This book was FANTASTIC. I read it in one sitting and could not put it down. The plot gripped me almost immediately and I did not move until I read the last page. The story is told from several viewpoints (which I love) and was just so well done. Adam thinks his long- time girlfriend Sarah has met with foul play while out of the country at a work conference. Frustrated with the lack of help he receives from authorities, he sets out to find her on his own. He is stunned to discover that his relationship was not as wonderful as he thought it was and a chain of unforeseeable events cause Adam himself to be placed in direct danger. This book is full of twists and turns and the ending was a complete surprise to me. I don’t want to say much more and give away any spoilers, just go get a copy and read it. You will not be disappointed. 5 fantastic stars. Thank you so much to Net Galley and Blackstone Publishing for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I absolutely loved it!

Psychological thrillers are so popular right now, I was worried Distress Signals would be another version of Gone Girl or The Woman in Cabin 10, but boy was I wrong. This book is fast paced and easy to read. The story is full of twists and flows well. I would recommend to library patrons.

WOW. If you're looking for a thriller that will draw you in quickly and hold your attention as well, if not better than Woman in Cabin 10 and Chevy Steven's insane thrillers, or if you're waiting for your copy of JP Delaney's The Girl Before, pick up Catherine Ryan Howard's Distress Signals IMMEDIATELY. Buy this one or request this one before everybody else figures out what a fantastic novel it is! Howard tells three stories simultaneously, but does so in a way that tells all three extraordinarily well and creates well-rounded characters with heart and depth in each. I could not put this book down until I finished it and found out what happened to all the characters! The way the loose ends get tied up and their stories intersect is nothing short of spectacular. Don't just walk to your bookstore or library -- RUN!

4.5-4.75 STARS

Murder aboard a cruise ship… what a unique and intriguing backdrop for a psychological thriller! As a frequent cruise ship vacationer, I have always been fascinated by news reports featuring cruise passengers that have gone missing or fallen overboard. I find these “supposed” accidents highly suspicious, as they are often shrouded in mystery. That being said, I was immediately captivated by the plotline of “Distress Signals,” excited to discover the story’s secrets hidden within the pages of this book. What I didn’t expect, however, was to become enlightened on maritime law and how it translates to the reality of cruise ship crimes.

When Adam Dunne’s girlfriend, Sara, fails to return home from a Barcelona business trip, Adam sets out to uncover the circumstances leading up to Sara’s mysterious disappearance. His search leads him to the husband of another missing woman and to a cruise ship from which both women apparently vanished. A bizarre set of characters and their backstory are inserted throughout the story; their relevance, initially unclear. Add to that a series of unexpected plot twists, and “Distress Signals” makes for a highly addictive story about secrets, deceit, and murder on the high seas. Original and cleverly executed, “Distress Signals” hit all the right chords for me.

Distress Signals is an impressive debut!!!! It was very hard to put down. The changes in points of view among characters is handled particularly well, as are some cases of misdirection. One truly feels Adam's varying emotions as he deals with them after Sarah disappears. In addition to an enthralling mystery this book provides fascinating details about the cruise ship industry and maritime law. The latter is well handled so it adds to the plot instead of distracting from it. Discussion groups will have a plethora of discussion topics. Thanks to Blackstone and NetGalley for providing access to this outstanding title before publication!

I almost hate calling this book a debut novel as it reads like it is the tenth novel from new author, Catherine Ryan Howard. The concept of this book is what grabbed my attention. As soon as this book arrived I grabbed it and started reading it. From the first chapter I was hooked. I could not stop reading. In fact, I almost finished the book during my lunch hour. I had to force myself to put down the book and go back to work. However, you can bet once my day was over I was right back to this book. I finished it.

There was a moment where I thought I had it all figured out. I was so proud of myself but then the twists came and I realized that I had it all wrong. There was one twist that was so out of left field that I was shocked when the truth came out. The ending was great. Nothing worse then reading a book to come to a weak ending. I can't wait to get my hands on the next book from this author. Distress Signals is a must read and a best book of 2017!

When Adam's girlfriend is scheduled to go on a cruise for a business conference he can't go because he has just recently signed a book deal. When he can't get a hold of her he's not too concerned until her parents call him looking for her. They've been unable to reach her so they contacted her employer and they don't know anything about a business conference. When she doesn't show up when he arrives to pick her up his concern deepens and he contacts the authorities who seem to think she disappeared on her own. Adam discovers she was meeting another man and was going to leave him but still doesn't think she left on her own especially when he discovers another woman has disappeared on the same ship a year earlier under similar circumstances. He sets up a meeting with the other husband and they decide to meet and investigate the circumstances but is he doing it for the right reasons? This was a well written thriller without plenty of surprises to keep you guessing.

