Sarah, who is an ex Marine with the obligatory PTSD is hired to be security detail on a super yacht sailing from UK to the Caribbean. Needless to say things go pear shaped and people are not what they seem. A decent enough read but not without flaws. A good plot with well drawn three dimensional characters, this author , will I suspect get better with subsequent books so I will try the next one.
Ye gods though- a female lead who can't possibly be "just a strong woman"-nope she has to have PTSD . has to be a mental health issue. Needless to say there is another cliché too- the "dead or dodgy rule" (can't say more as would be a spoiler. Also it felt like I had read the story before. Quite slow going until the end where it dissolves in a barrage of explosions and shoot 'em up scenes which stretch credibility somewhat. Some things were left unanswered and the ending felt a bit convenient.
Having said that , I think a lot of people will like and enjoy it and if you found it in the library on holiday it wouldn't be a bad choice by the pool

An excellent modern day thriller set on a Super Yacht where things rapidly go downhill for the skeleton crew manning a seemingly innocuous trip of moving an ultra wealthy person plaything from Europe to America over the Atlantic.

The story starts by narrating what happened 8 days into the voyage. Ward expertly ratchets up the tension throughout and the sensation is like that of being slowly strangled by a snake, it is happening and there appears little that anyone can do to stop the inevitable. However, Sarah an ex-Royal Marine is on hand as security for the yacht and thank goodness she is.

An enjoyable story with plenty of turns and action to delight the reader 4/5.

I would happily read something by Cameron Ward again.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an impartial review.

This was an entertaining mystery story. Set on a super yacht, we find Sarah French, a retire Royal marine suffering mentally from her recent personal and military experiences, sent by her boss for what should be a an easy, relaxing job looking after the security of the yacht as it is relocated from Majorca to the Caribbean. But everything is not as it seems amongst the crew, and as the ship sets sail things start to go wrong and people start disappearing and dying. This is four stars rather than five, because I couldn't believe based on Sarah's military experience she would have been as lax as she was portrayed not to react quicker to her feelings that something isn't right. But this didn't stop me enjoying the story as a whole. If I was in this horrifying situation I would want Sarah to be there to protect my back. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin books for letting me read an ARC. This review is my freely given opinion.

Ex-marine, Sarah French is given a once in a life time opportunity to provide security on a super-yachts maiden voyage across the Atlantic. However, some teething problems occur, which then turns into pure sabotage. Someone is board is not who the claim to be and other crew members start to disappear. Sarah needs to work out what is going on before it is too late.
An enjoyable thriller, but slow to escalate and then an explosive ending.

Absolutely loved this book! If you’re a fan of the TV show Below Deck it’s a must read. Definitely a few twists and turns that I didn’t see coming, would highly recommend!

One of my favourite things about this book is the descriptions. You really felt like you were in the mix of the drama of this very well written physiological thriller. Don't miss it.

A really gripping read.. what seems like a nice job escorting a luxury yacht turns into a nightmare.. Well written and described, I could visualise the luxury of the yacht and for a short time, wished I was on the boat too. Really enjoyable read.

An easy and enjoyable read, loved the protagonist Sarah, and all the twists and turns in the plot.
Thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I enjoyed this book. It was a steady start but then ramped up to become fast paced with twists I never expected.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased opinion.

Ex Royal Marine, Sarah French is trying to come to terms with the loss of someone close to her, whose death she believes was her fault. Trying to get her life back together she signs up as on board security on a luxury yacht. After setting sail, tension grows as things begin to go badly wrong. It’s not going to be the easy job she thought it was, and she’s not sure she’s up to it.

I always like a strong but flawed lead, and Sarah has this by the bucket load. Still suffering panic attacks, she tries to hide it from the rest of the crew, who don’t seem to be getting on too well amongst themselves. We get some background on Sarah in her previous career, a strong woman in a very demanding world where more is expected of her purely by being a woman. This is nicely paced, although it’s fairly easy to guess who the baddie of the piece is it doesn’t spoil the read. At times I was a bit frustrated with Sarah, not seeing the obvious but again it still makes for a really well plotted read. I couldn’t work out quite how things were going to be resolved but it was sorted out really well, leading to an extremely tense last few chapters. I’ll be interested to see what happens to Sarah next.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Unusual thriller set on board an enormous luxury liner. One security agent and a handful of crew,plus some very expensive artwork. Didn't quite ring true.

Free courtesy of Netgalley

New author for me to read and it definitely won't be the last book I will read by Cameron Ward. It was exciting, thrilling and had your brain working to who and why.

Sarah French is an ex Royal Marine, with debilitating PTSD, which comes in waves of panic attacks, visions and frozen to the spot. She is offered a lifeline by a former colleague to work for him at his security firm. He employs her to run security on a new Super yacht, that is being delivered from Palma to the Caribbean. Easy job to settle her in, deal with her issues, with lots of sunbathing and spending time in the hot tub. If only it was that simple.

Running with a skeleton crew, it should be an easy job, but with the crew not getting along, a yacht that isn't finished properly but left anyway and then mysterious "accidents" keep happening and eventually members of the crew go missing, Sarah must figure out what is going on, whilst still trying to deal with her own issues.

Can she help everyone before they are all dead, and who does she trust.

I would recommend this book, as it felt like I was watching a film, the details are amazing without being boring, really brought the story to life.

This wonderful closed room thriller takes place on a super yacht sailing to the Caribbean and is told from the perspective of Sarah, an ex-marine who was recently discharged early from the service and appears to be suffering from PTSD. Sarah takes an easy gig on this sailing, she’s a security detail who’s mostly there for show so it should give her the time she needs to try and sort her out head from the past events while serving. Unfortunately things start to go very wrong onboard the yacht, there’s a fire, damaged electrical systems and a whole crew hiding secrets.

