Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

It took me a while to get around to reading this book-it fell to the bottom of the to be read pile. However, it really was incredibly gripping although some unpleasant content. This is an author I had forgotten about so now need to look at some of his other books.

“revenge is a dish best served cold”


Okay! Where to start? – Takes a deep breath! – I can only dive right into the quagmire and hope that in my shocked and muddled state of mind, I can somehow sort this story out into some kind of joined up thought process!!

First that chilling cover and title: It is thought that if you took an average of the total number of people who ‘disappeared’ from cruise ships each year, it would equate to an estimated average of 23 people, per ship, per year. That really is quite a staggering figure and reinforces nicely my own view of not taking a holiday confined in a relatively small, potentially unsafe environment, and out on open water too! The Sultan of the Seas has so many opportunities for that ‘passenger 23’ to happen on this voyage, it runs the risk of using up not only its own, but another ship’s quota too!

That the book contains all the elements which make a good storyline work for me, is without question. The opening chapter hits the ground running and the action kicks in immediately. The storyline is well paced, although perhaps not always quite as fluidly as I might have liked. The ending is conclusive, in that all the strands of the story have been woven together in my mind, even though there were still some loose ends which hadn’t quite reached a definitive resolution, so I have to surmise eventual outcomes for those, as obvious as they may be! Oh! and I don’t like my main protagonist to end up dead, which Martin only escapes by the skin of his teeth – several times – although he is more than severely battered and bruised by the experience, and often just as confused as me, I think!

I always enjoy brave, bold, multi-faceted, gripping storylines; however any one, or maybe a couple, of the individual strong and deeply disturbing plotlines, would have made an amazing story when woven together, but there just seemed to be too much action going on for one cruise liner to deal with. Everything from child prostitution and exploitation, the warped sexual deviancy of a desperate mother, the sexual jealousy between mother and daughter; to a hired assassin, a corrupt crew who for a price will help the chosen people ‘disappear’, abduction, murder and an amateur sleuth who has just seen too much! – I’m certain I must have missed something out, but really, can you cope with hearing any more? The narrative is intense, twisted, brutally honest and pulls no punches with its gut-wrenching, jaw dropping impact, making it startlingly visual, and highly textured, almost too much so sometimes. Red herrings to put me off the scent, were used liberally, although much of the time I was too traumatised by yet another unexpected revelation, to really notice them. The dialogue is no less sugar-coated, often vulgar although not gratuitously so, direct but not as graphic as it might easily have been, however the inferences are definitely there to read between the lines. There is a real sense of time and place, as the action took me to the very bowels of the ship, an area which is totally out of bounds to all but the select few, on a ‘need to know’ basis. Non of your usual swimming pool, entertainment venues, non-stop dining and 24/7 retail therapy here. Instead, the grim mystery of those missing deck numbers, the miles of spooky, pipe and chain filled corridors and the hidden shafts which, when opened, can send you to a very watery grave.

In retrospect, I suppose that this book was equally storyline and character dominated, although whilst I was reading, it was definitely the characters who forced themselves into my mind, manipulated my thoughts and drained my emotions. There was a relatively large and sprawling cast of complex characters, who whilst they were individually well defined and developed; were totally unreliable, manipulative, raw, volatile and in no way authentic, genuine, or true to themselves. There wasn’t one amongst them who I even began to empathise or connect with, including the youngest victims of some of the most heinous crimes imaginable, although that particular disengagement might well have been the result of the long-term shock and resulting PTSD they were suffering, from the damage which had been inflicted on them, both mentally and physically.

At times I even struggled to relate to Martin Schwarz, our main protagonist and arguably the hero of the hour. Being a police psychologist and undercover investigator, has definitely taken its toll on a man who is clearly at the end of his tether, possibly even suicidal, even before this investigation begins, with his career drawing him ever deeper into a fragile spiral of self-destruction and his private life in tatters, following the assumed murder/suicide of his wife and son, some five years earlier, whilst aboard the cruise ship The Sultan of the Seas. To say that he is dour, vulnerable, emotionally starved and a physical wreck, wouldn’t be putting too fine a point on things. To then drop him onto that same cruise ship and piece by piece, strip away the final vestiges of his self-esteem, powers of reason, and almost his sanity, and it’s no wonder that he took his eye off the ball more times than he should have, whilst trying to work out exactly what was what, who was who, and who was guilty of what, in that last chance game of roulette, where everything was at stake and all was left to play for. Let’s face it, the odds of Martin ever coming out the other side at all, were well and truly stacked against him!

