Idgie Says:
An author that I admire wrote a rave blurb saying this was a must
read. As much as I enjoy this author and regard his opinion, I do have to disagree
with him on this one.
Unfortunately I found the story to be disappointing, vague, and lacking in true character development or concern toward most of the characters. There were a few characters that were more fully fleshed out than the others, but still not really enough to care about them.
It
lacked the unease building toward a high point of terror and your own
fear of what was occurring that you get when you read a good terror
book. It remained mostly head scratching and befuddlement bordering on complete loss of interest on my part.
It
definitely was meant to be in the vein of a Stephen King/Dean Koontz like horror book where
regular people encounter things completely out of their league and
reality that they are forced to deal with to the benefit or detriment (depending on circumstance) of
themselves, and it did succeed with interesting plot points here and
there, but in the end it basically remained as dangling looses threads
of confusion.
I read last page and my complete thought process was, "Huh."
Ship was lost, ending was lost, this reader remained lost.
Book Description:
Hardcover: 352 pagesPublisher: Little, Brown and Company
(June 16, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0316242942
ISBN-13: 978-0316242943
Hundreds of pleasure-seekers stream aboard The Beautiful Dreamer cruise
ship for five days of cut-price fun in the Caribbean sun. On the fourth
day, disaster strikes: smoke roils out of the engine room, and the ship
is stranded in the Gulf of Mexico. Soon supplies run low, a virus
plagues the ship, and there are whispered rumors that the cabins on the
lower decks are haunted by shadowy figures. Irritation escalates to
panic, the crew loses control, factions form, and violent chaos erupts
among the survivors.
When, at last, the ship is spotted drifting off the coast of Key West, the world's press reports it empty. But the gloomy headlines may be covering up an even more disturbing reality.
When, at last, the ship is spotted drifting off the coast of Key West, the world's press reports it empty. But the gloomy headlines may be covering up an even more disturbing reality.