a solid thriller if you don't think too hard

About 23 people disappear from the world’s cruise ships every year. Ship owners have a considerable interest in keeping these disappearances under wraps and tend to describe those that come to light as suicides, whether there is evidence of a suicide or not. That's the basis for Fitzek's latest thriller.

Five years ago, undercover detective Martin Schwartz lost his wife and son to such a disappearance on board a cruise ship. Now a shell of a man with nothing to loose, he agrees to meet a wacky elderly woman on board that same ship. She maintains there is something far more sinister going on as children and their mothers have gone missing regularly over the years. As Schwartz starts to look into this mystery, one of the missing children reappears on board the ship.

I've been an avid reader of Sebastian Fitzek's books for years, but this was my first experience of listening to the translated version of one of his books. While it kept my attention throughout, I don't feel that Passenger 23 was one of his best. It was suspenseful and did have the typical Fitzek twists and turns that are totally unpredictable, but it didn't mess with my head as much as some of his other psychological thrillers did.

The book (like most of his) should come with a warning. Fitzek likes to shock, and the gruesome details and disturbing themes will not appeal to everyone. Passenger 23 deals with the sexual abuse of children and is rather hard hitting in its description of physical acts of violence and sexual abuse.

There are intermittent sound effects throughout and music in between chapters. The sound effects were ok though I didn't really feel they added much to the story. The music IMHO was trashy. It reminded me of very old films where the music is supposed to create suspense.

Narration was very good. The voice artist narrating the story was a little too rigid and formal, but the narrators portraying the main characters brought life to the story.

Beware there is an epilogue that, oddly, is after the production credits, so don't miss it as it explains one part of the story from right at the beginning of the book.

Overall, a solid thriller if you don't think too hard about how realistic this plot is and are willing to believe the unbelievable for a few hours of dramatic listening.

Audiobook was provided for review the publisher.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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100 people found this helpful

BIZARR-O!

Would you try another book from Sebastian Fitzek and/or the narrators?

I'm not sure. This was very unusual, to say the least.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No. There were too many sub-plots and people to keep track of

Any additional comments?

Remember years ago when we rented VHS movies from a store? And you got home, started watching the movie and realized someone put the wrong movie into the VHS jacket? That's what this reminded me of. For the first 45 minutes, I thought I had bought the wrong book because there wasn't anything about cruise ships in that part. I never fully warmed up to the story but kept listening out of morbid curiosity. And there was a lot of morbid stuff going on in this book. I didn't hate it, didn't love it, but there are a whole lot other books out there that I wish I'd spent my time and credits on. In a word, it was 'weird.'

45 people found this helpful

Great performance of a truly despicable story

Despite being a decent thriller and performed by a phenomenal cast, the underlying "evil" in the primary story line is so despicable that I found it difficult to continue through. A slightly less horrific storyline would have been preferred by this reader.

14 people found this helpful

Are you sure you want to book that cruise?

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

The best thing about this book is the premise: mysterious disappearances at sea, the lack of competent investigatory resources; the cruise ship owners' powerful motivations to cover up the situation.

Would you recommend Passenger 23 to your friends? Why or why not?

I wouldn't especially recommend this book, because the author goes into too much grisly detail (listeners' imaginations are always worse than whatever far-fetched torture methods writers come up with). Also, there's a huge plot hole (spoiler alert: all the mother-child victims "won" their cruises in an online contest they don't remember. The authorities wouldn't pick up on that? Even semi-competent ones??). Finally, we get into really unbelievable territory with the opening scene where a man's healthy leg is being amputated, the significance of which isn't explained until an epilog, which, BTW, comes after the credits, so many people are likely to miss.

Would you listen to another book narrated by the narrators?

The main narrator was a bit heavy for the content; the other actors were fine, but since they're only used for dialog and there wasn't much, their voices felt intrusive. And I didn't think the sound effects were more than distracting. They were OK when used for atmosphere, but not when relevant to the plot--footsteps, doors slamming, and the like. It's the difference between a sentence that reads (in a straight narration), “He ran up the stairs to the fifth deck and arrived panting. ‘Where is she?!’ he asked” versus “He ran up the stairs to the fifth deck. ‘(pant, pant, pant) Where is she?!’” A fast-moving thriller contains a surprising amount of panting and shrieking.

Do you think Passenger 23 needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

There doesn't need to be a followup, because the main character has resolved his personal mystery, which was his principal motivation.

Any additional comments?

Thriller writers need to find other ways to engage readers than over-the-top gruesome violence (especially against women) that destroys credibility. That worked for a while, but now has become such a cliche of the genre that it's silly.

9 people found this helpful

Compelling presentation wasted on this thriller

Passenger 23 is a thriller about people who represent the insidious,self serving components of society: A slight counterbalance is offered by the desperate, emotionally destroyed hero who is compelled by values of decency and capable of self sacrifice. But he is pretty much alone in this human soup.

There are mysteries to be solved that become increasingly complicated and contorted as the hours pass. At the end, the explanations become drawn out endeavor to hold the story line together.

So why did I finish it, despite my finger frequently moving towards the stop and delete buttons.

Well, for a start, I enjoy listening to the narrator, Robert Glenister .
The acting was professional and the audio mixing, the use of music and sound effects seamless and effective.

But I would enjoy presentations of this calibre in works that do not focus on the depraved, the cruel and the deceptive.

For me Passenger 23 was characterised by a yawning gap between the quality of the audio presentation and that of the subject matter.

9 people found this helpful

What's with the effects

Would you try another book from Sebastian Fitzek and/or the narrators?

NO

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

The plot was actually very good

How could the performance have been better?

Without the effects and myriad of narrators

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

dissaapointed

Any additional comments?

I will try not to order any similarly narrated books

7 people found this helpful

Story content

The story can be somewhat difficult to follow at times. It becomes much clearer in last 15 minutes.

6 people found this helpful

ugh

Terrible sound effects AND a terrible book.......time I will never get back. Would not reccomend.

6 people found this helpful

The first Audible Original I've Really Enjoyed!

Great story, fine performances, super production qualities. Well done,Audible! Until now it's been a disappointing series of releases - here's hoping you're now hitting your stride.

5 people found this helpful

Just Awful

Is was a chore to get through this Audiobook. I was surprised that Audible produced this audiobook is this condition. I've listened to about 400 audiobooks and this is one of the worst. The plot was ridiculously stupid and increasingly unbelievable as it progressed. I sounded like it was translated into English from German by Google Translate. The sound effects and "actors" were awful. There were long silences and weird music as lengthy segues between scenes. When ordering this audiobook, I thought the drama format would be good. Not at all, especially in this bad drama. I choose audiobooks because I can listen while doing other activities, like driving, mowing the grass and weed whacking. Impossible with this production. The narrator is loud but the actors and much quieter and can't be heard with the background noise and their stupid sound effects. A real waste of time.

3 people found this helpful