My rating: 5 of 5 stars
“You're mind is working at its best when you're being paranoid. You explore every avenue and possibility of your situation at high speed with total clarity.”
----Banksy
Ruth Ware, an English author, pens an engrossing and tensed Agatha Christie's "Murder on the Orient Express" themed thriller in her new book, The Woman in Cabin 10 that narrates the journey of a female travel writer aboard a cruise ship with a handful of other VIP guests who is certain that a murder has been committed on the very ship and that killer as well as the victim might be one of them among the invited guests. Unfortunately, no one resembles the murder victim's description from the guest list and the guests are certain that the travel writer is a paranoid woman.
Synopsis:
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: the cabins are plush, the dinner parties are sparkling, and the guests are elegant. But as the week wears on, frigid winds whip the deck, 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.
Lo Blacklock, a travel writer, is deprived of sleep when she hears noise from the other side of her bedroom door, and on opening the door, she comes face-to-face with a masked, and then she is permanently shut-in inside her bedroom for few days after she manages to free herself from the house arrest. And to keep her nightmares at bay, this woman has bagged a really extraordinary opportunity to travel on a luxury cruise line, Aurora Borealis, with a handful of other VIP and lucky guests and among them is her ex-boyfriend. And she feels extremely lucky for getting an opportunity to travel solo away from her nightmares and the lurking dangers of her city. Little did she knew that the woman, from Cabin no. 10, whom she befriended will be missing and suspected to be murdered by throwing her body in to the depths of the North Sea. And more surprisingly, she had no idea that the other guests might call her "crazy" as according to them, Cabin no. 10 is empty and no one resembles the description of that woman whom Lo suspects to be dead or missing.
Ruth Ware's novels are famous for its creepy atmospheric setting that can easily set into the minds of the readers and the fear wont's let the readers go until the end of the story and it is obvious that her novels have that Agatha Christie kinda themes thus making her stories delectable. Similarly this book too has that kind of eerie setting although this time the setting felt a bit opulent. The background of North Sea has been captured vividly by the author as she paints the striking portrait of the clear blue sea with an equally clear sky and then eventually as the suspense seeps into the story, the background changed likewise, turning from light blue to dark to finally turning grim and grey with raging waves, which is perfect for this kind of thrilling story. And very obviously, the readers are bound to visualize as well as feel those slow changing background of the sea and the weather.
The author's writing style is excellent and is laced with spine-chilling fear and suspense. The narrative is intriguing and engaging and will keep the readers hooked into the story till the very end. The pacing of the book is moderate as the author diligently builds up her puzzling and in-depth plot with twists and turns. The author's portrayal of the cruise ship, Aurora Borealis, is terrific and vivid as she flawlessly paints the elegant interiors and the descriptions of the rooms that will make the readers visualize the whole ship along with its interiors in the middle of the sea right before their eyes.
In the previous book, the mystery felt bit short and predictable, but this time, the author has depicted the mystery under layers and layers of twists and misdirection that will keep the readers anticipating with sweat till the very last page. The author peels away the mystery layer-by-layer until the readers are shocked to the very core to find out the climax or the outcome of this gut-wrenching novel, and not to mention, the way the author has carved the whole plot, it is obvious that the suspense and the tension in the story line is simply spot-on from each and every pages of this book.
The characters are the once again the positive aspect of this book, especially the highly interesting protagonist, who is not only suffering from mental problems that makes her question her judgement on whether her eye-witness to a murder is real or imagination. Lo is a flawed character, because of her mental health issues, she is petulant most of the time, yet she is determined to find out what happened to the woman next to her cabin thus making her intense as well as sharp, thus making the readers to not to leave the edge of their seats until she finds out the whole mystery. The supporting characters are very, very well-developed as they add an extra edge to this already intriguing story.
With a dramatic end that will blow off the minds off many seasoned crime fiction readers, this book is truly a page-turner and a compelling thriller that can't be missed in this season.
Verdict: Ruth Ware at her best!
Courtesy: Thanks to the author, Ruth Ware's publishers for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.
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Author Info:
Ruth Ware grew up in Sussex, on the south coast of England. After graduating from Manchester University she moved to Paris, before settling in North London. She has worked as a waitress, a bookseller, a teacher of English as a foreign language and a press officer. She is married with two small children, and In a Dark, Dark Wood is her début thriller.
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