The Last Passenger

CUSTOMER REVIEW



Although I didn't have high expectations (a Nazi cruise ship? Really?) after reading Part One of this book, I was sooo excited. I thought that I had finally found a Kindle First book I loved. Inventive, creepy, and well written, I thought it was great. And then.... Sigh.

Once the book moved to present day, it started to go downhill. The lead character wasn't particularly believable (Why do male writers always make their female protagonists perfect dream girls?), the dialogue was stilted (although this may have been due to the translation) and some situations just didn't make sense (What? You're not even going to ask what happened to your faithful driver??) And when things moved to the ship mentioned in the book description, it just got worse.

There were a couple of interesting paragraphs about mysterious disappearances but other than that it was just chaotic and not particularly logical. Why is one person "unexpected" and seemingly immune to events but not others? A sub-plot of a shadowy organization adds nothing but confusion. The reasons behind a gruesome murder and its bizarre details are never explained. And what the heck, let's throw in a couple of graphic sex scenes just because we can. It is very difficult to discuss some of the issues I have without spoilers. But one element of the conclusion was so ludicrous that I actually laughed. More than anything, the book reminded me of a made for SyFy TV movie.

This wasn't one of the better translations I've read. (The author may be Spanish but the book takes place primarily in England- and the ocean, of course) As indicated, some of the dialogue problems may be translation issues. In other places there are clear missteps: "She gave them an amusing look..." Since I'm pretty sure she wasn't making funny faces, I think that is supposed to be "amused".

I did read the book straight through (but I was stuck waiting for a phone call) so I guess it's OK but it was a disappointment after a great beginning.