Did she leave or was she taken?

An Irish Times & USA Today Bestseller

Shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey/New Blood Dagger

Shortlisted for the BGE Irish Crime Fiction Book of the Year

The day Adam Dunne’s girlfriend, Sarah, fails to return from a Barcelona business trip, his perfect life begins to fall apart. Days later, the arrival of her passport and a note that reads ‘I’m sorry – S’ sets off real alarm bells. He vows to do whatever it takes to find her.

Adam is puzzled when he connects Sarah to a cruise ship called the Celebrate – and to a woman, Estelle, who disappeared from the same ship in eerily similar circumstances almost exactly a year before.

To get answers, Adam must confront some difficult truths about his relationship with Sarah. He must do things of which he never thought himself capable. And he must try to outwit a predator who seems to have found the perfect hunting ground…


A tense, tight, original page turner.

Sunday Independent

Clever and compulsive. I read it in one sitting.

Irish Examiner

An engaging thriller written with authenticity and aplomb from a writer who knows her craft.

Books Ireland

Catherine Ryan Howard is an astonishing new voice in thriller writing.

Liz Nugent

Fast-paced, twisty and an absolute joy to read.

Mark Edwards

The plot twists, rolling like the sea. Hold on, you’re in for a wild ride.

Bookpage

An excellent debut … which may give cruising executives sleepless nights.

Irish Independent

An engaging, unusual and believable thriller.

Sinead Crowley

A debut novel with a cracking plot and satisfyingly eerie writing throughout.

Woman’s Way