The isolated setting is one of the most popular aspects of the thriller genre, and it’s easy to see why. When a group of characters are cut off from the rest of the world, there are none of the normal facets of life that can help. The emergency services aren’t available. Friends or family can’t answer a desperate call. Whoever you are left with in this scenario can, for this limited time, do whatever they want, and you had better prepare yourself. None of this is more amplified than a novel set at sea. While the action is taking place onboard, the murky waters of the ocean are lurking beneath, ready to claim a victim.
In my novel, I Did Warn Her, a luxury superyacht takes a charter across the Atlantic from Gibraltar to New York. Sasha, the replacement stewardess and brand new to the job, is running from her past and completely clueless that she’s about to run into even more trouble. The other stewardesses (blonde and beautiful to match the mysterious owner’s tastes) and the rest of the crew all have secrets, and by the end of the book, not everyone is going to step back on dry land. Superyachts are the perfect blend of opulent and sinister, in the same way many isolated settings take the glamorous and twist it into something dangerous. For superyachts, this can be taken to the extreme: if something goes wrong, the first instinct isn’t always to seek help, but to cover it up. When someone ends up dead, they can simply sail away. The ocean, after all, is the perfect place to hide a body.
The following novels explore the different ways setting a book at sea can impact characters and plot, from the inherent dangers of sailing, to being stranded, to what happens when the boat sinks and relationships are tested. The protagonists often have an offer they can’t refuse, a desire to taste a life so different from their own, and this leads to fatal consequences.
Distress Signals by Catherine Ryan Howard
Set on the cruise ship Celebrate, this novel holds nothing back and opens with its main character jumping into the sea. Straight away we are shown the true danger of being on a boat: the ocean is unforgiving, fierce, and eager to drag you under. Adam struggles underwater until finally being rescued, but he has already seen a body floating facedown in the water. When asked if there is anyone else that needs to be saved, he says no. After this flashforward, we learn that Adam’s partner has disappeared after what was meant to be a work trip, but turns out to be some kind of cruise. And Adam discovers he isn’t the only one searching for someone in this story, nor the only one dealing with someone not telling the whole truth. As the different perspectives converge, the secrets, lies, and bodies pile up. The true isolation of being aboard a cruise ship is explored here, and how maritime law means you are not as protected as you think. As Howard puts it, this is “where you can commit your murders in peace.”
The Last Passenger by Will Dean
Dean describes stepping onto a boat as “an act of faith”. This sentiment feels more common when considering something like flying—plenty of people are afraid of that, even those that fly often. There’s an implicit fear difficult to shake, and you truly feel dependent on the pilots and crew. Really, there should be a similar sentiment just as the main character describes when on a ship. If something goes wrong, you cannot outswim the ocean. The captain is everything. Which is why, when Caroline wakes up aboard the Atlantica and finds herself entirely alone, it is a worst nightmare come true. Her boyfriend is gone, her phone has no reception, and the crew have vanished. There are only a small number of other passengers who seem equally as confused about what’s going on. This book strips back life on board a vessel and shows the amount of work that goes into simply staying alive, which becomes ever more important in the game of survival that develops.
The Ex-Husband by Karen Hamilton
An advantage to being at sea is the ability to reinvent yourself. With each new ship, each new position or holiday, there is a chance to become someone entirely new. This, naturally, makes being at sea the perfect opportunity to commit crime. In The Ex-Husband, Charlotte and Sam set their sights on wealthy patrons to steal from. This works well for a time, but their deeds seem to have caught up with them, as Sam has gone missing. Charlotte, trying to lead an honest life, is roped back into the dark underbelly of the world she’s wanted to escape. Actions have consequences, and out at sea, there’s nowhere to run.