I don’t know what makes the psyche of so many of the German authors, along with their Scandinavian and Nordic counterparts, quite diverse and unique from that of so many of their contemporary European and American, thriller writers. Their storylines are always deep, dark, troubling and complex. Their writing style is often dour and lugubrious. That these attributes can so aptly set the scene and create that claustrophobic, richly textured atmosphere, for the amazing thrillers which they produce so readily, is totally undisputed by me. However, I felt that Passenger 23 just lost its way a little bit, compared to the many Sebastian Fitzek books I have read and enjoyed previously. Sebastian’s original script was up to its usual high standards and none of the slight lapse in plot cohesion appeared connected to the translation, which from my perspective, was as faultless as I have come to expect from Jamie Bulloch. I really do think that there was just too much going on in the plot for my little brain to assimilate!

What typically makes reading such a wonderful experience for me, is that with each and every book, I am taken on a unique and individual journey, by authors who fire my imagination and stimulate my senses. This was one hell of a rollercoaster journey for me, so I recommend you read it for yourself and see where your journey takes you – However, enter this watery world at your own peril, but definitely with an open mind – and be prepared for anything!

They do say that ‘revenge is a dish best served cold’, but in this case I think that ‘revenge is sweet’, no matter what the temperature!

People appear to be vanishing including Martin’s wife and child, but are they? So far so good. This book sounded intriguing but I didn’t like it nor the attempted shock value it tried to deliver with its dark subject matter. Whether it would be any better read in German, I don’t know. It’s possible that something has been lost in translation. Hopefully other people might enjoy this more than I did.

Thankyou to NetGalley, Head of Zeus and the author, Sebastian Fitzek, for the opportunity to read Passenger 23 in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.
Such a good read.
I really enjoyed reading this book. Action packed narrative and well described settings keep the reader hooked to every page.
Well worth a read.

A tense gripping thriller set on board a cruise ship where a parent and child have gone missing. They are not the first family to have vanished from the boat over the years, but where are they going? Claustrophobic and tightly packed with twists and turns, this was a great read - possibly not one to read on a boat!

This was a brilliant mystery thriller. with an isolated setting, multiple points of view, plenty of grey characters and double crossing.
It was brilliantly paced, extremely brutal with a very interesting mystery.
A great action packed read.

Passenger 23 is one fo those thrillers that is truly breathtaking in it's brutality and examination of an ugly side nature. I don't say this as a criticism and did ponder what to write before i left my review. But it's worth flagging that this isn't for the faint-hearted! Police psychologist Martin Schwartz is lured onto a cruise to talk to a woman who says she has seen a lost little girl - carrying his son's teddy. Five years previously Schwartz's wife and child vanished on a cruise and their disappearance was written off as a murder suicide. Schwartz tries to find girl and find out just why she has his son's teddy. What he discovers is worse than he could have possibly imagined. This is a fast paced thriller which I raced through. The translation was excellent and the twists and turns of the plot were genius - loved it.

Twisted and terrifying? Not really. The more thrillers I read, the more I think my standards are too high!
Again, I was drawn into the story with the prologue but then took a while to get going and for me to get an idea on the characters. They were likeable enough but I thought the book was a little predictable and the detective wasn't the best! I found myself getting frustrated with the pace of the story, and the way the characters were investigating the disappearance.
Hoping the Soul Breaker will be more my cup of coffee!

