Great premise, great writing and bit of a disappointing ending. It's the kind of ending that leaves you with more questions than answers. But I wouldn't let that stop you from enjoying this creepy, claustrophobic thriller sure to cure your travel bug. I think I may pass on that next cruise opportunity...

When an actual ship was stranded like this years ago with norovirus and no power, I wondered what it was like to be one of those passengers. This story was my way to experience that vicariously. The medium on board was obviously styled after a real-life "medium." A good "junk" fiction book for a long, cold winter's night.

Another title I picked up at the library because of the title and book jacket; and, I'm glad I did. This story of a cheap cruise gone very wrong is full of fantastical and scary goings-on. On the fourth day of the cruise, there's unexplained engine failure, along with communications failure, natch. The staff "in the know" don't know anything and everyone else starts panicking as, of course, a virus (Noro-type) sweeps through the ship. The main characters: a famous "medium's" assistant, staff attendant on VIP level, elderly suicidal friends, and the ship's doctor slog through it all, hoping for rescue.
The dissonance between what the shipboard folk describe happening and what the world press reports is quite creepy.

I got to the end (a major feat in itself) and I'm still not sure what was going on. Kind of a waste of time