Reading Update: The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

A dark thriller that takes you on a ride with so many twists you are definitely holding on with both hands by the end - even if you're one of those daring rebels who laugh wildly down Magic Mountain with both hands in the air and have the coolest picture in the relic shop. Even you.

Lo Blacklock is a journalist who just scored the story of her career when she's asked to replace her boss on a luxurious cruise ship and to report back on the ship, the fellow guests, and the trip. It becomes quickly apparent that Lo is unstable with a drinking problem and low self-esteem. This instability causes much skepticism from fellow passengers and crew when she claims a woman staying in the cabin next door to hers has disappeared off the ship. For various reasons, Lo persists in determining the whereabouts of this mysterious woman, and her persistence leads to dark secrets.

The writing is reminiscent of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca with the prose lending itself to a constant mood of mystery and suspense. I was so absorbed in the writing that I literally shook my head a couple of times when I was transitioning from reading as if to break the trance.

I had a couple issues with the writing. The conversations between Lo and her lover seemed stilted. The subplot of their relationship either needed to be more developed or lessened because some of these scenes just sounded out-of-tune. In addition, the author lives in London and the story is based in London, and some of the British-isms escaped me. I realize this is a conceited complaint, but it was one problem I had with the book nevertheless.

The language and the sexual content wouldn't make this appropriate for middle school, and I would never assign this as required reading in any classroom, but I could see it being recommended as a fun read for more mature high schoolers.