I really enjoyed this. I am a big fan of murder mysteries with a twist so this one appealed from the get go! Different, a woman clearly suffering with PTSD from a life event we slowly unravel as the book goes on, addicted to sleeping tablets and working with a crew she's never met before. She's the insurance, but insurance for what? I loved that this kept me up way past bed time - had an array of fun (and shifty!) characters and really kept me guessing throughout, sometimes to the point where I wondered if our unreliable key character was a bit bonkers from her meds. five stars from me, whizzed through it, and would love to read more by Cameron ward

Loved the setting of this book and always fancied being a yachtie myself so I was thrilled to get the chance to read this book and it did not disappoint.

It felt a bit slow-paced in parts but I still I read on with all the things going wrong I just had to know how it ended it was tense in parts with nowhere to go when things were getting pretty rough and not just the waves.

But I am glad I stuck to it and I felt a lot of effort was put into this and I did overly enjoy it would be a great summer read for sure.

Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

This was a lot of fun to read - it's unique! Sarah, an ex-Royal Marine, is requested to serve as security aboard a £200 million boat for 'insurance considerations.' Things start to go awry soon after the ship sets sail, and the ship sets sail with a slew of maintenance concerns. However, it quickly becomes clear that there is more going on here, as members of the team begin to vanish. Sarah has her work cut out for her, since everyone on the team seems to have their own secrets and agendas.

When I first started reading this, I wasn't interested in many of the characters; they aren't really appealing. But as time passed, I became increasingly curious. The conclusion was fantastic.

3.5 Stars
When Sarah is offered security job on board a luxury super yacht after leaving the marines she believes that it's the perfect place to start over. However, as more incidents occur on the yacht they cannot be explained by bad luck; is there someone on board that doesn't want it to reach its destination and will all the crew make it ...alive?

This was a very fast paced thriller; I liked the setting on the yacht as this created a highspeed but confined almost claustrophobic atmosphere where almost anyone could be a suspect and have an ulterior motive; a gripping and action packed thriller.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review

A crime thriller set on a super yacht in the middle of an Atlantic crossing. A former Royal Marine is employed as a security advisor on the vessel Escape when things start to go wrong, the Captain goes missing, the power fails. I failed to connect with the main character who I felt was badly written. An enjoyable read but I wanted more from the story.

What a tense, breath-taking read! Sarah, a former marine, thinks she's helping out a friend, acting as security on a superyacht delivery to Antigua for a mystery multi- millionaire. Planning some quiet thinking time, recovering from her trauma, little does she know the simmering resentment and dark plotting that exists within the crew. Wary of them at first, she gradually lets her guard down, only to find a series of horrifying accidents and bad luck befalling the boat. Is the boat cursed or is there foul play afoot? She is determined to find out with fatal consequences. Amazing.

Mysteries set on ships are an interesting variation of the ‘closed room’ murder mystery, so I picked up Cameron Ward’s novel A Stranger on Board with much anticipation. The protagonist of this novel is Sarah, a former Navy marine who has signed up as security on a superyacht. Fairly quickly, two things become clear: Sarah suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, and one of her fellow passengers harbours evil intentions. The combination of these two things can only lead to a literary portrayal of uneasiness, claustrophobia and paranoia, and this is exactly what we get over the pages of the book. It is to Ward’s credit that even with a large cast of characters depicted, his novel is well-plotted and easy to read. The one aspect that I found did not work so well, however, was making Sarah a first-person narrator. Unreliable and unlikeable first-person narrators must be supremely hard to write, and in this novel, Sarah’s repetitive thoughts and conversations jar a little and contribute to making the novel longer than it needs to be. Nevertheless, I hope this unusual and contemporary ‘locked room’ mystery will attract many readers, and I am interested to see what Ward will write next. Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the free ARC provided in exchange for my honest review.

Loved the idea behind this book but in reality it didn't quite fulfill my expectation levels.
A decent enough, if not spectacular read in my opinion it merits a middle of the road 3 stars as it was sufficently entertaining to hold my attention all the way through to it's conclusion

Ex-marine Sarah French joins a luxury super yacht as on-board security, excited to get her life and career back on track. However tensions in the crew soon surface, and then someone goes missing... someone on board is a killer and Sarah must uncover them before anyone else gets hurt... A thrilling story in an interesting setting. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of the book in return for my honest feedback.

I loved the premise of the story- a murder (or more) on board a super high-end luxury liner far out to sea is right up my street in terms of locked room mysteries, but unfortunately I didn't really become that engaged with A Stranger On Board and didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would have. There is quite a bit of repetition in the story, possibly to make the plot longer, but it is frustrating to read, and didn't really strengthen the plotline.