Liked that this plot was see in and different environment
Gripping storyline
Very dark and a bit gruesome at times
With plenty of twists and turns this book.is unpredictable

Thank you netgalley, Sebastian Fitzer and Head of Zeus for allowing me to read and review this book

German undercover detective Martin Schwartz is a man with nothing to lose. Five years before, his wife and young son died on a cruise ship, his wife apparently drugging and throwing his son overboard before jumping herself. Now he takes on the Berlin police force’s toughest assignments and thinks nothing of putting himself in harm’s way. When he receives a mysterious summons from an old woman who is using her retirement money to travel, and permanently live on, the same boat on which his family died, he can’t help but go. Because it transpires another child, who went missing from the ship in a separate incident, and who was presumed to have died, has reappeared.
On board Schwartz, the captain of the ship, the ship’s doctor, and another passenger who’s a professional thief all become embroiled in the mystery (though separately to an extent, the thief in particular is not linked to the others). The fear is there’s a serial killer on board. But are they in fact keeping their victims alive and captive somewhere? And if so, how?

I only recently discovered Sebastian Fitzek, reading and reviewing his novel The Package. I loved that book; it had a crazy rollercoaster of a plot and didn’t even pretend to be realistic, opting instead for non-stop thrills and twists and turns. Passenger 23 is similar in a way - there are certainly twists and turns aplenty - and it’s far-fetched, but I didn’t find it as much of a rollercoaster ride as The Package.

That said, what I did really enjoy in this novel was its sense of place. It’s a cliché when talking about crime fiction that it has to have a sense of place. While many novels strive to bring a location to life, the adage isn’t particularly true, and there are many successful and gripping crime novels which focus more on other aspects, such as characterisation. The Package didn’t really have a sense of place and the storyline could have occurred in any town, but it was still a brilliant book. Passenger 23 has a sense of place though, and a really quite unique one which the author utilises to full effect.

Every year several passengers and crew go missing on cruise ships. This is absolutely true, I’ve read about this in non-fiction news articles and seen documentaries about it, it’s a little-known aspect of the industry. Indeed, in the text of Passenger 23, a character mentions the websites and blogs set up to document all this and support the families whose loved ones have disappeared (internationalcruisevictims.org, cruisejunkie.com, cruisebruise.com); these sites all exist and can be checked out by the reader. For the novel’s purposes, the author claims 23 people go missing every year. I don’t know if that’s an actual figure or one the author has invented for the narrative, but the general idea is true: people go missing every year. Some are undoubtedly suicides, it’s easy to jump off a ship after all, but some could easily be homicides. Because again, as portrayed in the story, it’s for the police of the country the cruise ship is flagged under to investigate any incidents, and for tax and other reasons, this is unlikely to be a first world nation like the US, Germany, or the UK, but a small nation with an under-resourced police force.

What all this amounts to, and what people don’t realise, is that cruise ships are actually relatively lawless locations, and thus the perfect place to commit a crime, not least a murder. Throughout the narrative of the novel, the author portrays this brilliantly and in fact I actually enjoyed this environment more than I did the plot of the novel. I’m surprised more crime novels aren’t set on cruise ships and while the primary plot of Passenger 23 is the potential serial killer on board, there’s another subplot which is hinted at and which could quite easily have been a story in its own right.

Passenger 23 is a psychological thriller with plenty of twists and turns. I didn’t enjoy its plot as much as I did that of the author’s previous title, The Package, but its setting was unique and he portrayed it well. This is a novel that’s certainly worth a read.

This book was not what I expected. Too gory. Didn't finish the book. Obviously not the author for me.

The title refers to the disturbing fact that around 23 people disappear from cruise ships every year (excluding pandemic times, obviously). Five years ago, undercover detective Martin Schwartz’s wife and son were two of them. Now, he’s received a disturbing call from an old lady who lives aboard the cruise ship they vanished from - telling him that it’s happened again. Another mother and child have vanished. But this was eight weeks ago - and now the child has turned up. Alive. And the ship’s owners would really rather the attention just went away… so maybe the child will have to as well.

Schwartz doesn’t discover most of this until he’s aboard the ship and it’s sailed for a transAtlantic crossing, trapping him and the thousands of souls aboard for a few days at least. With a possible serial killer hiding among them, it’s a locked-room mystery on an enormous scale - and with an infinitely easy way for the killer to dispose of both victims and evidence.

