I can't help but be intrigued by novels where someone goes missing in a closed environment so this book was like catnip for me! It does requite suspension of disbelief at times but that didn't stop me enjoying where the story took me. It's a really satisfying read and I'm definitely going to read more by this author in the future!

The Cruise

So I really loved Catherine’s debut novel ‘The Chalet’ - it was exciting and suspenseful but her second book ‘The Chateau’ just missed the mark for me. I was eager to read her latest book ‘The Cruise’ because ultimately Catherine is an amazing writer. She has a great ability to surprise you with the connections of her characters and often I’m left guessing until the last. The Cruise was no exception. Alice is a chef on board a cruise ship. Like most of the professionals and staff on board they’re all trying to escape from something back home. Each of them have a secret. From Ray the lech of the ship, to Antonio the dancer. So when one of the team goes overboard - fingers are bound to be pointed. If only to point the blame away from each of them. This story flits through multiple POV and time but clearly so, meaning you don’t end up feeling confused. A thoroughly exciting and interesting thriller with enough twists and turns to leave you unable to put this book down. Everything I was hoping for!

Catherine Cooper has written another cracking piece of fiction. Lola is a dancer on the Immanis, an eighteen-decked cruise ship. The ship caters to the moneyed and on New Year's Eve, Lola goes missing. Some passengers believe they saw a person fall into the sea. The ship returns and goes into dry dock with only a skeleton staff, but there are other people vanishing...

The story is told from the perspectives of varying characters, with different timelines and locations. The setting of the ship was richly described in all its majestic glory. With plenty of unsettling notes, my attention never wavered. Even though few of the characters were really likable they were all excellently drawn and were perfect in their roles. I wasn't sure which direction the story was travelling in, in part as I followed the seemingly innocuous details. The Cruise was entertaining, clever and mesmerising with brilliant pacing and an all-embracing ending and I'm sure you'll want to keep turning the pages.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from HarperCollins via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

Having visited The Chateau and The Chalet I was looking forward to The Cruise. Dancer Lola goes missing from the boat. Meanwhile in Inverness and Catford we learn about a young girl snatched from her family to life an isolated life with an apparently loving but stifling father. All loose ends are nicely tied up in a racy read though there is less cruise-related action than one might expect. What comes next? The Caravan? The Cave?

A rather unusual murder mystery plus abduction story. The tale starts off with a girl being held hostage, though she doesn't know she is as the "Father" took her when she was very small and so she didn't remember anything before being with him in a remote home. "Dad", as she referred to him, kept her on a tight leash so to speak, not being allowed off the property, being home schooled, not going anywhere. Which she seemed happy with until the arrival of a young washing repair engineer. Lola managed to get together with this chap who totally took advantage of a 15year old and had sex at every date.
Dad finds out and Lola runs off, is hit by a car, ends up in a hospital and the abduction comes to light.
She returns to her family, Karen the mother and Jesse the older brother. She does not settle well with them and as soon as possible goes to work as a dancer with Jesse on a cruise ship. When the murders start and Lola exacts her revenge on all those that hurt her "Dad". By the time the book finishes everything is tied up neatly and Lola is living on a remote island.
I didn't like Lola, quite manipulative, but who knows what her upbringing did to her mind.

I have to say this is not exactly the novel that I was expecting! I know that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover - it its blurb, but there was definitely less cruise action than I was expecting.

That said, it is a thrilling thread, it just didn't take me down the path (or on the high seas) that I anticipated.

The Cruise opens (funnily enough) on a cruise ship, here we meet the ships dancers preparing for the evening's performance, but also impatient for rehearsals to be over so that they can get some rest, or at least do their own thing before the New Year's festivities.

Fast forward to the evening and the ship's Captain is having dinner with the Cruise Line's CEO in the onboard Michelin starred restaurant when disaster strikes, a passenger has seen someone go overboard. The Captain acts immediately to put in to place the emergency procedures, but it isn't until the following the day that they realise Lola, one of the ships dancers is missing.

