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A very chilling and compelling murder mystery. A plot full of twists to keep you engrossed from the start. A great story with good character detail, different setting and a fast pace. Also gives a good insight into life as a crew member on a cruise ship. A great debut novel which I would recommend. Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for my copy. I reviewed on Goodreads.

I received a free electronic copy of this novel on August 08, 2016 from Netgalley, Catherine Ryan Howard and Blackstone Publishing in exchange for an honest opinion. Thank you, for sharing your work with me.

This is an excellent who-done-it. The characters are very human, the story line firm, the pace quick. The premise - a woman disappearing from a cruise ship - is readily imagned and the reactions of their loved ones well defined and easily believable. This is a book I had trouble putting down. I would recommend to anyone interested in mysteries, travel, or police procedurals - the policing bodies and routines on cruise ships are not what we might imagine.

I really enjoyed this book, although the start was rather slow. Once it gathered pace there was non stop action, a very gripping book. A definite shocker thinking how strangely somebodies mind can work in a stressful situation.

The story is told from three seperate persepctives I love stories told this way so it worked for me, This is a great thriller that once I started I just had to finish. It is certainly clever and well written with twists and turns I did not see coming. There is a very unusual setting for this book in fact I can't remember reading a book set on a cruise before. The ending felt a little rushed to me but that did'nt overlly bother me. If you love mystery/thrillers give this book a go.

Adam and Sarah are together for 10 years. Sarah earns the money so Adam can live his dream to become a writer. Now it seems his dream came true. He sold a script to Hollywood. He is expecting his own earned money soon. But he has to rewrite it completely. He plans to do so while Sarah is away on a business trip to Barcelona. But as soon as Sarah arrived in Spain, he got problems to contact her. His distress about that grows when he learns that Sarah’s parents don’t know about that trip. When they called her office they were told that Sarah called in sick. Adam is extremely worried. Soon he finds out what Sarah was about to do. Sarah also does not return on her flight back home. Where is she and why is she hiding?

This was just an exceptional read. I was hooked from the beginning. The blurb was very promising but I did not expect such a complex and unusual story. I was immediately with Adam and his search for Sarah. His life as he knows it is falling apart as he learns more about Sarah and her little secret. But what happened to her while she was on a cruise ship?

There are several stories told in this book. First I did not know how they were connected. Then I got an idea. But I was wrong. It was even better than I thought. I won’t say much more about the story because I would spoil it. But it is full of unexpected development you can hardly see coming. I would not call it twists, but a lot of things are a real surprise. Here is nothing like you thought it would be when you start reading. It is a very gripping story in an unusual setting: a cruise ship. I read the second half of this book in one setting because I could not put it down. If you love unique psychological thrillers you should give this one a try. I will keep an eye on this author. I really enjoyed reading this book.

This was an awesome, suspense-filled novel with so many twists and turns that I had to read into the wee hours of the night just to finish it! When Adam's girlfriend, Sarah disappears after lying about a trip, he must unravel the mystery surrounding her secrets. With a host of great characters and dialogue, we are along for a thrill ride with Adam as he meets obstacles and slowly begins to see the clearer picture of Sarah's deceit and its consequences.. The suspense builds as he reaches conclusions...not all of them true....and we are finally rewarded with the truth behind the lies. If you are a fan of psychological thrillers, this one will not disappoint; I count this among my five top favorites! I'd give it 6 stars if I could!

I was waiting for this book to be released. Catherine blogged about her experience of writing this book and I found it very engaging. I don't know how she found the time. Anyway on to the story...I followed Catherine's blog as she was writing this book, so of course I was dead keen to read it. I started with a sample, so I knew how the book started and that convinced me that the book would be a good read.

Adam loves Sarah and after many years of trying has got a movie deal for a script, meaning he is no longer dependent on the woman he loves. He needs to do a rewrite and then the money is his. Sarah is off to Barcelona for a work trip so it is the ideal opportunity to get stuck into work. The deal is that they won't contact each other, so that Adam can focus!

Then Sarah's parents contact Adam becasue they unable to raise Sarah on her mobile, so they try the home number. Adam reassures them initially, then begins to wonder if something is wrong.