This is translated from German - apparently Fitzek is enormously popular in Germany - and it definitely struck me as having a slightly different rhythm to murder mysteries written by most English speakers. There are multiple layers of mystery, each being slowly peeled away, at least one coming very late after I thought everything was pretty much wrapped up and providing a genuinely shocking climax I didn’t see coming at all. There are some dark and shocking themes quite apart from the disappearances (trigger warnings for suicide ideation and sexual abuse of children apply). Schwartz, our narrator, is a little bit hard to get to know; as an undercover policeman his personality is literally a cipher. It made it difficult to identify with him, but nevertheless, the story was absolutely fascinating and I could barely put it down. Five stars.

I can't believe I did not know of Fitzek before. I am so happy I did not know of him before. Well, I've heard of him, but Passenger 23 is the first book by Sebastian Fitzek I've ever read.
I am thankful that I did not know of him and his thrillers before because I haven't had a sleepless night like last night when I could not put the book down until I read it. Now the images conjured by the author are still swimming in my head driving me crazy and sad.
I can't believe I have not read any of Fitzek books before as they are unputdownable, so twisted they make tornado a child play and so cruel they make the worst of the monster into cuddly bunnies.
Passenger 23 is about humanity and limitless possibilities of how this humanity can go wrong. There are no stops, no obstacles, no brakes, no considerations when it comes to reaching one goals, be it money, sex or freedom. There is nothing sacred in this world. Nothing at all.
Cruise ships are little planets with their infrastructure and way of life. And as main character reminds us all, with no law enforcers. Passengers are at the mercy of the ship. Anything can happen. And everything does.
This book is a journey into the dark narrow hallway of hidden decks and ugly dirty channels of human souls. Well, they can call be humans only symbolically...
Main character Martin Schwartz has nothing to lose. Absolutely nothing. That's why is is capable of anything and is not afraid of anyone. Yegor Kalinin, cruise line owner, has everything to lose and everything to gain. Captain of the ship is so disposable (like everyone on the ship) he is not even worth the mention. And women. Yes, women, rather mothers and daughters. It is all about them and more.
Fitzek weaves intricate web full of twists and turns, full of unexpected realisations and uncoverings. He creates characters and makes them into monsters. You never know who is in front of you. Author creates such a suspenseful puzzle where nobody can win and everyone can lose.
Passenger 23 is meant to warn you against cruises as much as it meant to hug your kid and tell him/her that you love them again and again...
Five stars and more...

Quite possibly the most disturbing thriller I have ever read.

It took me ages to read this because it quite honestly made me queasy and gave me nightmares. It really should have content warnings.

It's fair to say that I didn't "enjoy" reading this, at all. I was however completely invested in both the characters and the plot.

Everything about the plot is well thought out, well constructed and it hangs together nicely. There is enough twists, turns and surprises to keep even a veteran thriller reader happy.

I thought the main character was a little over the top and extreme but that fit with the overall flavour of the book. All the other characters were believable and the way the author messes with your head over who has your sympathy is masterful.

Personally I found the setting terrifying and claustrophobic. I am NEVER setting foot on a cruise ship, EVER!

The violence and cruelty in this book are extreme and described in a little too much detail for my personal happiness but overall it is a well written thriller.

Possible spoilers

Martin is not a man to do things by halved,as the opening scenes of this book prove.
He doesnt tone it down as the book progresses either.
Definitely a man you want on your side.
An impossible mystery of cruise ship suicides,and one that came back,that leads you a twisty turney dance right up to the never to be guessed culprit.

This book has put Fitzek on my one to look out for radar.

A twisty and compelling psychological thriller that doesn't compromise on character depth and quality writing in order to deliver that twist that everyone sees coming, but instead offers a layered tale of a spate of mystery disappearances on cruise ships and takes you on an unpredictable journey towards the truth.

You probably won't want to go on any kind of cruise after reading Passenger 23, which follows one man's search for the truth about his wife and son. The plotting is superb and often disturbing, there is a lot of emotional tension and edgy action and you never really know where this is going until you get there.

I read it in one sitting, luckily starting it on a day off, it is one of those page turning yet considered thrillers that immerses you straight into its vivid world and holds you there until the final breathless reveals.

Really excellent. Recommended.

