this river is determined to finish what started at Camas Creek, and for this group, there's no way out but down.
- Macy - Rafting guide
- Gracie - Rafting guide
- Josh (River Jesus) - Rafting guide
- Bryan (Flip flop) - Rafting guide
- Kaia - Rafting participant
- Parker - Kaia’s husband, deceased
- Allie - Rafting participant
- Deborah - Rafting participant, Beth’s sister
- Beth - Rafting participant, Deborah’s sister
- Imani - Rafting participant
- Pam - Rafting participant
- Nikki - Rafting participant
- Kellen Stroop - Camas Creek victim
- Leo Marsden - Camas Creek murderer
- Cindy - Camas Creek victim, Leo’s mother
- Kaia embarks on a women-only rafting trip.
- Macy and Gracie enjoy hazing Bryan as it’s his first summer with the company.
- Parker died a few years ago and Kaia is still mourning him.
- The group stops to camp for night one and Josh tells everyone the story of Camas Creek - seven years ago Leo stumbled into a gas station covered in blood and said Kellen killed the fifteen people on their rafting trip and thought he had killed Leo too. When Kellen started throwing the bodies into the water, Leo managed to kill Kellen and then rafted the rest of the way to get help. Some victims were stabbed, but the causes of death for the others couldn’t be determined because their bodies had been in the water too long.
- The satellite phone the guides carry goes missing.
- The group stops at Camas Creek to camp for night two.
- In the middle of the night Gracie is found dead.
- Chaos ensues and all the women jump into the two rafts and take off down the river.
- Bryan stabs and kills Josh.
- There is a wire stretched across the river and everyone in the first raft hits it, is dismembered in some way and dies.
- Kaia hears Parker’s voice telling her to duck.
- Kaia tells everyone to put their heads down, but Macy doesn’t listen, gets cut and falls into the water.
- Kaia, Allie, Pam and Deborah are the only ones left in their raft.
- They rescue Imani from the water. Her left arm has been severed at the elbow.
- Bryan follows the women down the river, and enjoys watching them struggle.
- Allie tells the women there were online rumors that Leo was the real killer at Camas Creek and that Kellen was just a victim.
- Bryan catches up to them and confirms that he is the real Camas Creek killer.
- The raft flips and Kaia gets swept down the river.
- Kaia hears Parker’s voice telling her to play dead.
- Kaia sees Leo’s raft approaching and plays dead until he passes by her.
- Kaia is rescued by the other women and Macy is with them.
- She survived having her face sliced open by the razor wire, found a supply raft, and caught up with the others.
- The women set up life jackets and oars to make it look like they are in the raft. Because it is getting dark, they pretend to take the unsurvivable route next to the pull-out point.
- Allie and Kaia swim behind the raft to keep it moving in the right direction while the others sneak around on land.
- Allie and Kaia let go of the raft and swim to shore.
- Leo shoots arrows at the raft and realizes he’s been tricked.
- Allie hits Leo with a rock and the women run.
- Leo hits Deborah in the shoulder with an arrow.
- Leo hits Allie in the chest with an arrow.
- The women knock Leo into the water and hold him underwater until he drowns.
- Epilogue: Six months later
- All six women survive and are healing from their wounds.
I was so excited for this book but sadly it did not deliver. The rafting setting was interesting at first and made for a tense backdrop, but it gradually lost its impact as the story went on. The first half kept me engaged, but once the story reached the midpoint, it lost momentum. I guessed the major twist fairly early on, which took away a lot of the suspense, and the second half was a struggle to get through because it was very repetitive. One of the highlights for me was Parker. His role in the story felt unique, and I liked how the third man syndrome was woven into the survival story.
Unfortunately, the ending didn’t land for me. I kept waiting for a meaningful explanation of why everything happened, but it never came. Instead of providing answers, the story simply moved on, and that made the ending feel less impactful than it should have.
The premise was compelling and there were parts I genuinely enjoyed, but I was left wishing the second half of the book was as good as the first.
If you like survival thrillers, isolated settings, and wilderness adventures, then you will enjoy this book.
- Gracie - Dead - Stabbed by Bryan
- Josh - Dead - Stabbed by Bryan
- Nikki - Dead - Killed by razor wire
- Macy - Alive - Healing from her wounds
- Beth - Dead - Killed by razor wire
- Bryan/Leo - Dead - Drowned by Kaia and Allie
- Kaia - Alive - Healing from her wounds
- Allie - Alive - Healing from her wounds
- Deborah - Alive - Healing from her wounds
- Imani - Alive - Healing from her wounds
- Murder
- Mutilation
- Suicidal ideations
- Grief/loss
ISBN: 9798992716139
Publication Date: July 13, 2026
Note: Details are for the original edition. Other formats, editions, and audiobook versions may be available.