From this point on Adam is on a journey of discovery about Sarah's life and what has happened to her and others over the years.

It is a book worth reading, it seems well researched and reads true. There are other threads running through the story which add a pique to the novel, to keep the mystery going.

I enjoyed reading it and anticipate that Catherine will be producing further quality novels in the future, so add her to your watch list.

Wow. This book was GOOD! I was hooked from the very first sentence! It's one of those books where I couldn't read it fast enough but didn't want it to end. The suspense, the setting, the plot, the twists, the characters - everything about this book was excellent. It definitely shows you the darker side of what goes on on cruise ships. Very interesting.

5⭐️Distress Signals: Catherine Ryan Howard | Jenny O'Brien
https://jennyobrienwriter.wordpress.com/2016/09/19/5%e2%ad%90%ef%b8%8fdistress-signals-catherine-ryan-howard/

The Mystery is revealed with 3 people telling the story,
Adam, Romain and his mother. I found this a bit
confusing since you don't know the connection until close
to the end. There are 2 main stories, the first being Adam and the
disappearance of his girlfriend Sarah, the second Romain, his problems as a child
and then his mother looking for him on the cruise ship.
I enjoyed the part with the mystery of Adam and Sarah. Adam doesn't
believe that Sarah left him. The "maritime law" theory of the story
made for a reasonable explanation as to why the authorities would not
investigate, so he begins to dig into her disappearance on his own.
This was the main part of the story for me.
Ramones childhood with his mother was disfunctional. This and his
mothers search for him on the ship was less involved, and it did
tie in near the end.
Over all I did enjoy the mystery and it was well worth the read.

What a great read! great characters, great writing, I will definitely read more from Ms. Howard!

**I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

This novel has become one of my favorite psychological thrillers to date. I'm a huge fan of this genre and after reading as many as I have, each book starts to run together. I feel a lot of authors tend to stick to roughly the same area when they do psychological thrillers, but Catherine Ryan Howard went outside the box and really brought a unique and interesting setting to Distress Signals. My favorite part of this novel is that a good part of it takes part out of sea on a cruise. I have never read another book like this and it made it so much better. I also really enjoyed her use of maritime law. It made it even more interesting.


Head over to my blog, Rose Reviews, for the full review!

This author writes in a style that has you the reader involved in the story as a person listening to or witnessing ordinary lives having extraordinary experiences. Although perhaps the ending will become obvious it just will not be exactly what you think. Twists and turns as these lives all come together suffering the deeds and misdeeds, the angst, agony and anger. A glimpse at cruise ships. Everyone I know who has experience raves about them, but the news is filled with the calamities that would make anyone dubious. Just another aspect of the mysteries within this mystery thriller. The plot is seemingly complex at times yet it all meshes nicely as the story concludes. A definite winning read.

A cracking read from start to finish. So descriptive felt like I was there. Great scene setting, superb character's, loved it 100%.

This was a decent suspense book. Not action packed but kept you interested. This is the story of Adam trying to find out what happened to his long time girlfriend Sarah after she went on a cruise. Interesting mystery . Would recommend although it wasn't a had to read all night thriller but worth a read!

Sent previously but not showing in reviews sent.
A great read, very descriptive and felt like I was on-board. Great characters and superb scene setting

I love psychological thrillers and I found the thought of someone disappearing on a cruise ship intriguing. I had assumed that this would be simple "whodunit" but it turned out to be way more. It is full of twists and turns and I had a hard time putting the book down.
Adam has lived with Sarah for a very long time. Adam is an aspiring screenwriter who is on the verge of success after many years of effort. Sarah has been supporting both of them with her job until Adam is able to take over the role of breadwinner. When Sarah doesn't return from a business trip to Barcelona, Adam's world is turned upside down and everything he thought to be true is wrong.
There are many different threads and storylines at the beginning which eventually manage to connect. Adam's character is very interesting. At first, I found him to be a bit irritating because he seemed to be clueless as to how much he relies on Sarah and I thought he was using Sarah. His sheer determination and bravery in his search for Sarah changed my mind.
I received a copy of this book from the publishers (thank you!) in exchange for an honest review.

My thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for an ARC of "Distress Signals" by Catherine Ryan Howard, in exchange for an honest review.

