Distress Signals

In Catherine Ryan Howard's Distress Signals, this thriller debut will throw you some nasty surprising punches and leave you breathless. It all started when Adam Dunne fell overboard the cruise ship and rescued by the French Coast Guard. In this four-part story, we learn how Adam's girlfriend Sarah O'Connell had disappeared from her business trip and never returned home. That's when panic sets in when he calls the Garda for help after he receives a mysterious note from her in the mail. On a mission to discover disturbing answers, he did research on the Blue Wave Cruise line and looked up cruise crimes, until he'd found one that was similar to his and contacted Peter Brazier, a man who "lost" his wife a year before. We also learn about Romain Dupont, a French man who had a troubling childhood with a family secret and a "dark" past, and his mother Corinne, who worked on the same ill-fated cruise ship to escape from him. Later on, the tides have turned for Adam to discover the truth about Sarah and how Peter used him to find justice for his wife Estelle when no clues lead him into the opposite direction with a shocking conclusion in the end.

This was a gripping and compelling thriller debut from Catherine Ryan Howard. I cared about Adam and his search for answers to find Sarah, even if it had a grisly ending. I liked how Corinne and Romain's stories intersected into the storyline, when one event had lead to another. I felt pity for Peter and sorry for those innocent lives lost at sea in his insane search for justice. I liked the backdrop of the cruise ship along Eastern Europe especially Ireland for the center location with scenic settings. This would leave you at the edge of your seat with non-stop action, drama, intrigue and suspense along the way.

Will you listen to the SOS in Distress Signals?