The plot is that ex-military worker Sarah is hired to provide protection on the yacht as it is sailed across the world to its next destination; there is a skeleton crew on board, and Sarah is not expected to have to do much, but rather to be there as an insurance requirement. The crew are an international set, with romances and dislikes sprouting amongst them. The scene is set for an average crossing, but of course, we know from the beginning of the book that all is not as it seems, and the vessel is not going to reach its final destination in one piece.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

Escapism on a yacht. Ex marine Sarah is asked to be the security guard on a luxury super yacht and you would think it would be an easy gig. Not so much. Everything that can go wrong does go wrong. This is claustrophobic and the perfect setting for a thriller. I did feel sea sick at some points!

Loved every page of this one! Was hooked from the start! Loved the all important female lead cast above the boat! Loved the why the writer had written, look forward to more from this author.

Loved this book. Afloat on the ocean at the mercy of a killer onboard. You have nowhere to go! Good book with characters you can believe it. Well worth a read and this author is one to watch.

Explosive!
More action packed then I thought it would be, and very fast paced.
Loved the strong female characters and the way parts of it left you guessing and very intrigued with the way the story was going.
I will be looking out for more Cameron Ward books in the future.
Thank you netgalley

I quite liked this, but didn't really ever get into it as found it a little dull. Interesting premise but not that great for me..

The premise of this book was great, the opening of them all being adrift at sea with a killer on loose was nail biting. For me however it was just to slow a burn. I found it quite a chore to connect with any of the characters and the protagonist was just a bore. I finished the book as I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy and I want to thank Net Galley & the author for this. There was a lot of effort put into this book and for some it may be ideal but unfortunately it just wasn’t for me.

I really enjoyed this - its different! Ex Royal Marine, Sarah, is asked to be security on a £200 million yacht for 'insurance purposes'. Soon after setting sail things start to go wrong and the ship has set sail with a whole load of maintenance issues. However, it soon becomes apparent more is going on here and then members of the crew start disappearing. Sarah has her work cut out for her as all of the crew seem to have secrets and agendas of their own.

As I was reading this initially I found I wasn't interested in many of the characters- they aren't very likable on the whole. But as time went on I was really intrigued. I loved the end and having a strong female lead. The story was really unique and a great idea. It really got me thinking about the super rich too.

Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Our main character, Sarah, a kick-ass ex-marine with obvious PTSD leads the narrative on this intriguing high-seas mystery. Told from her perspective, we’re treated to glimpses of the past she’s trying to escape, and the reasons for her insomnia/panic attacks, as well as clues as to who may be causing problems on board her current vessel.

For me, I found this to be quite a slow-burner and it took a long time for me to really get hooked in to anything. I struggled to really embrace Sarah as a narrator, mainly because I found her to be quite tedious. I love the idea of a strong female lead – but sadly, she wasn’t written particularly strongly for me. I actually found her to be quite tedious and in many ways, cliched.

I did however enjoy the setting and felt the author did a wonderful job of conveying the idea of claustrophobia. I genuinely felt I could have been in one of the cabins, feeling the yacht rolling around me (I’m amazed I didn’t get sea sick – I do, usually). So, I have to take my hat off on that front. However, the repetitiveness of some of the conversations – Sarah will have a conversation with one person, and then repeat it ad nauseum to someone else felt amateur to me. It’s a waste of pages, and frustrating for the reader to have to go over the same ground again. This really could have done with better editing, in my humble opinion.

On the whole, despite a relatively large cast of characters, it works. It’s easy to keep track of everyone (not always the case), and there were a few red herrings. Again though, this wasn’t overdone, and I think it worked well.

An OK read, that at times had me intrigued, at other times had me a bit bored and keen for things to kick up a pace. Certainly an interesting premise, but the main character definitely lets it down.

This book has it all. There’s suspense, action and even a hint of romance.
When ex marine Sarah is asked to be the security guard on a luxury super yacht she wasn’t expecting to put all of her previous training and experience to use.
Why was the captain pushing for them to leave the dock before they were ready? Who can she trust? Is she prepared or even ready to put the past behind her?
A fast paced book that had me guessing throughout.

3.5 stars.

‘A stranger on Board’ lends its voice to Sarah - a tough as nails ex-navy member as she acts as security on a luxury super yacht. Things go wrong, and quickly, and Sarah is alarmed at the nonchalance of the powerful on board. The book was gripping and something I finished in a day, an easy read that left me begging to know more.

The reason for the mediocre rating lies primarily in the books focal character - Sarah. Given the first person style of the book it seemed like she was bloody invincible - doing gun fights with a bullet in her; always seeing every plan ahead, etc. I appreciated the portrayal of her trauma and grief and I thought it was well-crafted.
The plot was a lot. There was definite intrigue but I felt the ultimate conclusion left more questions unanswered. The reveals happened too quickly at points, there was little indication of what led Sarah to make this miraculous leaps.