 |
Maribeth is the only child of a wealthy English textile family. She is headstrong, opinionated, and broke. She is leaving Chicago on a cargo ship because she can't afford any other form of transportation, and she is unwilling to admit to her family that moving to America to make her own way has been a failure. Aboard the steamer, she meets a strong and charming Civil War veteran, Atticus, and a young orphan, Kristi. Things begin to unravel as they cross the Great Lakes. A strange mural begins to uncover itself in the captain's cabin, and the Native American deckhand, Jefry, can feel something sinister is afoot. When a passenger violently commits suicide in front of everyone immediately upon arriving on the vessel, the doors of terror open. Something isn't right on this ship.
MacCaigh's debut novel does an excellent job of taking the reader through the docks of 1870s America and aboard a cargo steamer. The sights and sounds of the surroundings, along with the operation of the vessel, provide a firsthand experience. The writing is sharp with the right details to engage the senses. The author also does a particularly good job holding the story's outcome unresolved and unknown until the end. The main characters feel genuine, and their backgrounds are more than just adjectives to provide color. There are a few areas where the combination of love story and horror, along with the reasons behind the happenings, doesn't mesh seamlessly, but the overall effect is still engaging and entertaining. This book is easy to recommend to fans who enjoy Gothic horror mixed with a touch of romance.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review