So when one of the crew suddenly disappears things take a deadly turn and Sarah races to figure out what’s going on, with no power, no water, no method of communicating, and no water, she’s really up against finding out the truth before she becomes the next victim.

This book gripped me in it’s claws and had me hooked until the very last page, I suspected every single one of the crew members at some point and when it was revealed who was behind it I hadn’t guessed right!! I do love a good murder mystery/who dunnit and being on a boat in the middle of the ocean? Well you can’t escape that.

Thank you so much to Michael Joseph for sending me a proof in exchange for my review, absolutely loved it and is in my top 10 books for the year.

Sarah French is an ex-marine with baggage. She is trying to get her life together. When a friend asks her to do a job for him as security on a luxury super yacht, it seems like a perfect opportunity to get her career and life back on track. She is on board for ‘insurance purposes’ while the £200 million yacht is being delivered to Antigua. Sarah expects it to be a relaxing trip. However, from the beginning she starts picking up on tensions between the crew. Forced to depart too quickly, the boat was not fully ready. Problems quickly start to emerge, but can be overcome. Until they sail right into a storm. Then someone goes missing. What they think was a man overboard accident soon reveals itself to be much more sinister, and soon Sarah is calling on every ounce of her marine training to keep herself and the crew alive.

I thoroughly enjoyed this read. From the female cast, to the story, the writing, I was hooked from the start. I am not a boat person, but I was intrigued by the entire story, and loved how well it was told, and I didn’t feel alienated by any ‘boat speak’. I really enjoyed the way the crew was drawn out, building the tension and resentments, and building up the twists and turns, leaving you guessing who the killer was. Sarah was tough but vulnerable, and even with marine training, she reacted like a human in many of the situations, which was refreshing. A brilliant mystery thriller, in an unexpected setting, and a complete new Cameron Ward fan here!

*I received this copy from NetGalley for review, but all opinions are my own.

Tension from the very outset!
Sarah reluctantly takes a position as security guard for a Yacht delivery and is expecting a voyage of boredom, hot tubs and more boredom.
However the crew do not all seem to get along and when one goes missing things escalate rapidly.
With plenty of hints that go nowhere it is a very fast paced book that will have you guessing about both the bad guy and the motive with the big reveal still coming as a complete shock!

I loved all the little details dropped into the action, describing the opulence of the boat, the characteristics and personalities of the crew and the clever manoeuvres Sarah makes to save herself and as many crew as she can when they are left adrift in the middle of nowhere with no systems.
A thoroughly enjoyable read!

Sail by the seat of your pants in this book.

Ex marine Sarah is the only person who can save the gate of the luxury yacht, the Escape along with its ship mates.

Enjoyed this book, although some of the action scenes toward the end of the book where a little hard to picture.

Good read.
Thanks to netgalley for the opportunity to review this book, this is my honest opinion.

A good storyline about ex-marine who after leaving the marines works for her ex colleague as a security officer. On undertaking the task on a luxury liner consisting only of crew members she then discovers all is not as it seems. Lots of tension and twists makes this an excellent read.

After a slow start, the claustrophobic tension of the story finally hooked me and kept me reading to the end. I think it’s a book for those who prefer action-led rather than character-driven stories, as I didn’t particularly relate to or engage with any of the characters, but fans of the ‘locked room’ mystery genre should definitely add this book to their reading list.

A Stranger on Board follows ex-Marine, Sarah, as she embarks on her first journey away from home following her traumatic and premature departure from the Royal Marines. Sarah is yet to face her demons surrounding her service, how it ended and her obvious PTSD, so when her friend, also a former soldier, offers her a job on a superyacht as a security liaison, they both assume it will be the perfect trip for her to get some downtime and deal with her emotions. It sounds great, a simple sail across to the Caribbean with an experienced crew with a dynamic like a sitcom cast and all Sarah has to do is be physically present so the company can get a tick on a piece of paper. That is until things start going wrong. The red flags start early, a rushed departure, an argument at the docks, but soon escalate into more serious problems such as a damaged electronics system, a fire, no lightning protection and secrets being kept by the captain and other crew members that might just put everyone at risk. When the captain disappears, Sarah soon finds herself relying on her instincts and her training to get to the bottom of the mystery. Who has been sabotaging their trip and what do they want?

This book deals with PTSD, family secrets, marine sabotage, and honestly, being stuck on a boat with no power, no backup generators, no water, fuel or communication systems sounds like my very own version of hell, so in my head, logically, it would make the perfect setting for a thriller. Unfortunately, I found it to be an incredibly slow burn. Firstly, I think it had a LOT of filler. Some of the moments, although good for getting a feel for the rest of the crew and their dynamic with one another, felt unnecessarily long-winded in spots. I found myself not particularly liking or caring for Sarah until towards the end of the book when we finally get to see some of this badass essence she had been indicating she had from the beginning. Secondly, it was a little predictable. I knew something was off with some of the characters around the 45% mark. I also think the reveal came a little too soon in the book, because it meant the conclusion took over 25% of the book and I don't like being in the know that long in a thriller.

I know this review sounds quite negative so far, but I will say this author knows how to build an interesting cast of characters. Each character was individual in their tones, I really liked the dynamic between a lot of them. I also think the story was incredibly well constructed, every little contingency seems to have been considered by the author, which is always great in a thriller. Overall, I just feel like it was a little too long and a little too predictable, but it would make a decent poolside read for a holiday if you're like me and enjoy thrillers while on holiday.

The tension and pacing in this book was totally on point. The storyline was compelling and main character interesting. A few of her steps in this book seem misaligned with her character, so not completely believable, but no spoilers here. Will be interested to read another book from this author