Distress Signals is a debut novel that packs a wallop of a punch! What starts off as a seemingly perfect, easy going relationship between Sarah and Adam turns into something else entirely. For ten years, Sarah has stuck by Adam while he pursued his dreams of becoming a writer. Finally, he seems to have struck gold, selling his screenplay to Hollywood. Things are looking up for him financially and he just might be ready to pop the question to Sarah...see things are going well, right?

When Sarah takes a business trip to Barcelona, Adam doesn't think too much of the fact that he has only received a quick text from her right after she landed. Then silence. After a couple days of not being able to get ahold of her, Adam starts to feel that niggling worry that something's most definitely off. When her parents get involved, things go from bad to worse, especially after Sarah doesn't return on her scheduled return day. The note Adam soon receives in the mail from Sarah is pretty cryptic and he sets off on a one man mission to find out what happened to the love of his life. Did she leave him of her own free will or did something much more sinister happen to her? How big is the rabbit hole Adam is venturing down as he sets off to get these questions answered and how much did he really know Sarah? For that matter, how much do we really know Adam?

Those questions and many more kept swirling around in my head as we follow Adam as he painstakingly recreates Sarah's movements after she went to Barcelona. And actually, he's a pretty good detective because little by little he narrows down Sarah's destination after Barcelona to a cruise ship called the Celebrate. Questions arise...what was she doing on a cruise ship? Was she alone and if not who was she with? What happened after she boarded the ship is where things get very interesting and all I'm going to say about the plot! While most of the story is told from Adam's perspective, there are a couple subplots that prove to spin an even bigger web for the story. One is Corinne's, a cruise ship staff member who seems very on edge and to be hiding something most of the time. Another is Romain's, a man who seems just not quite right and who's story is told in flashbacks to his childhood. How these threads tie together had me questioning and second guessing myself so much my head was spinning. They also had me staying up SO late one night, quickly turning the pages in an effort to figure out how it all tied together and what happened to Sarah.

The way the author let this complex plot unfold...layer by layer...was perfectly executed. In addition, the details she incorporated surrounding cruise ships and maritime laws was fascinating to say the least. I found this story to be page turning and twisty with characters that may not be who we thought they were, a setting that invites suspense and mystery and an ending that proved my detective skills are subpar at best! This is one debut novel I highly recommend, but get ready to stay up late because you won't want to put this down.

This opened with my favorite type of prologue, just enough to get you curious about what lead to a dramatic event, but leaves enough to the imagination that you’re still utterly clueless.

Adam and Sarah have been together ten years, and things are going well for them. Or are they really? Adam has finally sold his script to a Hollywood production company and they finally have more breathing room financially. Then Sarah heads Barcelona for a work conference and never disembarks from the plane home. Suddenly, Adam realizes that there are things he doesn’t know about his girlfriend. When he seeks help, the local Garda are unconcerned and feel he has nothing to worry about. He has no choice but to take matters into his own hands and unwittingly finds himself in grave danger.

Psychological thrillers are, dare I say it? My favorite genre, I read them every chance I get. This one is a standout and one I can highly recommend for fans of the genre. There are several perspectives; Adam as he searches for Sarah, Corinne, a woman who works on the Celebrate, and Romain, though his are mostly told in flashbacks starting in the nineties. Corinne’s sections made sense as there was an obvious connection to Adam and Sarah, but I drove myself crazy trying to figure out how Romain would tie in. When all these storylines are finally weaved together it’s incredible, Ryan Howard truly knows how to craft a complex plot. I felt a bit like Adam must have as I was trying to fit puzzle pieces together, like I was missing something obvious, but what?!

Apparently a cruise ship is the perfect place to commit a crime as maritime law makes things very muddled and confusing. Jurisdictions are murky and most times, heads are turned as it’s easier to avoid the headache. Being made aware of this by the author added an extra layer of tension as the story unfolded, and it was already on the suspenseful side to begin with. I’m so appreciative of a tragic ending, but also one that is able to shock and awe me, and this one managed to do both. It also broke my heart, if you’ve read this, you’ll know exactly what I mean. What a remarkable debut, I’ll be watching Catherine Ryan Howard’s career closely.