Her friends and colleagues on board are in disbelief, but the ships doctor confirms quietly to the Captain a history of mental illness, and previous attempts on her own life, the search is called off, and the investigation scaled down.

The ship itself, is due to be layed up for a refit offshore from the Caribbean, a few select crew are invited to stay onboard, others can choose, but most decide to use the time off wisely. Particularly after the tragic events of New Year.

And then the story changes, we are transported back several years to the Highlands of Scotland where a young woman has seemingly survived a hit and run.

What does this possibly have to do with Lola's disappearance/presumed suicide?

Well I'm afraid you'll have to read the Cruise to find out!

If you like a twisty thriller, you won't be disappointed...

On New Year's Eve on board a luxury cruise ship, one of the entertainment staff, Lola goes missing. A guest thinks she saw her go overboard.

Two weeks later the ship is on a lay-off with only a few staff on board. When a member of staff is found dead, it's clear that there are secrets to be uncovered.

There is also another time line, set in the Scottish Highlands going back to 2013 from the point of view of a 15 year old called Laura who had lived with her 'Dad' and had been sheltered from the outside world all her life.

I was wondering how the two timelines were connected and kept trying to second guess!

Another cracking read from Catherine with believable characters and really well written.

The only slight gripe with me is the title of the book.  I expected more action on board the ship, but on a real plus side, the back story was really compelling reading.

Many thanks to Netgalley, the publishers and author for an ARC.

The Cruise is a claustrophobic, locked-room mystery set on a cruise ship. It is a fast-paced thriller that will keep readers hooked on the edge of their seats. Fans of Agatha Christie will be thrilled to get their hands on this one. Unpredictable and so much fun! Highly recommended!

I did not like or enjoy this. The flashbacks to the character abducted as a child was really gross and not well written. The characters who were hinted to have an air of suspicion were described as bisexual. This was not just for one character but two. Gross.

An exceptional psychological thriller.

A cruise is a place for relaxation and fun, to be spoilt and live in the moment, isn't it? But for the cruise line workers, its a different story. For many, its an escape from their past....until their past is a guest in their present.

This book has fully gripped me from page one. With a cast of well-developed and believable characters sprinkled across a range of character viewpoints and chronological perspectives, you are truly kept guessing until the end. I have had the pleasure of reading the work of this author before and have found her to be an excellent example of the psychological thriller and this book is no exception. An unputdownable book with a narrative that sweeps you along like a ship on the tide.

Thank you to Catherine Cooper, Harper Collins UK and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book before publication.

I've been looking forward to Catherine Cooper's third novel as first found her books on Netgalley and have enjoyed them all. This one sounded really good from the description, and it did not disappoint.

It was such a page turner, quick to read and hard to put down. I loved the location and could really imagine myself there. New Year's Eve on a cruise ship and Lola, a dancer goes missing, seen falling overboard. what happened to her? Was she pushed or had she had enough?

I'd say about 50% of the book is based on the cruise ship and the other half in the Scottish Highlands about a very over protected teenager, with a back story that makes you wonder how they could possibly be connected, but it all comes together and wow, lots of twists and turns, mystery and suspense throughout.

Some interesting characters, some more believable than others and a very unexpected ending made a great read.

Thanks to HarperCollins UK, Harper Fiction for the opportunity to review this book for an honest opinion.

The Cruise is a murder mystery set on a luxury cruise ship, several crew members have either been found dead or missing.

This is a well-written storyline, although a little confusing as it is told over multiple timelines, with two separate storylines. I must admit I was a little confused at first by the multiple storylines but trust me it all comes together and everything makes sense by the end. There are plenty of twists and turns in the book but again some did leave me a bit confused and some of the twists did feel a little unrealistic.

As for the characters well I have very mixed feelings about them. Quite a few of the characters have multiple names which left me slightly confused especially as their names changed depending on which timeline you are following at the time. I started off liking the characters and found them very interesting but as the book progresses and as you get to know them a little more I started to detest them and found them quite annoying. I think the only two characters I ended up liking by the end were the Captain, Leo and Chef Alice.