Adam's girlfriend of 10 years, Sarah, goes to Spain for work, while he stays home in Ireland to finish the rewrites for his screenplay. She texted him when her plane landed, but she has failed to respond to his numerous calls, texts, or emails since. In fact, she hasn't responded to her best friend or parents either. Worried but certain it's all just a misunderstanding, they try desperately to locate her. In their search, Adam is surprised to discover that from Spain, Sarah set sail on a cruise...and she wasn't alone. So is she really missing or did she just leave? The more Adam learns, the more he is convinced Sarah is in danger, but the police don't believe him, so he is left to find her on his own.

The very first chapter opens with Adam being rescued by a diver deployed from a helicopter after he has fallen overboard into the ocean. From there, I was HOOKED! There are so many twists and turns, with a few subplots that build to convince the reader they've figured out how they relate to the main plot, but the reader will still be surprised by the conclusion. A masterfully told novel, this is easily the best psychological thriller I've read all year!

What a twisty tale of woe! When his girlfriend disappears after a short business trip, Adam's world changes forever. His relationship is not what he thought it was, and his world is based on lies. Where is she? This is what this novel tells us, how Adam will leave everything behind (including his sanity) to try to find her. And nobody reads this kind of book hoping to say: "everything is what it seems, the butler did it" but in this case I really was surprised by how some situations ended up being completely the opposite to what I had thought. It is easy to read and I found myself worrying about Adam like an old friend, torn between yelling at him "she doesn't deserve all this, move on" and "oh, no... you have to do everything you can to find her." The one thing I didn't completely like was that one of the story lines was a little removed from the action. It was interesting, but I was expecting it to tie in less tangentially. Other than that, I really enjoyed this voyage with Adam.

Distress Signals is an impressive debut novel written by Catherine Howard that I devoured within a couple of days. The story captivated me from the start, as it begins with one of the main characters, Adam, jumping into the vast, dark sea below. The beginning immediately enthralls the reader, which makes this a great page-turner as you ask yourself: Why did he jump? What did he leave behind? Is he alone in the deep abyss?

I really enjoyed the different viewpoints of this story, which is sometimes difficult for authors to portray in an easily understandable way. However, Howard developed the plot by using the past and present tense to intertwine the multiple characters in a brilliant way that never caused me any confusion.

Catherine Howard creates a disturbing atmosphere, but this is a well-paced, compelling read from start to finish. I generally think of a cruise ship as a safe, care-free getaway from life, not as a place that is suffocating and dangerous. Distress Signals has a unique premise that is multi-layered and twisty, unlike any psychological thriller I have read. Let’s just say that I don’t plan on going on a cruise ship anytime soon!

I thank NetGalley for allowing me to download this book for an honest review.

I agree with other reviewers here: this is an incredible debut novel. A psychological thriller that will keep you reading. I especially liked the way the beginning and the end of the book are linked. The storyline is complicated and full of surprises and the characters are very well defined.
I can easily see this book made into a movie.

On a personal note: Cork is one of my favorite cities ;-)

As if I needed more reasons to never go on a cruise.

Despite feeling like I could see how this would play out, I enjoyed it throughout. Figured that the obvious connections were interesting enough to be overlooked for being obvious. I kind of figured they were intended to be guessable while still building suspense, as you wait to see it all come together. Each point of view was compelling so the effect worked.

But the best part was that I turned out to be completely wrong about how it would come together. Being outsmarted only made me like this even more. Nothing is random, it all connects, but not quite how I was expecting and that is awesome.

A missing girlfriend complicated by the discovery of her affair with another man. Adam is depressed and disillusioned and wants to know why Sarah lied to him about a weekend away with her secret lover on a cruise. While searching for her the clues seem to indicate to the police that she left on her own, so there's very little help from that direction. Adam's determination to find Sarah lead him to the cruise company and ultimately to the ship itself. While learning about the ins and outs of the law in international waters and also the cruise lines' resolve to share nothing re ship disappearances, Adam finds on the internet a husband who has lost his wife on a cruise in a very similar way.

The resolution of the crime has quite a few surprises and kept me interested to the end. My thanks to Netgalley for making this book available.

