The Only Survivors

By: Megan Miranda

Narrated by: Alex Allwine, Erin Moon, Andre Bellido, Inés del Castillo, Michael Crouch, Priya Ayyar, Greg Chun

Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

A New York Times Bestseller
A Library Reads Hall of Fame Pick

From the New York Times bestselling author of All the Missing Girls and “master of suspense, Megan Miranda” (Mary Kubica, New York Times bestselling author of The Good Girl), a thrilling mystery about a group of former classmates who reunite to mark the tenth anniversary of a tragic accident—only to have one of the survivors disappear, casting fear and suspicion on the original tragedy.

Seven hours in the past. Seven days in the present. Seven survivors remaining. Who would you save?

A decade ago, two vans filled with high school seniors on a school service trip crashed into a Tennessee ravine—a tragedy that claimed the lives of multiple classmates and teachers. The nine students who managed to escape the river that night were irrevocably changed. A year later, after one of the survivors dies by suicide on the anniversary of the crash, the rest of them make a pact: to come together each year to commemorate that terrible night.

To keep one another safe.

To hold one another accountable.

Or both.

Their annual meeting place, a house on the Outer Banks, has long been a refuge. But by the tenth anniversary, Cassidy Bent has worked to distance herself from the tragedy and from the other survivors. She’s changed her mobile number. She’s blocked the others’ email addresses. This year, she is determined to finally break ties once and for all. But on the day of the reunion, she receives a text with an obituary attached: another survivor is gone. Now they are seven—and Cassidy finds herself hurling back toward the group, wild with grief—and suspicion.

Almost immediately, something feels off this year. Cassidy is the first to notice when Amaya, the annual organizer, slips away, overwhelmed. This wouldn’t raise alarm except for the impending storm. Suddenly, they’re facing the threat of closed roads and surging waters…again. Then Amaya stops responding to her phone. After all they’ve been through, she wouldn’t willfully make them worry. Would she?

And—as they promised long ago—each survivor will do whatever he or she can do to save one another. Won’t they?

A propulsive and chilling locked-box mystery filled with the dazzling hairpin twists that are the author’s signature, The Only Survivors is New York Times bestselling author Megan Miranda’s best novel yet.

©2023 Megan Miranda, LLC. (P)2023 Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Highly recommended for fans of Alafair Burke, Gillian Flynn, and Lisa Lutz, and for all readers who like their female characters clever and resourceful, even when their best friends become their worst nightmares.”—Booklist

"Fans of Gillian Flynn, Chevy Stevens, and Jennifer McMahon will devour this relentlessly paced and deftly plotted thriller... The story moves at a feverish, unfaltering pace, keeping readers just as perplexed as the characters."—Publishers Weekly

“And, oh boy, does [Megan] ever know how to write a twisty-turny ending (or two, or more).”—Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review

The Only Survivors

Always be careful because you never know who is within your six degrees of separation.

Very hood!

It’s a very interesting story but a little bit of a slow read. The performance isn’t the best but it’s good!

Couldn’t stop listening

Excellent suspense and mix of multiple time and character perspectives but mostly focused on Cassidy. Very well done!

Great listen, good story

I really enjoyed this one. The narration was really good and the story kept me interested all the way through

Very well written and suspenseful!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Suspenseful and kept you guessing right up until the end. Very well written.

I thought it was really good!

I loved the different perspectives and the main character. Maybe a little derivative (but what book isn’t these days!), but overall I really enjoyed it.

The only survivor

Weird! Not sure it was worth listening to. It was okay but really to weird!

Not worth multiple narrators

The women narrators sounded alike as did the men. I could not distinguish which character was talking without context clues. A single narrator changes pitch or accent when doing characters in a book, which, frankly, would have been better. Cassidy was not my favorite character but she is the main one. I would have liked to learn more about the other folks.

It’s okay

It’s a bit slow and some of the inner dialogue feels repetitive. The narration isn’t amazing and the brief male narrator was awful. I liked the ending but wish some of the information was disclosed earlier.

On the side of "excellent"

At first, it took a little while to get into it. But it turns out that was necessary due to the complex entertwining of the characters. once the background was set, it was captivating. I thought the narration was perfect for the tone of the story. I'm puzzled by the negative reviews. I find myself on the side of "it was excellent."