I love coming up with playlists for my books—it’s such a great way to set the scene and get into my characters’ heads! So without further ado, here are the songs I hear when I think about DEAD BELOW DECK.
Super Rich Kids by Frank Ocean
What better anthem for a yacht full of (seemingly) privileged prep school friends setting sail on a cruise to the Caribbean? No parents. No supervision. Cases of hard-to-pronounce wine and champagne. Of course, it’s not all fun and laughs for these “super rich kids with nothing but loose ends… super rich kids with nothing but fake friends.” Because when it all comes down to it, Ocean’s song is about yearning for real love—not money. Giselle can definitely relate.
Busyhead by Noah Kahan
With Maggie’s roots in small-town Vermont, there’s no doubt she keeps Noah Kahan on regular rotation and connects with his songs. But it’s Busyhead that really speaks to the inner turmoil Maggie feels about her family, what she’s doing at Prep—and why she befriends Giselle and joins her on this fateful yacht trip. She understands deeply what it means to keep her secrets and weaknesses hidden, and the consequences of burning bridges and leaving no witnesses…
Jealousy, Jealousy by Olivia Rodrigo
There’s plenty of envy to be had aboard The Escape, and influencer-wannabe Vivian feels this song deep in her core. She strives to have the best grades, to get into her dream college, amass followers as she curates her seemingly perfect life online—all while finding herself (reluctantly) competing with Giselle. And she’s not the only one. Maggie can’t help but look at everything Giselle has and wonder, why not me??
II Most Wanted by Beyoncé, featuring Miley Cyrus
This song about young love perfectly reflects how Emi feels about her boyfriend—she knows they’re young and may be “jumping the gun,” but she’d follow him anywhere (much to Giselle’s irritation). It’s also an ode to friendship and platonic love—the type Emi and Giselle once had, and the way Giselle and Maggie feel when they first become friends.
Hope is a Dangerous Thing for a Woman Like Me to Have… But I Have It by Lana Del Rey
This haunting song with its lyric “smiling for miles in pink dresses and high heels on white yachts… ” encapsulated for me how Maggie feels when she boards The Escape, filled with hope for the future. She knows all too well that it’s dangerous to pin everything on this trip, yet she does anyway.
Bonus tracks!
Brutal by Olivia Rodrigo
Another great song by Olivia Rodrigo, whose Guts and Sour albums provided me with a lot of inspiration. Giselle actually references Brutal in her journal at a time she’s feeling particularly lonely and let down by someone close to her—because, as far as she’s concerned, who is she if not exploited?
Von Dutch by Charli XCX
More jealousy, secrets and obsessions for the win!
Knee Deep by Zac Brown Band
Ahh, the perfect song for heading on a tropical vacation, where the only worry in the world’s if the tide will reach your chair. Too bad that wasn’t all Maggie, Giselle, Emi and Viv had to worry about.
When an heiress disappears from her superyacht and security footage shows her getting pushed, the main suspect has to prove her innocence in this thrilling mystery at sea told in reverse chronological order, perfect for fans of Karen McManus and Genuine Fraud.
It was supposed to be the best-ever girls’ trip: five days, four friends, one luxury yacht, no parents. But on the final night, as the yacht cruised the deep and dark waters between Florida and Grand Cayman, eighteen-year-old heiress Giselle vanished. She’s nowhere to be found the next morning even after a frantic search, until security footage surfaces . . . showing Maggie pushing her overboard.
But Maggie has no memory of what happened. All she knows is that she woke up with a throbbing headache, thousands of dollars in cash in her safe, a passport that isn’t hers, and Giselle’s diary. And while Maggie had her own reasons to want Giselle dead, so did everyone else on board: jealous Viv, calculating Emi, even some members of the staff.
What really went down on the top deck that night? Maggie will have to work her way backward to uncover the secrets that everyone—even Giselle—kept below deck or she’s dead in the water.
Jan Gangsei crafts a compulsively readable tale of privilege, family, and identity wrapped in a wholly original mystery that will keep readers on the edges of their seats until the final twist.
Young Adult Suspense [Harper Collins, On Sale: November 19, 2024, Hardcover / e-Book , ISBN: 9780063310445 / ]
Jan Gangsei has been making up stories as long she can remember—thanks to a childhood in rural Vermont, where she had to invent her own entertainment (when she wasn’t busy putting on backyard shows with her best friend or trying to get out of stacking wood).
Now, Jan writes full-time with her rescue pup Willie curled at her side. Her books have been featured on several award and reading lists, but nothing makes Jan happier than hearing from a young person who discovered a love of reading through one of her books. For that, Jan considers herself the luckiest person on earth.
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