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John McBride #2
Cruise the Storm
The Helena, an upmarket cruise ship sets sail for the Med. It is already in the Solent before the owners realise there are several members of a far right group aboard, and they might be aiming to hijack the ship, but they are sure that due to stringent security there can be no weapons aboard. They discuss matters with MI5, and one of their operatives agrees to board the ship in Spain, to monitor the situation, and to prevent weapons being taken on board.
John McBride is aboard, encouraged by his agent to act as art tutor. When the Captain learns that McBride used to be in the SAS, he thinks he might be useful if things get out of hand.
But it is not just a hijack that takes place, but also a rebellion by the passengers loathe to have their holiday ruined. A hurricane, rare, but not unknown in the Mediterranean engulfs the ship, which is holed by a collision with a container washed off a watching container ship. When the Captain thinks life couldn’t get worse on this, his last voyage before retirement, it does. With the last hijacker roaming the ship in disguise, will he kill the captain?
“
John McBride is aboard, encouraged by his agent to act as art tutor. When the Captain learns that McBride used to be in the SAS, he thinks he might be useful if things get out of hand.
But it is not just a hijack that takes place, but also a rebellion by the passengers loathe to have their holiday ruined. A hurricane, rare, but not unknown in the Mediterranean engulfs the ship, which is holed by a collision with a container washed off a watching container ship. When the Captain thinks life couldn’t get worse on this, his last voyage before retirement, it does. With the last hijacker roaming the ship in disguise, will he kill the captain?
“
319 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 13, 2014
4 people are currently reading
226 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 2, 2020
I won this book in a goodreads drawing.
A bunch of inept terrorists are able to hijack a cruise ship, because ship security and MI-5 are even more inept.
Fortunately, John McBride is on board teaching passengers how to paint, and he actually knows what he's doing.
It's ok. Practically everybody is incompetent and makes stupid decisions. Could be more exciting.
A bunch of inept terrorists are able to hijack a cruise ship, because ship security and MI-5 are even more inept.
Fortunately, John McBride is on board teaching passengers how to paint, and he actually knows what he's doing.
It's ok. Practically everybody is incompetent and makes stupid decisions. Could be more exciting.
May 29, 2019
A hijacking on a cruise ship by an extremist. Luckily McBride (ex operative) is on board for a totally unrelated reason - he is teaching a painting class. Along with others, they prevent the worst of the attack and with allies, the rest with minimal loss of life. I enjoyed the story but it needed a bit of editing still and part of me was frustrated with how nonchalantly the Captain and others treated the hijacking and the almost lightness when they discussed it. Interesting characters though
December 6, 2018
Kept my interest throughout
February 6, 2019
Well written and interesting concept. It was fast paced and entertaining.
May 12, 2016
A group of terrorist hijackers on board a cruise ship. An ex SAS soldier on board teaching watercolour painting. A huge storm bearing down on the ship.
This might sound like the plot of some Hollywood blockbuster full of explosions and witty one liners from the hero but Chilcott delivers something a lot more cerebral than that. The story and characters have a sense of reality and this is more like a game of chess between the chief hijacker and the crew, a game where the ship is the board and the pawns the passengers which the terrorists are only too willing to dispose of to meet their aims.
Keith Bourne is the founder and leader of the White Christian League, an extreme right wing terrorist organisation who specialise in violent demonstration and the odd mosque burning. Bourne wants cash to further his rather nasty aims and decides that hijacking a cruise liner will fit the bill nicely. MI5 have been watching him and manage to get one of their agents onto the boat in an attempt to thwart Bourne and his cronies.
John McBride is a watercolour artist of some renown who is drafted onto the cruise to teach any interested passengers how to paint in watercolours, the scenes in the various Mediterranean ports they will be visitng being ideal subjects. McBride also happens to be a former member of the elite SAS and when he is made aware of the plot to hijack the ship is able to advise the captain and MI5.
The tension cranks up nicely through the first half of the book, seen mostly from the point of view of Bourne and McBride as each becomes aware of each other and both their plans have to be changed by circumstance. Everything comes to a head on the night the storm hits the ship.
