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

Sarah French left the Royal Marines after a personal tragedy but is trying to get her career back on track as the security officer on a luxury yacht., called the Escape. The departure is mysteriously hurried and it takes some time to work out why as the yacht is not ready to sale. There are only two passengers, one a relation and the other an employee of the mega rich owners. Sarah is new to it all but the others in the crew have a history which causes friction as things go wrong with the boat and the weather. Then a crew member goes missing and others follow. There is clearly a traitor on board helping the actual purpose of the voyage which is to steal valuable assets on board. The book ends in a mass of shootings and killings. The story is long for all there is to it and the outcome is fairly predictable. It was not a story that kept me engrossed.

The last third of this is totally explosive in so many ways. Really tense and nail biting.

However I thought it started slowly and there was far too much meandering about the past and one incident affecting our heroine (should that be hero these days), Sarah.

The novel starts out on dry land and then you are introduced to a luxury boat, her crew and passages. Things start to go wrong fast and ultimately you have a group of people stuck on a boat in the middle of the ocean, no communications on board and a murderer. Pretty chilling as a scenario.

Some of the characterisation of the crew was weak but the descriptions of the storm and action sequences was excellent.

Thank you to Netflix for the chance to read this

A brilliantly written book that kept me turning the pages and loving every one of them. The main character Sarah is an ex marine who is recovering from losing a close friend. When she takes on the security Of the luxury yacht she expects an easy time, what she gets is a situation that calls for her to use all areas of her past expertise. I haven’t read any books by Cameron Ward before but I will be searching for more as I loved the writing style and the way I was hooked right up to the last page.

The exciting opening chapter makes a great start to this book, and I had very high hopes for the rest of it. I enjoyed having Sarah, an ex-marine, as the protagonist but she wasn’t as strong as she should have been and there were things about her that didn’t sit right with me. After losing the love of her life so recently would she really have had such a hard crush on Arlo?! I don’t think she would have been so gullible. Also, there were too many times when she was panicked or close to having a breakdown and I wondered if she was fit enough to be given any sort of a job at the moment. The pace of the first half of the book was slow, with lots of unnecessary repetition, but I did enjoy the author’s vivid descriptions, especially of the super yacht and the weather. I had sussed out the baddies quite early on, and there were some really tense moments towards the end. Eventually, though, it all became too implausible and unrealistic. This was a decent, well-written, read that could have been a great read if it hadn’t been quite so ‘over the top’. Thanks to NetGalley and the Publishers for the advance copy.

First of all, thank you to Cameron Ward for creating a female character as his ex-Marine protoganist. There are many thrillers with the theme of having a former member of the military as a central figure, but rarely a woman so this is a refreshing change.
Now, onto our story, Sarah French has recently retired from the Marines and along with attempting to cope with PTSD, she is also grieving for her partner Sam. Her old colleague and friend, offers her a (seemingly) easy job of working security on a luxury, super yacht, travelling from Europe to Antigua. The crew will be the only people on board and all Sarah needs to be is to ensure that the ship and crew arrive safely. As the crew are experienced and know what they are doing, this should be an uber-easy job. Right?
Of course not, of otherwise we wouldn't have a book to review. ;) The book opens with an exciting chapter when the crew are in hiding, the yacht is struggling to stay afloat and the killer is at large. Sarah will need to fight through her memories to ensure that the remaining crew survive.
I did manage to guess the ending fairly early on and that was a little disappointing as me as it took away some of the fun of the novel. However, this remained an entertaining read and I will look out for Ward's next novel.