Although I liked the different settings during the multiple storylines I do wish we got more on the cruise ship. Based on the title I was expecting the majority of the storyline to be set on the cruise ship. This didn’t affect the storylines but is just a personal preference.

Overall I enjoyed this book. It’s a good page-turner that I flew through. Can’t wait to see what Catherine has inshore next.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Harper Collins for my eARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased thoughts.

t’s difficult to say too much without giving the storyline away but it did have me turning the pages to find out what happened next. The story concerns members of the crew on the cruise ship rather than the cruise itself. Most of the action takes place when there aren’t any passengers on board. The back stories told the reader how events affected the characters and led them to the actions they took. I received a copy and have voluntarily reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I’m a massive fan of the authors previous work and this did not disappoint.

My favourite parts were Laura’s past, loved her as a character, even the psycho side!

The twists were fantastic, so many I didn’t see coming at all!, the ending was perfect.

One of the staff members of a luxury cruise disappears on New Year's Eve in mysterious circumstances. It soon becomes clear that the crew members have secrets and even more drama ensues when others go missing. The ship is becoming a dangerous place to be.

This is a fast-paced story with such a clever plot that I couldn't put it down.

The luxury cruise setting is absolutely perfect as it adds so much glamour and intrigue. It gave a real insight into how a cruise works behind the scenes. I loved that it was told from different perspectives because it meant that I couldn't work out who to trust.

It is like nothing I have read before, I would highly recommend for a completely addictive read.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Another great read from Catherine Cooper.
This is a bit of a tricky one to review as there’s a backstory but you don’t realise who this person is until later on in the book.
We get to know Alice who works on the cruise ship and runs the restaurant and a few other characters also have their own chapters.
There’s a possible death on the ship, a definite death and a missing person to get to grips with and like I said a revelation later in the book.
Apologies for not going into too much detail but I wouldn’t want to spoil it for you.
This is a great thriller.
Thanks to Harper Collins UK and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Thank you to harper Collins UK for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.

New Year's Eve on a cruise ship, and passengers think they see someone fall overboard. Lola the dancer is missing,

Weeks later the ship is down to a skeleton staff while they do some repairs, and people start being killed. Everyone is worried, and everyone seems to have their own secrets they want to keep hidden.

Years earlier, a little girl is kidnapped, and has had little contact with the outside world, that is until she is found, taken to hospital, and doesn't remember or know that she isn't who she says she is.

I LOVED this book. From the first chapter, I could not put it down. I read this book entirely over the course of 24 hours then just sat there shocked at how all the stories fitted together. I almost wanted to read it again to see if there were any clues or foreshadowing that predicted the end.

Having read many books of this style I thought I had guessed the plot from fairly early on, but I should have known that there would be more to this than met the eye, and right up until the last page, the twists kept coming.

Because cruises are probably the only thing I like more than books, I have read a couple of books based on cruise ships, and end up getting annoyed by them not seeming realistic enough. This one was really good though, even the descriptions of the staff areas were accurate, and the writer had clearly done their research.

Some of the plot was maybe a little far fetched, but really its a murder mystery so hopefully its not going to be too close to real life!

I hadn't read either of this authors previous 2 books, but I will definitely be reading them soon.
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Well this is a warped story about how one lie can mess up lives in ways beyond belief and how some traumas can not be over come no matter how you try.

I loved this book. I also read another book by this author The Chalet which was brilliant too! Two threads that rub alongside each other. I loved it and would recommend.

I really enjoyed this book and want to thank NetGalley for giving me the chance to preview and review it.
The story is set around one central character and the various strands to her lives, without giving too much away it’s difficult to say how many characters she has.
The main part of the story is set on a cruise ship but during layover when there’s no passengers and just a skeleton crew keeping things ticking over.
Some of the story was a bit far fetched but otherwise it’s a great read and it all comes together at the end.