I have been reading a lot of quiet, psychological thrillers lately, and I must say that this is quite the opposite – it’s fast-paced and action packed, with plenty of characters and story lines to keep the reader guessing.

It all starts when Adam’s long time girlfriend, Sarah, fails to return from her business trip to Barcelona. Unable to connect with her by phone or email, Adam and Sarah’s parents start to panic. They report her missing to the Gardi (Irish police), and struggle to get help from them. Sarah is, after all, a grown woman who likely decided she needed some space – this is not a crime. When Adam receives an anonymous package containing Sarah’s passport and a note simply stating “I’m Sorry – S”, he knows he needs to take matters into his own hands. After a bit of digging he discovers that Sarah’s story wasn’t all she made it out to be; she was last seen on a cruise ship called “Celebrate” and this is where he heads next.

In alternate story lines, we learn about Romain, a troubled French boy, and Corrine, an older woman who is working on a cruise ship for an unknown and mysterious reason. I really enjoyed these stories and how they eventually twisted together. My only complaint is that I sort of wish Howard saved these stories for another book! With a bit of fleshing out, this alone could have made an amazing second novel. It all works well in this book, but I really wanted to learn more about Romain and his family, his story really got under my skin!

For the first part of this book, I thought this was going to be “Gone Girl on a boat”, as many elements are similar. A woman goes missing, and her partner and parents must work together to piece it all together. The men in these books even share the same last name, Dunne! Howard, however, takes the story in an unexpected direction, and we end up in a place we never saw coming. Calling this another Gone Girl is inaccurate, as Distress Signals deserves to stand on it’s own. It’s intricately plotted and was a blast to read, and I look forward to more from Catherine Ryan Howard.

I loved Distress Signals! An amazing debut novel by Catherine Ryan Howard. I read this in two sittings and could not put it down. Gone Girl meets The Girl on the Train, and all on a cruise ship. So many twists and turns, intertwining story lines, and an ending I was not expecting.

This psychological thriller is told through the eyes of multiple characters: Adam, Corinne, and Romain. We follow the story of Adam and his girlfriend Sarah. When Sarah unexpectedly goes missing, Adam's life it turned upside down. While on his journey to solving Sarah's disappearance he learns secrets along the way that lead him to the Celebrate, a cruise ship, and where Sarah was last seen.

We also follow the story of Romain, a Frenchman, and his troubled childhood. A story that seems to be completely out of place, but seamlessly meets with the rest of the current events.

Corinne is a crew member aboard the Celebrate. The cruise ship where everything meets its climax.

I was on the edge of my seat throughout this book. I couldn't figure out the ending! Howard did a great job developing the characters and keeping the story moving. A quick and exhilarating read that I highly recommend.

Thank you to Blackstone Audio Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What an incredible debut by Catherine Ryan Howard! Adam's girlfriend, Sarah, takes off for a business trip to Barcelona but never returns. Adam gets her passport in the mail with a note simply stating "I'm sorry - S". He then uncovers that she was actually on a cruise ship and now he's on a mission to find out why and figure out what has happened to her.

This book is mainly told through Adam's eyes as he learns truths about Sarah, himself and those around him. We also have a subplot story told through the eyes of Corrine and Romain. These stories are intricately woven and excellently written. I did NOT see a couple of the twists at the end and I LOVE it when I get surprised. When the author can make me feel empathy for a psychopath, I am a happy girl. What can I say, I love the twisted mind. Maybe my research on nature vs nurture and my love for learning about the human psyche just brings all this home for me. I am thoroughly impressed with this debut novel.

Love intrigue, mystery, suspense and two stories for the price of one? Pick up this book NOW! I never particularly cared to go on a cruise ship before - certainly am more deterred than ever. Five full nautical stars.

For a debut thriller, this was actually quite good! I really liked the characters and the way the author made the story connect. The introduction to this novel was definitely the strongest part; it reeled me in and kept me wanting more. The story had been well-researched, with lots of facts about maritime laws and cruise ship dangers (which is why i am now seriously reconsidering ever going on a cruise!) The story had good pacing and lots of twists in it to keep it interesting. Towards the end, I felt a little bit confused, and the details could have been flushed out a bit better. I actually really liked the ending of the story; for me, it felt like justice was served. There is another storyline going on throughout this story. At first, it had intrigued me because I liked the particulars of it. I was hoping that it would connect at some point in a grand way and add that extra element of surprise, but instead, it ended pretty unremarkably. Looking back, it probably wasn't needed or necessary because it didn't contribute anything to Adam's story. Overall, this novel was well done and the author did a good job in coming up with this story as well as executing it!

