What’s the true cost of a free vacation?

Geri is an introverted writer who is most comfortable at home. When her boss-turned-best-friend wins two passes for a single’s cruise, she thinks she’s taking steps towards expanding her circle. What begins as an uncomfortable but enticing foray into a world of awkward flirting and adventure, quickly becomes a fight for survival.

With kidnappings, murder, and conspiracy, Geri finds herself in the middle of a story she never could have imagined writing.

Geri Collins is a writer. She’s also shy, introverted, and quite uncomfortable in social situations. When Lisa, her boss and friend, wins two spots on an autumn singles cruise, she decides to drag Geri along. Geri agrees, albeit reluctantly. Despite some last-minute second thoughts, she and Lisa board the ship for what’s billed as the Harvest Cruise. At first, everything goes well, and, in true Love Boat fashion, Geri meets Billy. He’s charming, polite, and, most of all, interested in Geri. What could be better?

However, Geri’s fairy tale crashes and burns when she and three of her fellow passengers are kidnapped during a shore excursion. Their captors cart them off to a remote island and imprison them in dog cages to await selling each of them at a bizarre auction. Now, the timid writer must tap into inner strengths she never suspected she had to survive and plot her escape.

Harvest Cruise is a roller coaster ride, with unexpected twists and turns cropping up every few pages as the body count ratchets ever higher. Of necessity, Geri overcomes her shyness and lack of confidence as she fights for her and Lisa’s survival (Lisa is also a kidnapping victim). I read the book in one sitting because the pace kept me turning pages, and I had to see what odd situation confronted Gerri and Lisa next.

I liked Harvest Cruise immensely. The characters are multidimensional and believable enough to engage the reader’s sympathy. The plotline, while disturbing at times, is all too realistic. Only the ending disappointed me due to its touch of Deus ex machina. But the disappointment was minor compared with the excitement and enjoyability of the book as a whole. I can enthusiastically recommend Harvest Cruise to anyone who enjoys mysteries and thrillers.