Distress Signals

Another absurd mystery thriller. Thrillers are apparently absurd by nature. This one is uneven and has an almost unnecessary subplot involving a French fellow with the worst luck of all time who eventually ends up thinking he's psychopathic. I'm pretty sure this is a case where nurture had a lot to do with how he turned out.

But the main story deals with an Irish fellow named Adam and his domestic partner of ten years, Sarah. Adam is a screenwriter and has finally sold a spec to Hollywood. Sarah is going on a business trip to Barcelona for a few days without him to let him work on the new draft of his script.

Except she's not going on a business trip. She's having an affair.

But then she disappears.

So Adam tracks her down to a cruise ship, where her new beau apparently works. He is accompanied by another man whose wife disappeared on this same ship a year before.

And then everything goes proverbially pear-shaped, and nothing is what Adam thought it was.

It's goofy, and it's villain is silly, but it's not quite as overblown as other thrillers I've read. This was a fun little read, and I'm not angry about it, so that's a job well done.