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/nov/11/rebecca-coriam-lost-at-sea


DISTRESS SIGNALS BY CATHERINE RYAN HOWARD

This Five Star Read was planted by the seed of the link I posted above. From an article of November,11, 2011 printed in The Guardian an article called "Lost at Sea". The article is a true story in the above link. The author has written a fascinating book of fiction which she uses her creative license in Distress Signals. Exceptions are if you are a United States citizen the FBI will investigate if you are pushed overboard or a missing person while in international waters on a cruise ship. As in this novel as of this writing if you live anyplace else in the world and are missing from a cruise Maritime law takes effect. Wherever the cruise ship is registered and licensed for tax purposes is who will investigate whether it is Barbados or the Bahama's.

In this novel Sarah tells her boyfriend that she has to travel Barcelona for a conference. They are from Cork, Ireland. Adam and Sarah have been together for ten years. Just as Adam gets a meeting to sell his script in America, Sarah becomes tired of the relationship and sneaks off on a cruise with another man. She is declared missing by Adam and her parents. They go to the Ireland authorities who tell them that Sarah is an adult and she has the right to willingly disappear. A person isn't technically missing unless there is some indication that harm has been done. Even then if you are British or in the novel from Ireland and you are pushed overboard or disappear you are subject to Maritime Law. The cruise ship that you go missing has to wait for the authorities from the country where the cruise ship is registered. In this novel it happens to be Barbados

By the time that a person is discovered missing, the cruise ship could be hundreds of miles from where you are lost at sea. Then investigators are dispatched in this case it was Barbados. There was a law passed in 1976, there was an environmental agreement called the Barcelona Convention, where no part of the Mediterranean Sea is classed as international waters. In practice the nations bordering it still lose their jurisdictional claims and responsibilities twenty-four miles off their coasts.

It is scary that this really is based on the link that begins my review. I loved this book. I read the article from the above link. My apologies in advance if when you click on the above link and it does not take you to the November 11,2011 article Lost at Sea that was printed in The Guardian, please type in what I have attempted as a link to the Guardian. Type in your search engine the above URL address that appears at the top of my review. For more information go to www.InternationalCruiseVictims.org

Thank you to Net Galley, Catherine Ryan Howard and Blackstone Publishing for providing me with my digital copy for a fair and honest review..

Distress Signals starts out with three seemingly unrelated people and stories. It made me wary at first not knowing where it would go, but it was cleverly wrapped up in the end. After twists and turns, we aren't given the "happy ending" we want, but it's still satisfactory. I would highly recommend this book for anyone looking for a good thriller to read.

A fantastic debut novel. I really hated to ration myself with this read and begrudged the time I had to attend to more mundane day to day things. It held me from page one. So many twists, turns and unexpected events which gradually led to an ending I really didn't see coming. Read my full review on publication date on 2nd February.

This book starts right off the bat with Adam either jumping or falling from a cruise ship into the middle of the sea. Yeah, I am not putting this book down. There were so many plot twists and so many suspects. This is definitely one you do not want to start right before bedtime.

And the ending, I definitely did not see that coming. It was definitely mind boggling.

The Romain character I could definitely feel sorry for at first, but at the end, he proved that he did not deserve it. Such a sad story.

This was definitely a great read and one that I would definitely recommend to those of you who like thrillers, suspense and mysteries. This one was definitely entertaining and I kept those pages turning.

I want to thank Blackstone Publishing for approving my request and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

So this book was one that I debated internally over- was it good enough for five star or was it a four star book! So the test for me is time! I then went back a re-read and it is a five star book for certain! For anybody who has been on a cruise this book is brings to life the almost claustrophobic atmosphere amongst the high-jinks of holiday fun and never before had I thought how perfect a location it is to dispose of a body! This book is brilliant in the way in introduces stories and characters that beautifully and seemlessly fit together! It's really well written and plotted- it's so tightly woven that the twist is something you really don't see coming! I really wish more thrillers/mysteries were of this quality and originality it sadly it's put well and truly off cruising!!!

An enjoyable mystery that kept me reading late.
Adam's life partner fails to return from a business trip to Barcelona, and he sets out to find her.
It's a story with many twists and turns, much anxiety, and an ending that surprised me a bit.
It's well written, full of tension, but pacing is occasionally slow. I was able to engage with Adam's anguish as he tries to unravel what happened. His life unravels at the same time, but he presses on,
Recommended to those who enjoy a contemporary good mystery.