Distress Signals

Dark suspense novel which sheds light on cruise ship crimes in international waters. Only the USG will get involved if it involves a US cit. Other countries abide by maritime law so jurisdiction is in the country where the ship is registered. Apparently, not uncommon for cruise ship lines to fail to report many incidents. Great read. Compelling. Great plot - Lots intrigue - Well-developed characters

Another absurd mystery thriller. Thrillers are apparently absurd by nature. This one is uneven and has an almost unnecessary subplot involving a French fellow with the worst luck of all time who eventually ends up thinking he's psychopathic. I'm pretty sure this is a case where nurture had a lot to do with how he turned out.

But the main story deals with an Irish fellow named Adam and his domestic partner of ten years, Sarah. Adam is a screenwriter and has finally sold a spec to Hollywood. Sarah is going on a business trip to Barcelona for a few days without him to let him work on the new draft of his script.

Except she's not going on a business trip. She's having an affair.

But then she disappears.

So Adam tracks her down to a cruise ship, where her new beau apparently works. He is accompanied by another man whose wife disappeared on this same ship a year before.

And then everything goes proverbially pear-shaped, and nothing is what Adam thought it was.

It's goofy, and it's villain is silly, but it's not quite as overblown as other thrillers I've read. This was a fun little read, and I'm not angry about it, so that's a job well done.