Publishing Date: January 3, 2017
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Pages: 352
Thriller/Mystery
The Premise from the Publisher: "In this tightly wound, enthralling story reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s works, Lo Blacklock, a journalist who writes for a travel magazine, has just been given the assignment of a lifetime: a week on a luxury cruise with only a handful of cabins. The sky is clear, the waters calm, and the veneered, select guests jovial as the exclusive cruise ship, the Aurora, begins her voyage in the picturesque North Sea. At first, Lo’s stay is nothing but pleasant, but as the week wears on, frigid winds whip the desk, gray skies fall, and Lo witnesses what she can only describe as a dark and terrifying nightmare: a woman being thrown overboard. The problem? All passengers remain accounted for—and so, the ship sails on as if nothing has happened, despite Lo’s desperate attempts to convey that something (or someone) has gone terribly, terribly wrong..." (SS).
My overall thoughts and review: As some of you know, I work at Indigo and each month we spotlight a book for Staff Pick of the Month. The most recent pick to that list is Ruth Ware's book, The Woman in Cabin 10. I instantly bought it when I got into work when it released. This was my first time picking up something from Ruth Ware. I've loved all the SPOTM reads before, and I was especially excited for this one because it fell under the umbrella of thrilling reads / gripping literature / mystery. I've been a huge fan of these kinds of books for a while now and the fact that this one took place on a fancy boat.. I was instantly intrigued. Was anyone thinking Titanic?? I know I was. You are first introduced to Lo who is a journalist to a travel magazine and she has an opportunity to travel on a luxury cruise with select passengers. The reader also learns from the beginning that Lo experiences a break-in at her home, so she tries to concentrate on the trip, but obviously there's some emotional trauma backlash from the break-in experience. You are introduced to a grand cast of characters, everyone has a reason to be on the boat and everyone is there for their own purposes; be that to write their own journal piece, take photos or simply to hang out with the Bullmers (the owners of the Aurora). One evening, Lo believes that she witnesses a horrible accident: a body being thrown overboard. She starts investigating with the cruise ship staff but there is no one unaccounted for. The staff begin to judge Lo's judgement and the reader begins to untangle all the different alibis and narratives of each character on the cruise. It felt like a bit of a Clue game during these moments and I really enjoyed that. I will say, I did not see the giant twist/conclusion coming. It is a clever one. I liked how every character was suspicious and the scenes where she wrote about Lo's internal voice were absolutely chilling. I would hate to be in her position: alone and thinking the absolute worst and having no one believe you. The only reason the book did not get a full five stars from me was because I felt it wrapped up too quickly towards the end. There was a lot of groundwork to set up the pacing of the book but towards the end, I felt it was done so quickly. I wanted a bit more conclusion. But overall, I enjoyed this read. It definitely makes me want to go out and pick up Ware's other books. If you are a fan of Clare Mackintosh and Paula Hawkins, this one is definitely for you!
My rating of the book: ✮✮✮✮ (4/5 stars)
Available for preorder at:
Chapters/Indigo, Kobo Books, Amazon and Book Depository (Free Worldwide Shipping)
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