Lying in the Deep by Diana Urban
Dangers at sea aren’t just for seasoned adults—YA thriller Lying in the Deep proves college students aren’t immune to the risks either. But there is no refusing the brilliant opportunity scholarship kid Jade is given: a whole semester at sea exploring multiple different countries. It’s especially good as it means time away from thinking about her boyfriend and best friend, who got together behind Jade’s back and blindsided her. At least, that’s the plan, until the day she boards and finds both of them have come along for the trip too. This is a classic locked room mystery, with many clues and twists along the way, utilising the claustrophobic nature of being on a ship, but also unlike some of the books on this list explores different ports along the way. The characters do leave the ship at certain times, giving another insight into the beautiful side of sailing. Before long, though, events turn deadly.
No Escape by Lucy Clarke
No Escape is above all a novel about female friendship, which would have fit well with my other article for CrimeReads a couple of years ago. But permeating every page is the mystical allure of the yacht, The Blue, and its intriguing crew, who invite childhood friends Kitty and Lana to work with them. There are long hours, tough, physical work, chipping in with every aspect, and yet it’s the perfect escape. Adventure. Completely unlike the lives they left behind. With this idyllic paradise comes a fierce sense of protection from its crew: nothing is going to disturb what they’ve created. Not even one of them goes missing. In the end, this glamorous, wonderful yacht and its enigmatic crew are embroiled in secrets, lies, and murder.
Five Nights by Rachel Wolf
More often than not, thrillers set at sea will involve the super rich. Power, greed, and corruption are the ideal ingredients for a sinister story on a turbulent ocean, and this is explored brilliantly in Five Nights. Emily receives an invitation through the door to a luxury cruise from her friend Belle, who she hasn’t seen in three years. Belle has done the impossible and married a billionaire, and wants Emily to join her on their lavish holiday. Featuring a perspective from the billionaire’s first wife, who disappeared, every single person is hiding something about what really happened that day, and what is happening now. This is a true cast of wealthy, vicious people, making it a really compulsive read.
The Yacht by Sarah Goodwin
The Yacht features rich people behaving badly too—except in this case, there is no crew to help save the day, no other passengers, no support at all. Just the group of friends celebrating New Year’s Eve on a yacht that was never meant to leave the harbour, but is now floating adrift in the middle of the sea. It immediately becomes clear none of them have any idea how to sail a yacht, and what’s worse, all possible lifelines—lifeboats, satellite phone, emergency rations—were left behind to make space for party supplies and a bigger dancefloor. When one of the unlucky friends disappears overboard, leaving only a smear of blood behind, the already fractious relationships begin to break down significantly. No one trusts each other. Lines are drawn in the sand. And what was meant to be a party weekend becomes a brutal and bloody fight for survival.
Midnight by Amy McCulloch
Midnight takes a sea voyage to a whole other level: through the Drake Passage, one of the world’s most treacherous bodies of water, all the way to Antarctica. Olivia, suffering from anxiety, is a mixture of terrified and cautiously excited at the beginning of her trip, nostalgic for the times her late father discussed sailing with her. Very quickly, she gets the sense she is being watched, and that her boyfriend is hiding something from her. This escalates when he ends up missing the trip entirely, and Olivia is left to fend for herself. Atmospheric and fully utilising its unique setting, this one combines being at sea with true isolation and freezing temperatures.
The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
No list of thrillers set at sea would be complete without The Woman in Cabin 10. Lo Blacklock, already traumatised from a burglary days before setting sail on the Aurora, has been given the job of writing about a luxury cruise. She’s been given a suite, unlimited drinks, delicious good, and the promise of complete five-star treatment for the whole trip. And at first, the promise of the A-list life at sea delivers. When picturing being on board a superyacht or expensive cruise liner, this is the image. But of course the glamour hides a darker edge, and Lo hears someone being thrown overboard from next door. And to make matters worse, the guest in the cabin, a woman who kindly lent Lo her mascara and has now vanished, apparently never existed at all. The crew deny all knowledge of her, and it’s up to Lo to uncover the truth.
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