Passenger 23 is an unpleasantly dark and twisted suspense German thriller which has now been translated into English. The title refers to the average number of people who disappear on cruise ships every year. I’m feeling torn about my rating, because while I can’t say I enjoyed it, I think that’s more about what I’m in the mood for just now - I received an ARC close to publication day, having requested it based on a friend’s positive review, so didn’t feel I could put it aside; it has a clever complicated plot which kept me guessing, and I think most people who like this genre would say it’s a good book, so I’m rounding up from 3.5. The blurb describes it as a psychological thriller but I wouldn’t really call it that.

Martin Schwartz is an undercover police officer who will go to any extreme to complete his missions - since the murder-suicide deaths of his wife and child five years earlier he has no fear for his own safety, so when a meddling old lady who lives permanently on the cruise ship where they died contacts him to ask for his help investigating the recent disappearance of another mother-child pair, which had been labelled another suicide, he doesn’t hesitate. Even so, he’s shocked to discover that the little girl has reappeared weeks later, traumatised and mute from her experiences. Can he work out what’s going on or will he too meet a watery end on this ship of death?

The opening chapters set the tone here - unknown assailants doing terrible things to their victims for unknown reasons - both on the ship, and on Martin’s latest case. The worst parts are referred to rather than described: there’s physical and psychological torture, horrendous child abuse and sickening cruelty - some highly original in it’s nastiness, but it doesn’t completely cross the line into gratuitous ness. If this is likely to bother you, I’d skip this one.
If you don’t mind these elements, you’re in for a twisty suspenseful tale where nothing is as it seems, and while I found the eventual reveal rather eye-rollingly implausible, the author does a good job of untangling all the different plot threads. There’s a large cast of characters and frequent POV changes so you do need to pay attention. Martin is an interesting hero, damaged, driven and disrespectful as is typical for this genre, but intuitive and compassionate so I did find myself caring about him.

I thought the translation was pretty good, and think this would make a good movie if they toned down (or at least didn’t show you) the more horrific elements. I’ve never been interested in large boat cruising as a holiday, and this certainly hasn’t changed my mind!
Thanks to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for the ARC which allowed me to give this honest (if ambivalent) review. Passenger 23 is available now.

A quote from the book “An ocean going funfair of tourism and Murder. A floating city where you can get anything, except law enforcement”

Who has jurisdiction over crimes that happen on international cruise liners in international waters. I researched this question and I’m really surprised more books aren’t based on these ships. Basically it’s up to on board security to deal with any crime until the ship reaches port, or waters controlled by a nation, often only the 12 miles around the coast.

No forensics, no cops, people can get away with murder, and that is what this story uses as its foundation.

So why aren’t more books set on these floating cities

This book is a great read.

What just happened 🤯 that was a lot...

So, I had no idea that "passenger 23" is a code used on ships when a passenger goes missing and unsurprisingly that's what's going on here! Fitzek's 2014 novel, finally translated into English, follows Martin Schwartz, a reckless policeman with no sense of self preservation that undertakes the most dangerous undercover assignments with no fear. This is because 5 years ago, Martin's wife and son disappeared on a cruise ship called The Sultan of the Seas. With seemingly no explanation why it's presumed a murder suicide. One day a permanent resident of the ship calls Martin with some new information that piques his interest and brings him back onto The Sultan. His wife and son aren't the only mother and child to have disappeared, only a couple of months ago Naomi and her daughter Anouk vanished. All the information points towards there being a serial killer on board but then the small girl reappears. Martin hopes by solving what's happened to Anouk he can find out the truth about what happened to his own family.

Fitzek is a really compelling writer, he's not one of the most popular German thriller writers for no reason. The short chapters are engaging and engrossing making this snappy and gripping but quite frankly a dark af read. This isn't one for the faint-hearted, covering a lot of shocking and uncomfortable subjects. That being said, with several plot points all being interwoven, it still makes this an intriguing read that will keep you guessing all the way until the end! I couldn't have ever guessed the ending. This is the second novel by Fitzek that I've read and I've already bought another one to read asap! Thanks to Head of Zeus for providing me a copy to review. It publishes on 4th February in the UK.