The Woman in Cabin 10

Author: Ruth Ware
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Gallery/Scout Press, 2017
Pages: 384
Rating: Do Not Recommend

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…

With surprising twists, spine-tingling turns, and a setting that proves as uncomfortably claustrophobic as it is eerily beautiful, Ruth Ware offers up another taut and intense read in The Woman in Cabin 10—one that will leave even the most sure-footed reader restlessly uneasy long after the last page is turned.

Review: Four words, or is it five, for the author, “don’t try so hard.” The beginning was just ridiculous, the middle of the middle pages were a fun, but cliche in some ways, the ending was entirely too far fetched. The last two pages wrapped it up, but weren’t surprising. As far as thrillers go. . .a real snooze.

It is possible that had I not read some better thrillers lately, The Wife Between Us and The Broken Girls, this would have received a higher rating. The Woman in Cabin 10 just didn't measure up.

Ruth Ware Novels
The Death of Mrs. Westaway
The It Girl
The Lying Game - review coming soon
The Turn of the Key