I loved this book, it hooked from the beginning and didn’t let go. It was so easy to read, I finished it within a day of starting it. The pace was really good as it kept the story constantly moving along. The characters felt real and so did the situation. It kept me guessing and had me coming up with different theories as to what was going on. It’s not a dark thriller, unless of course you are a regular cruise goer with a vivid imagination. I thoroughly recommend it to thriller/mystery lovers and will definitely be looking out for the author’s next book.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for my digital copy.

This book is good, but it took a long while to all come together. It begins with a scene from the end of the book which was highly confusing. Then you find two different storylines: Adam, who’s searching for his missing girlfriend, Sarah, and Corinne and Romain, a dysfunctional mother and son whose story is partly told in flashbacks. There were no connections between these stories that I found. The point of view switches between Adam, Corinne, and Romain. I really liked the Adam and Sarah plot and it made the story for me.

The cruise ship setting was refreshing and it raised some unique issues. It was interesting to learn about the problems arising from crimes committed in international waters and the various maritime laws affecting the cruise industry.

Adam Dunne is a happy man - he has a gorgeous, hard-working girlfriend, Sarah, who supports his ambition to be a writer, and has just managed to get a film studio interested in a screenplay he has written. But his life is about to change when Sarah fails to return from a supposed business trip to Barcelona. Strangely, neither Sarah’s parents nor any of her work colleagues are aware that Sarah has gone abroad, and she isn’t answering her phone. As Adam starts a frantic search for Sarah’s whereabouts, he discovers that Sarah has been keeping secrets from him for a while. Fearing that she may be in danger, Adam embarks on retracing her last known steps, which take him aboard the large cruise ship Celebrate, where a ruthless killer may be on the loose. Will his quest to find Sarah put Adam himself in the killer’s path?

In a genre oversaturated with books aiming to stand out from the rest with that “shocking surprise twist” (which is, in most cases, a rather dubious marketing ploy), Catherine Ryan Howard has managed to find an original, intriguing setting where different rules apply: a large cruise ship filled with thousands of passengers from all over the world traversing international waters. Brimming with fascinating facts about maritime law, Distress Signals will take you into the dark and murky waters (literally) of the cruise ship industry. To be honest, the thought of being trapped on a tin can in the middle of the ocean with thousands of other people has never appealed to me, but after reading this clever murder mystery, I will definitely strike the experience off my bucket list. Not only do the confined quarters make a perfect hunting ground for a depraved mind, but the intricacies of maritime law make it even easier for perpetrators to escape the justice system – if they know how to use these rules to their advantage. I was fascinated (if horrified) by the interesting facts the author explains as Adam frantically searches for Sarah aboard the Celebrate.

There are three separate elements running through the storyline, with three different POVs: Adam, our main protagonist; Romain, a young French boy with a trouble past; and Corinne, a crew member on the ship. Initially these three narratives seemed quite separate and I thought Romain to be quite an odd character. However, as the story nears the end, all three threads are cleverly woven together to form the well-plotted finale to the story. And don’t worry, if you thought you had worked it all out, as I did, there is an extra surprise in store, which I certainly did not see coming.

Atmospheric, character driven and cleverly plotted, Distress Signals had me hooked from the very start and captivated me until the final reveal. I loved the setting, which added a claustrophobic feel to the story, and threw Adam an extra curveball when his back was already up against the wall and his world as he knew it had gone up in flames. Adam’s despair was tangible on every page, adding that emotional connection that kept me reading much too late into the night.

“I was a guy who couldn’t face a full and frank discussion about how best to pay for a shared taxi ride home. How in the hell was I supposed to confront a killer?”

A very clever mystery which stands out from the fray in more ways than one – well worth picking up this summer for a great holiday read!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free electronic copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

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.

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!!!

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.

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.

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.

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..

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!

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.

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.

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.

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!

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!

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.

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!

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.

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!

An exciting thriller that grips you right from the beginning. Adam's girlfriend of 10 years is missing. He begins a search to find her or to at least find out what has happened to her. The novel is believable and keeps you guessing. I look forward to reading more from this author.

This book grabs you in right from the prologue. Lots of suspense and mystery from the beginning to the end. Couldn't put the book down.

Adam and Sarah have been together for ten years and seem happy together. Adam has finally sold his script to a Hollywood production company and he can finally help out financially. Then Sarah heads to Barcelona for a work conference and Adam doesn't hear from her. He realizes that there are things he doesn’t know about his girlfriend and there are tons of questions that needs to be answered.

I highly recommend this book to all. Looking forward to reading more from this author.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for supplying a copy of Catherine Ryan Howard's "Distress Signals" in exchange for a honest review.

Adam's longtime girlfriend leaves the country for a business seminar but never returns. Days later he received her passport and a note saying I'm sorry.

He becomes convinced that Sarah is in trouble and would have never voluntarily left him.

When he follow the trail of clues it leads him to a cruise ship and a man who also lost his wife on the same ship a year ago. Thinking there's some serial killer on the loose they work together to find out the truth.

Full of twists and turns you will never see coming. I could not put this down! Ps. You will never catch me on a cruise ship after reading this!
5⭐️’s

Link to Goodreads review

Entertaining and engaging mystery about a woman who goes off on a business trip and never comes home.

Adam and Sarah have been together for 10 years, living together for the last 8 -- he's trying to break into film-writing and she works at a PR firm -- everything is good between them. So, when Sarah says she is going to Barcelona for a work conference, Adam is fine with it -- until Sarah stops answering her phone and returning his messages. When she doesn't show up back home on time, he and her parents go crazy trying to find her. It happens that Sarah was keeping some secrets from Adam and those send him on a desperate hunt to figure out what happened. The story involves him taking an impromptu search mission on a cruise liner with another man whose wife disappeared under similar circumstances. The two men get no help from police in their investigation. The setup involves the quirky maritime laws and crime jurisdiction, which was interesting and added a great dimension to the story.

I enjoyed the plot and the surprises along the way. The characters were quite well drawn and believable. (Not sure that the whole Romain story was necessary, however) and author could have tightened the narrative and it holds up without that part. I'll look for other books by this author in the future.

This is the second cruise ship mystery I have read lately and I am hooked! The whole idea of international waters and the guiding laws make a perfect hunting and killing ground for a serial killer or for the opportunity killer. I enjoyed the flashback to Romain's childhood, tying it to the future and circumstances that unfold. The characters are interesting and create well told story. I will recommend Distress Signals to all of my friends who are heading out on a cruise or in need of a good vacation read.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to the read Distress Signals for a fair review.

I am sending out a distress signal of my own-this book grabbed me and wouldn't let go so I lost some much needed sleep. If you like tight, well written psychological thrillers and mysteries you'll love this debut novel. It involves Sarah and Adam and their relationship both past and present,cruise ship disappearances and maritime law with a couple subplots dating past to the past. Very easy to read, good plot line, great character depiction and like a big jigsaw puzzle you really don't know what to expect until the last piece fits in and it does perfectly!

Brilliant. Gripped from start to finish. Couldn't tell what was going to happen. Couldn't put Kindle down either! Fantastic story - not sure I fancy going on a cruise anytime soon though!

Catherine Ryan Howard, premiers as a strong voice in fiction with her story - Distress Signals. Braiding 3 POVs from 3 characters, she weaves an intriguing narrative of mystery and suspense. Aspiring writer - Adam Dunne is on the cusp of a burgeoning career. Seeing his girlfriend off at the airport for a business trip, Adam believes all is well. Until he realizes Sarah has not kept in touch with him. Not knowing what to make of a puzzling note he receives from Sarah, some time later, he sets off to find her and get to the bottom of things. This sets the stage involving a serial murderer and whiplash-like twists in a thrilling tale. Howard generates an addictive momentum that never lets up with great writing, interesting characters and an addictive plot. Recommended.

DISTRESS SIGNALS is the brilliant debut thriller from Catherine Ryan Howard, a Cork-born writer. This is a murder/mystery story taking place on a cruise ship. I really enjoyed this novel and was fully immersed in the story. Keep this author on the radar!

The day Adam Dunne's girlfriend, Sarah, fails to return from a Barcelona business trip, his perfect life begins to fall apart. Days later, the arrival of her passport and a note that reads "I'm sorry--S" sets off real alarm bells. He vows to do whatever it takes to find her.

