The Woman In Cabin 10

Lo is a travel journalist scheduled to go on a luxury cruise for an assignment.  A few days before the cruise is to set sail, he apartment is broken into shaking her up and causing her to be more on edge and frightened than normal.  It disrupts her sleep, eating and emotions.  But she decides to go on the trip anyway and try to get ahead in her field.  While there she meets people perfect for networking during a dinner.  Afterwards she tries to find some sleep only to woken by a sound in the cabin next door, and the sound of the sliding door opening and a something being thrown overboard.  Her heightened nerves already on edge she notified security and he informs her that no one was in Cabin 10.  She goes on a wild goose chase to find this woman she knew was there and figure out what really happened and who on the ship could be a murderer. 


Woman in Cabin 10 is Ruth Ware's second novel, and is taking the literary world by storm.  She has the strong ability to create a suspenseful, edge of your seat thrill of a tale.  She develops a story that takes the reader on a wild goose chase of a who done it, heightened with the unknown identity of the woman in cabin 10 as well as Lo's own anxiety and fears after being burgled a few nights before the cruise.  Ware, draws on the readers emotion to create the suspense and thrilling atmosphere of this novel and keeps the reader guessing.  There are a lot of twists and turns in this novel, although there were plot ideas that arose but were never expanded on, such as the internet/phone service being an issue.  She does a great job at building the suspense and making the reader want to know what will happen next.




The characters were a little hard to get attached to, maybe because there were so many to keep track of, I'm not sure.  Your heart goes out to Lo in the beginning, but she self medicates with alcohol a little too much in the novel, but again that plays into the storyline.  I downright despised Ben and couldn't believe Lo continued to trust him after his actions after dinner the first night.  I wanted more of Cole and some of the other characters, especially Anne and Richard.  The pacing starts out slow, but then picks up after the possible murder happens, but even then it still feels just a little bit slow as readers and assaulted with numerous possibilities and theories, though none of them are really followed up on.  Regardless of a few faults this book is a real attention getter from the beginning and keeps you interested/entertained until the very end.


I enjoyed it and finished within an evening.  I would recommend this highly to other mystery, and fiction lovers.  I give it a happy 4 star rating and look forward to what Ruth has in store for us next.


** If you haven't yet, check out the review for Ruth's debut novel In A Dark Dark Wood.

In A Dark Dark Wood By Ruth Ware

In A Dark Dark Wood is a mystery thriller story that takes place in you guessed it some woods.  Nora gets an invitation to the bachelorette (hen) party for a woman she hasn't spoken with in 10 years or so.  When she arrives she meets with a mixmatch group of people.  The maid of honor has a creepy "Single White Female" vibe going and Nora notices small things that concern her throughout the novel.  The first night there, Nora finds out Clara is marrying her former boyfriend, one Nora is still in love with.  In a crazy series of events, the party ends with murder and Nora is considered a suspect.  How will she be able to prove her innocence when she is in a hospital room and cannot remember any of the events leading up and including the murder?  Will she be able to remember what happened and convinced the authorities she had nothing to be with the murder?



Ruth Ware creates a story that simply clings to the minds of her readers.  She builds the tensions and suspense throughout the novel that readers can hardly contain themselves as they anticipate what will happen next.  She builds a lot of back-story making readers think they know what will happen or who the killer really is, but then Ware throws in a twist that no one expects.  She develops the characters in a way that makes them come off in a certain light, but then reveals them as something completely different.  Through this she shows that things are a matter of perspective, how we perceive people and things. 

This was another book that I finished within the day/night, simply could not put it down.  When I finally finished it, it was about 2 in the morning.  Crazy I know, but this book is that good.  I could see this being made into a really great movie that has people on the edge of their seats.  I admit I wasn't sure what to expect with this book, and I was blown away.  The cover of the book suggests something eerie and dark, but the tone and atmosphere of the novel are anything but eerie.  The setting of the novel, a cabin isolated in the woods amplifies the story as there is limited cell phone service, limited lighting, landline phone is shortly cut down, and so much more adds to the mysterious tension of the novel . 

 In A Dark Dark Wood is an exciting debut novel for Ruth Ware, and I cannot wait for more books from her in the future.  She has compelling, deep characters with loads of reliability, the plot is so captivating it has readers on the edge of their seats. I found the novel highly entertaining, even if some things seemed a little out there like the issue over tea and how Flo was acting.  But overall I will give this novel a 4 out of 5 rating.