The Stowaway tells the story of Maria Fontana, a juror on a high-profile serial killer case, who cannot vote to convict the accused, Wyatt Butler, based on the evidence presented at trial. Vilified and pursued by the media, the families and the public, Maria decides to take a much-needed cruise vacation with her two children and fiance Steve for some rest. But this cruise offers Maria much more than she bargained for. A brutal murder is discovered on-board and then young passengers start to go missing. Has Butler followed Maria and her family onto the ship? Or is it a copycat at work? And will the ship's authorities even believe her?

The Stowaway has an intriguing storyline which really captures the reader's imagination. It takes a joyful setting on board a holiday cruise ship and turns it upside down into a journey of fear and darkness. However the novel was much more grim and disturbing than I expected. The murders were quite violent and sometimes described in graphic detail, all the more disturbing when some of the victims were children. Some aspects of the plot didn't make sense to me and were not believable. I won't go into details in order to avoid spoilers, but I think other readers will know what I mean. Events in the book unfolded at a quick and steady pace, ramping up to a tense and brutal conclusion, and so held the reader's interest. A tense and thrilling book, but not necessarily a comfortable read or a solid plot.