At this point, with everything poised on a knife edge of success or failure for both sides, Chilcott pulls a deft narrative twist and goes back and tells the story again from the point of view of the chairman of the cruise line and one of the passengers, once again building up to the crisis point. This has the nice effect of filling in details that were previously only mentioned but also did lose the momentum which took a while to get going again. It may have been better to tell the story purely sequentially but seeing events from different perspectives again was interesting.
The characters and situations are written with a real authenticity. There are no miraculous escapes, no amazing feats of marksmanship and this is a very real strength of Chilcott's writing. Everthing happens in a way that seems very authentic - and in the case of the actions of the hijackers, worryingly so. Every action and reaction of the characters is plausible and there are frequent points where the story could go one way or another just on a chance encounter or random event.
This realism also felt a little like a weakness to me. Some things happen which provide some dramatic tension at the time but ultimately don't really have a bearing on the eventual outcome. Although this is very much like real life, perhaps it is not what is expected in a thriller of this type. In particlar (and these aren't really spoilers) the ship is damaged in the storm but this doesn't really affect anything, and also what happens when events are told from the point of view of one of the passengers looks to be building to something interesting but ultimately fizzles away. I would have liked to see more of these sub plots carried forward to the end of the story.
Despite this, the book was a good and interesting read and I am looking forward to reading more of Chilcott's McBride novels. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes their thrillers character driven and cerebral rather than all action. Plus you will pick up some excellent tips on painting in watercolours as a bonus.
Rated: Some violence, language and sexual references
This might sound like the plot of some Hollywood blockbuster full of explosions and witty one liners from the hero but Chilcott delivers something a lot more cerebral than that. The story and characters have a sense of reality and this is more like a game of chess between the chief hijacker and the crew, a game where the ship is the board and the pawns the passengers which the terrorists are only too willing to dispose of to meet their aims.
Keith Bourne is the founder and leader of the White Christian League, an extreme right wing terrorist organisation who specialise in violent demonstration and the odd mosque burning. Bourne wants cash to further his rather nasty aims and decides that hijacking a cruise liner will fit the bill nicely. MI5 have been watching him and manage to get one of their agents onto the boat in an attempt to thwart Bourne and his cronies.
John McBride is a watercolour artist of some renown who is drafted onto the cruise to teach any interested passengers how to paint in watercolours, the scenes in the various Mediterranean ports they will be visitng being ideal subjects. McBride also happens to be a former member of the elite SAS and when he is made aware of the plot to hijack the ship is able to advise the captain and MI5.
The tension cranks up nicely through the first half of the book, seen mostly from the point of view of Bourne and McBride as each becomes aware of each other and both their plans have to be changed by circumstance. Everything comes to a head on the night the storm hits the ship.
At this point, with everything poised on a knife edge of success or failure for both sides, Chilcott pulls a deft narrative twist and goes back and tells the story again from the point of view of the chairman of the cruise line and one of the passengers, once again building up to the crisis point. This has the nice effect of filling in details that were previously only mentioned but also did lose the momentum which took a while to get going again. It may have been better to tell the story purely sequentially but seeing events from different perspectives again was interesting.
The characters and situations are written with a real authenticity. There are no miraculous escapes, no amazing feats of marksmanship and this is a very real strength of Chilcott's writing. Everthing happens in a way that seems very authentic - and in the case of the actions of the hijackers, worryingly so. Every action and reaction of the characters is plausible and there are frequent points where the story could go one way or another just on a chance encounter or random event.
This realism also felt a little like a weakness to me. Some things happen which provide some dramatic tension at the time but ultimately don't really have a bearing on the eventual outcome. Although this is very much like real life, perhaps it is not what is expected in a thriller of this type. In particlar (and these aren't really spoilers) the ship is damaged in the storm but this doesn't really affect anything, and also what happens when events are told from the point of view of one of the passengers looks to be building to something interesting but ultimately fizzles away. I would have liked to see more of these sub plots carried forward to the end of the story.
Despite this, the book was a good and interesting read and I am looking forward to reading more of Chilcott's McBride novels. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes their thrillers character driven and cerebral rather than all action. Plus you will pick up some excellent tips on painting in watercolours as a bonus.
Rated: Some violence, language and sexual references
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews