Passenger 23 - Sebastian Fitzek

[goodreads]

Title: Passenger 23
Author: Sebastian Fitzek
Genre: Suspense
Rating: 3/5
# pages: Audiobook ~8hrs
Date read: March, 2024

Five years ago Martin Schwarz, a police psychologist, lost his wife and son. They were holidaying on a cruise ship when they simply vanished. A lackluster investigation was unable to shed any light on what happened—murder-suicide being the coroner's verdict. It is a verdict that has haunted Martin ever since, blighting his life. But then he is contacted by an elderly woman, a writer, who claims to have information regarding their fate and wants him to come on board The Sultan of the Seas immediately. She explains that his wife and son are not the only mother and child pair to have disappeared. Only a few months ago another mother and daughter also vanished. She believes there may be a serial killer on board. But when the missing daughter reappears—carrying the teddy bear of Martin's missing son—it becomes apparent that the truth could be much, much worse...


I listened to an audible origins production of this, and am not entirely sure that that was the best way to "read" it. The chosen music didn't really fit the atmosphere, and it came across as overly dramatic in places.

As for the story itself, it was pretty run-of-the-mill. I liked it well enough, but they didn't make nearly as much use of the fact that it took place on a cruise ship as I had expected them too. But I guess at the end of the day they just needed it for the "locked room" setting. It did baffle me though that at 2 hours before the end of the book, I still felt like I was waiting for the action to start. I wasn't bored or anything - it kept me nicely entertained - but everything until then just seemed to happen by coincidence or through pure luck (or lack of same). Also, parts of it seemed very exaggerated / unrealistic.

Not a bad book, but not one I'm likely to reread either.