Lucy Clarke kicks off 2026 with a psychological thriller that readers will be talking about for a while. THE CASTAWAYS is full of secrets and surprises.

Two years ago, a plane disappeared over Fiji. One of the passengers was Lori. Her sister, Erin, was supposed to be on that flight but wasn’t. Erin is a journalist who is suspicious by nature. She has let both her guilt and the numerous questions she has about the incident consume her. Her research, which includes visits to Fiji where she had last seen Lori, turns up the possibility that the pilot might still be alive.

"Lucy Clarke reserves the biggest twists for the final act of THE CASTAWAYS. Readers will consume them just as breathlessly as they did the entire novel..."

We eventually learn that the plane crashed on a small, uncharted island somewhere in Fiji. The survivors are few and include three men --- Mike (the pilot), Felix and Daniel --- as well as a baby boy named Sonny, whom Lori has been forced to care for. Having had several miscarriages and failed IVF attempts, this is a cathartic moment for her.

We see the argument that drove the sisters apart and forced Erin to make the fateful decision not to join Lori on that flight. Erin’s obsession takes on new levels when she believes that she has located Mike living under an assumed name. She needs to validate this and somehow confront him about Lori’s fate.

Meanwhile, we realize that rescue seems to be next to impossible for Lori. And to make matters even worse, Mike, Felix and Daniel all have secrets that are possibly deadly, making her chances for survival scant.

Once Erin finally has an opportunity to speak to Mike, she is devastated to learn that he has just passed away from a lengthy illness. She is left only with his distant and protective son, Nathan, who mentions an island during his brief moments with her. This island now becomes the focus of the novel, both in Lori’s fight to survive and Erin’s desire to locate it and find any clues that might lead her to the truth of what happened to her sister.

Lucy Clarke reserves the biggest twists for the final act of THE CASTAWAYS. Readers will consume them just as breathlessly as they did the entire novel, which has been presented at a frenetic pace and with a mystery that reminded me at times of Agatha Christie. This is certainly a great start to 2026 for the psychological thriller genre, and Clarke has set the bar high for other authors as we look forward to another exciting literary year.