Joined in 2023 
82 
63 About this deal
After this tragic event the ship is laid up (out of service) for two months, with just a skeleton staff. The staff are doing their best to move on - but when other deaths begin to occur they start to wonder more about Lola. Was she murdered? And why? Onboard, no one really knows who you are or where you came from so it’s easy to escape your old life and start a new one, should you want to. To me it seemed absolutely enormous and I regularly lost my way trying to find my (rather lovely) stateroom, but since then obviously they have almost doubled in size! This is hard to review in any depth for fear of spoiling something, but I’ll say I am not sure I really liked or connected with the characters. But I’ve found in a thriller that it doesn’t matter if you want to figure out who did it or what is going on and that was the case for me. Who killed Lola and what does this have to do with the secondary plot line. There was a lot of layers to this and it never felt like too much.
Two weeks later, the ship is out of service, laid up far from land with no more than a skeleton crew on board. And then more people start disappearing…
Why a Booktrail?
Much of the novel is set on a cruise ship on its way to the Caribbean. It’s a lovely way to travel in a book when you can’t go for real, or afford to go on a cruise. This is the life! Not if you’re a member of crew or a dancer though as they have some tough dealings to contend with. Their jobs would be happier if they didn’t have the passengers to deal with! Although the book boasted eye-rolling moments, overall, it was an intriguing and entertaining read.
I didn't expect that ending, and I LOVED it!! Despite loving it, it feels wrong to love it! So bloody wrong, but right at the same time LOL During a New Year’s Eve party on a large, luxurious cruise ship in the Caribbean, the ship’s dancer, Lola, goes missing. Yes – readers seem to enjoy the luxury elements of my books, plus I love inventing and writing about luxury suites, Michelin-starred food etc. The glamorous ship Immanis and a New Year's Eve party that ends with the ship's dancer Lola disappearing. The coast guard is called and the ship is searched but there is no sign of her.It's new years eve 2021 on the cruise ship and one of it's dancers, Lola goes missing. Someone is seen falling overboard - is it Lola? My other cruise was with a lovely group of ramblers on Fred Olsen’s Boudicca where instead of getting the coaches to go sightseeing we would do walking tours on the stops – a much smaller ship and a very different experience. Both good though! Now I know most modern psychological thrillers have dual timelines, but it still seems jarring when the narrative switches to the Scottish Highlands.
The story begins with a dancer off a cruise named Lola going missing, there is speculation that she committed suicide by jumping overboard. The outcome was thrilling and highly unexpected. More crew members end up going missing and the way in which the crimes unfold will have you captivated. This book taps heavily into mental health, so bear this in mind if this is a trigger for you. We are always delighted to hear from authors. We are currently open for review requests and we are happy to review a wide variety of genres. Please submit your information below and we will be in touch asap. The pacing was decent, the few twists were quite clever (if sometimes predictable), and the cruise-ship setting was convincing (as some of you may know, I love a good maritime setting - but equally, a bad one will really p*** me off). The stories in both timelines were engaging, and although the characters were superficial, I still wanted to know what would happen to them at each cliff-hanger, and would have read this in one sitting if I'd had that luxury. There’s something timeless, effortless and massively fun about Cooper’s writing and I swapped between reading the book and listening to the audio for this one. The audiobook has multiple cast members, which lends itself incredibly well to the format and helps it feel more like an old fashioned radio play. The narrator reading Antonio is especially expressive and really conveys both the desperation and anxiety wrapped up in that character. All of the cast are really good though and imbue each of the different characters with a distinct and clear voice. As the book moves through different timeframes and is told from various perspectives, this really made the audiobook stand out and it is definitely one of my favourite ones I’ve listened to. The cast of characters are fantastically drawn and as with her previous novels, Cooper treats her readers to a host of unlikeable, damaged, toxic and distinctly human individuals. I loved how everybody had a secret, everybody had a past and I relished trying to work out how they all slotted together. Needless to say, I didn’t guess exactly how these characters were linked, but when that final reveal came it all made perfect sense!Some of these ships are so huge, I figured they’d be quite spooky and atmospheric with only a few people on them. My books so far have all had a luxury travel theme, so it fitted in well with that. I added the Chalet and The Chateau to my TBR but never got around to reading them, so this is my first Catherine Cooper read. And Wow I am not sure what I just read. As the title indicates, the story starts on a cruise but then jumps to a seemingly unrelated story about a teenage girl found after being abducted years ago. Of course in a twisty thriller, no theory is ever off the table, but I must say if you figure this one out, you should probably be writing the thrillers instead of reading them.
Catherine Cooper writes some gripping plots and cool settings.I’ve been in a chateau and a chalet with this author and now a cruise. She would be great to go on holiday in real life as she would know all the dangers! During a New Year’s Eve party on a large cruise ship in the Caribbean, the ship’s dancer, Lola, disappears. The ship is searched and the coastguard is called, but there is no sign of her, either dead or alive. I listened on Audible and it was a fun narration overall. The last third really ramped up the pace and couldn't wait to see how everything settled. I do plan to read The Chalet by this author (which I own). I had no idea where this story was going to lead me! No idea! What a journey it was! Jeez! Mind Blown! I love the twists and turns, and I did guess who one character was but not the one you think.
Featured Book
I also find it interesting that while cruising is of course one of the safest forms of travel, every year several people go missing from cruise ships, and quite often, no one really gets to the bottom of what happened.
Great Deal 
New Comment