Adam is puzzled when he connects Sarah to a cruise ship called the Celebrate--and to a woman, Estelle, who disappeared from the same ship in eerily similar circumstances almost exactly a year before.

Adam, a writer of screenplays for movies and Sarah, his girlfriend, who works in recruitment have lived together for about eight years. Currently Sarah was in Barcelona on work, a conference…but something was wrong…was she so busy that in two days she hadn’t contacted Adam.

Adam is frantic! Why isn’t she returning his calls or emails? Nobody will believe that something bad has happened to her as it was not in her nature to act this way. Lots of questions that need answering.

To get answers, Adam must confront some difficult truths about his relationship with Sarah. He must do things of which he never thought himself capable. And he must try to outwit a predator who seems to have found the perfect hunting ground ...

There is more than one story line to the overall plot, with many characters, but no trouble to follow. Everything comes together in the end. And the ending was a definite surprise…and not one I saw coming!

After reading this novel, I am sure that I will never be boarding a cruise ship...or at least with a more informed mindset.

I highly recommend this debut novel. Looking forward to reading more from this author.

Many thanks to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for supplying a copy of Catherine Ryan Howard's "Distress Signals".

I started reading this book while on a family reunion camping trip. Let me just say, that wasn't a great idea because there were a lot of interruptions when I preferred to keep my nose in the book! I loved the suspense of the book as I tried to figure out what really happened to Sarah. When I wasn't reading, I was thinking about the characters and telling my husband the latest updates. When all was revealed, it was a surprising and satisfying story. On a side note, I, personally, would have appreciated fewer or no f words.

Adam Dunne and Sarah O'Connell have been living together for almost a decade now. He is a screenwriter waiting for his 'big break'. She works in PR and supports them both. Adam has just received some good news and finally reaps some success from his writing.
When Sarah tells Adam she is flying to Barcelona for a conference, he doesn't think twice. After an initial message when she first arrives, he doesn't hear from her again. He becomes more and more concerned. Then he receives her passport in the mail. She doesn't arrive home on the scheduled day. Her parents are equally concerned about her well-being. They go to the Garda in Cork, but they are unhelpful saying that Sarah is an adult, and adults purposefully go missing everyday...
Sarah's best friend tells Adam that Sarah has been seeing someone else. Distraught, but still frantic as to Sarah's welfare, Adam does everything in his power to find her. He discovers that she was last seen on a cruise ship called the Celebrate.
Then Adam is contacted by another man whose wife also disappeared while aboard the Celebrate. Peter Brazier received his wife's passport in the mail with a note identical to the one Adam received - Peter's wife Estelle has been missing for a year now.
Adam and Peter join forces to discover what happened to the women they loved. They take a cruise upon the Celebrate...

"Corinne's face wore several more years than she had lived."
Corinne Dupont is in her early sixties. She is working as a room steward aboard the Celebrate, a cruise ship owned by Blue Wave. She has no physical stamina, but is determined to find a man whose photo she memorizes.

Romain is a little boy of eight when we first meet him. He lives with his mother, father, and two younger brothers. For some reason his Mummy doesn't seem to love him the same way she loves his two brothers. Romain cannot understand why...
One day his Mummy tells him to try to make his baby brother stop crying. He jiggles baby Mikki the way he has seen his mother do - only Romain jiggles too hard causing Mikki to have 'shaken baby syndrome'. His mother, unloving before, now becomes more cold and distant. She withdraws from Romain and for years he craves her affection.
"Even when he was trying to be good, bad things still happened."
Romain is bullied at school. When he is twelve years old, his frustrations get the better of him. When his tormentor tries to also bully his younger brother Jean, his 'darkness' takes over and he murders the bully. He is sentenced and sent away to a juvenile detention centre where he lives for five years. When he is released, his family do not want him back. Then, the day he is released, another tragic trauma befalls Romain.

MY THOUGHTS

A STRONG debut novel by a talented author! Written with three parallel narratives, the author causes the reader to wonder how on earth they could be connected in any way. Then, she cleverly ties them together in a way that you didn't see coming. What more could you ask of a debut thriller? Recommended for sure!